Quality Function Deployment Chatchada Akarasriworn Tammy Davis Kelsey Poland Jing Shao

Introduction Quality function deployment (QFD) is a planning tool used to fulfill customer expectations. It is a disciplined approach to product design, engineering, and production and provides in-depth evaluation of a product. QFD focuses on customer expectations or requirements, often referred to as the voice of the customer. It is employed to translate customer expectations, in terms of engineering or technical characteristics, that can deployed through: Product planning Part development Process planning Production planning Service industries QFD is a team-based management tool in which customer expectations are used to drive the product development process. QFD enables the design phase to concentrate on the customer requirements, thereby spending less time on redesign and modifications. The saved time has been estimated at one-third to one-half of the time taken for redesign and modification using traditional means. The saving means reduced development cost and also additional income because the product enters the market sooner.

The QFD Team When an organization decides to implement QFD, the project manager and team members need to be able to commit a significant amount of time to it, especially in the early stages. There are two types of teams: Designing a new product Improving an existing product Time and inter-team communication are two very important things that each team must use to their fullest potential. One of the most important tools in the QFD process is communication. Teams are composed of members from marketing, design, quality, finance and production. The existing product team usually has fewer members, because the QFD process will only need to be modified. Using time effectively is the essential resource in getting the project done on schedule. Inter-team communication effectively used will alleviate unforeseen problems and make the project run smoothly.

The QFD Team cont. Team meetings are very important in the QFD process. The team leader needs to ensure that the meetings are run in the most efficient manner and that the members are kept informed. Duration of the meeting will rely on where the team’s members are coming from and what needs to be accomplished. Meeting format should have a way of measuring how well the QFD process is working Should be flexible, depending on certain situations Workshops may have to last for days if people are coming from far away or for only hours if everyone is local. Shorter meetings can sometimes accomplish more They allow information to be collected between times that will ensure that the right information is being entered into the QFD matrix. They also help keep the team focused on a quality improvement goal.

Benefits of QFD Improves Customer Satisfaction Creates focus on customer requirements Uses competitive information effectively Prioritizes resources Identifies items that can be acted upon Structures resident experience/information Reduces Implementation Time Decreases midstream design changes Limits post introduction problems Avoids future application opportunities Surfaces missing assumptions

Benefits of QFD Promotes Teamwork Provides Documentation Based on consensus Creates communication at interfaces Identifies actions at interfaces Creates global view out of details Provides Documentation Documents rationale for design Is easy to assimilate Adds structure to the information Adapts to changes (a living document) Provides framework for sensitivity analysis

The Customer Voice Quantitative=Measurable Qualitative=Subjective The goal of QFD is not only to meet as many customer expectations and needs as possible, but also to exceed customer expectations. Each team must make its product either more appealing than the existing product or more appealing than the product of a competitor. This implies that the team has to introduce an expectation or need in its product that the customer is not expecting but would appreciate.

Organization of Information Now that the customer expectations and needs have been identified and researched, the QFD team needs to process the information. Methods include: Affinity diagrams Interrelationship diagrams Tree diagrams Cause-and-effect diagrams The Affinity diagram is ideally suited for most QFD applications. This tool gathers a large amount of data and organizes the data into groupings based on there natural interrelationships.

Organization of Information cont. An Affinity Diagram should be used when: Thoughts are too widely dispersed or numerous to organize. New solutions are needed to circumvent the more traditional ways of problems solving. Support for a solution is essential for successful implementation. Constructing an affinity diagram requires four simple steps: Phrase the objective. Record all responses Group the responses Organize groups in an affinity diagram This method should not be used when the problem is simple or if a quick solution is needed. 1. short, concise statement, generalized and vague 2. Brainstorming session, responses recorded on cards Summary for later use 3. Cards sorted by relation in groups, then word that describes group becomes heading for responses. 4. Lines placed around each group or responses and related clusters are placed near each other with a connecting line

House of Quality Left wall – Voice of customer, what customer expects Right wall – Prioritized customer requirement Ceiling - Technical descriptors Interior walls – Relationship between requirements and descriptors Roof - Interrelationship between descriptors Foundation – Prioritized technical descriptors

Building House of Quality

Building House of Quality Step 1 List customer requirements (WHATs) Customers’ needs or expectations Primary Secondary

Building House of Quality Step 2 List technical descriptors (HOWs) Counterpart characteristics Primary Secondary Tertiary

Building House of Quality Step 3 Develop a relationship matrix between WHATs and Hows Structuring an L-Shaped Diagram Easy Not require experience

Building House of Quality Step 3 Contd. Relationship matrix Degree of influence between each technical descriptor and each customer requirement ● Strong relationship=9 ○ Medium relationship=3 ∆ Weak relationship=1 Blank No relationship

Building a House of Quality Step 4 Building a House of Quality Develop an Interrelationship Matrix Between HOWs Used to: identify any interrelationship between each of the technical descriptors (support or conflict?) +9 Strong positive +3 Positive -3 X Negative Technical descriptors (HOWs) -9 Strong Negative Powder metallurgy Aluminum Sand casting Material Selection Manufacturing Process Forging Titanium Die Casting Welding Steel

Building a House of Quality Step 5 Building a House of Quality Competitive Assessments Customer assessment Corresponding to each customer requirement Rating from 1 (worst) to 5 (best) Used to a) determine if the customer’s requirements have been met. b) identify areas to concentrate on in the next design c) Where an organization stands relative to its major competitors Technical assessment Corresponding to each technical descriptor Used to uncover gaps in engineering judgment.

Building a House of Quality Step 6 Building a House of Quality Develop Prioritized Customer Requirements Importance to the customer: rating from 1 (least important) to 10 (very important) Target value: rating from 1 (worst) to 5 (best) Scale-up factor: ratio of the target value to the product rating given in the customer competitive assessment Sales point: 1.0 (lowest) - 2.0 (highest) Absolute weight = 1 X 3X 4 A percent and rank for each customer requirement can be determined.

Building a House of Quality Step 7 Develop Prioritized Technical Descriptors Degree of difficulty: rating from 1 (least difficult) to 10 ( very difficult). Target value: rating from 1 (worst) to 5 (best), same way as determining target value of customer requirement. Absolute weight : aj= ∑Rijci Relative weight: bj= ∑Rijdi http://www.qfdi.org

Importance to the customer Absolute weight 5 3 2 2 Customer competitive assessment Importance to the customer Absolute weight

QFD Process QFD Matrix (House of Quality) Basis for all future matrices Must refine technical descriptors further More than one matrix often needed

Accomplishing QFD Process HOWs of previous chart become WHATs of new chart Technical descriptors = HOWs; WHATs = customer requirements Continue until each objective is refined to actionable level HOW MUCH carried to next chart to aid communication Prioritized technical descriptors Ensures target values aren’t lost

Refinement of QFD Chart

Complete QFD Process Can be shown using Flow Diagram 1st Chart—Product Planning 2nd Chart—Part Development 3rd Chart—Process Planning 4th Chart—Production Planning

Other House of Quality Planning Charts Depends on type of product and scope of project Demanded quality chart Quality control process chart Reliability deployment chart Technology deployment chart

Examples Universities Business and Defense Organizations Design course content & curriculum Support services Business and Defense Organizations Budgeting Designing training modules

Conclusion QFD Effective management tool Customer expectations are used to drive design process or to drive improvement in service industries

Advantages & Benefits Orderly way of obtaining information & presenting it Shorter product development cycle Considerably reduced start-up costs Fewer engineering changes Reduced chance of oversights during design process Environment of teamwork Consensus decisions Everything is preserved in writing

Everyone Benefits Entire organization constantly aware of customer requirements Marketing—specific sales points have been identified and can be stressed Results in satisfied customers!

       Questions What are some advantages of QFD? What methods could be used to determine the voice of the customer? What are the keys to success when building a House of Quality? Who is responsible for building the House of Quality?    

Questions If you are Pizza Hut and you are building a House of Quality, what customer requirements should you consider? What are some of the primary technical descriptors that should be considered?