Quality funtion deployment

Archive of SID
Journal of Industrial Engineering International January 2008, Vol. 4, No. 6, 19-31 Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch

J. R. Sharma*
Assistant Professor, Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Nagpur, India

A. M. Rawani
Professor, Head of Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Raipur, India

Abstract
In this ever-changingbusiness scenario, the manufacturing product industries have to be in position to recognize the ever changing pulse and demands of the market. Customer satisfaction and quality management has become a strategic issue for companies in the new millennium. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) literature suggests that building up the House of Quality (HoQ) is not a difficult task, however to analyze andinterpret the information available is replete with a lot of uncertainty and presents less than optimal solutions. This paper attempts to address these twin issues of the Post-HoQ analysis and its interpretation through SWOT. The development and mechanics of QFD model is presumed to be known to the followers and the paper deals specifically with post-HoQ model through a well-defined and structuredapproach to comprehensive matrix analysis. The paper contributes a method for evaluating and analyzing the customer data and technical data in QFD as a function of the generation of useful information resulting in a better decision making process. The outcome of the study is a comprehensive solution which discusses post-matrix analysis through underlying concepts; requisite steps; information needed;and the computations involved. The applicability of the proposed model is demonstrated with an illustrative hypothetical example of a medical-care product - disposable syringe and needle. Keywords: QFD; HoQ; SWOT; Prioritization; Decision making

1. Introduction: Quality Function Deployment Quality Function Deployment is a systematic process for helping a business to focus on its priorities,investments and customers. It uses cross-functional teams to identify and resolve issues involved in providing products, processes, services and strategies to meet or exceed customer expectations [5]. QFD is an excellent strategic planning tool because it creates customer focused alignment in the planning process [11]. Basic Building Blocks of House of Quality QFD are demonstrated in Figure 1. QFD isan innovative approach bringing quality as demanded by the customers - upstream into the product development process [1]. QFD is said to have been first proposed in Japan by Yoji Akao in 1966. However, it did not emerge as a viable and formalized approach to quality control in planning until

1972, when Akao developed a quality control chart previously introduced at the Kobe shipyard ofMitsubishi Heavy Industries and instituted the QFD quality tables [1]. QFD’s introduction in the US is usually traced back to the publication of QFD and CWQC in Japan in Quality Progress in 1983, by Masao Kogure and Yoji Akao. QFDs first industrial applications in the US originated mainly in the automotive industry. Early users of QFD included the Ford Motor Company, Procter & Gamble and 3M Corporation,but many other US companies have also adopted it [18]. In Europe, the first symposium on QFD took place in 1992 in the UK, but companies like Philips Corporation have been reported to have worked with QFD since 1986 [9]. QFD has been in use in the manufacturing industry since 1987. Meanwhile, many authors have advocated it as a planning tool to help in the management of product/process development,subject

* Corresponding author. E-mail:sjiten1@gmail.com

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to some adaptations to meet the specific requirements of the concerned industry. However, there are not many published applications of QFD in the improvement of product development processes, especially at an industrial level. 2. Comprehensive matrix analysis In conventional...