Quality Function Deployment
Characteristics of Quality Function Deployment
1. Quality function deployment (QFD) is a “method to transform user demands into design quality, to deploy the functions forming quality, and to deploy methods for achieving the design quality into subsystems and component parts, and ultimately to specific elements of the manufacturing process.”, as described by Dr. Yoji Akao, who originally developed QFD in Japan in 1966, when the author combined his work in quality assurance and quality control points with function deployment used in value engineering. QFD is designed to help planners focus on characteristics of a new or existing product or service from the viewpoints of market segments, company, or technology-development needs. The technique yields charts and matrices.
2. QFD helps transform customer needs (the voice of the customer (VOC) into engineering characteristics (and appropriate test methods) for a product or service, prioritizing each product or service characteristic while simultaneously setting development targets for product or service. QFD is applied in a wide variety of services, consumer products, military needs (such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and emerging technology products. The technique is also included in the new ISO 9000:2000 standard which focuses on customer satisfaction. While many books and articles on "how to do QFD" are available, there is a relative paucity of example matrices available. QFD matrices become highly proprietary due to the high density of product or service information found therein.
QFD House of Quality for Enterprise Product Development Processes
Techniques and Tools based on QFD
House of Quality
3. House of Quality appeared in 1972 in the design of an oil tanker by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Akao has reiterated numerous times that a House of Quality is not QFD, it is just an example of one tool. A Flash tutorial exists showing the build process of the traditional QFD "House of Quality" (HOQ).
1. Quality function deployment (QFD) is a “method to transform user demands into design quality, to deploy the functions forming quality, and to deploy methods for achieving the design quality into subsystems and component parts, and ultimately to specific elements of the manufacturing process.”, as described by Dr. Yoji Akao, who originally developed QFD in Japan in 1966, when the author combined his work in quality assurance and quality control points with function deployment used in value engineering. QFD is designed to help planners focus on characteristics of a new or existing product or service from the viewpoints of market segments, company, or technology-development needs. The technique yields charts and matrices.
2. QFD helps transform customer needs (the voice of the customer (VOC) into engineering characteristics (and appropriate test methods) for a product or service, prioritizing each product or service characteristic while simultaneously setting development targets for product or service. QFD is applied in a wide variety of services, consumer products, military needs (such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and emerging technology products. The technique is also included in the new ISO 9000:2000 standard which focuses on customer satisfaction. While many books and articles on "how to do QFD" are available, there is a relative paucity of example matrices available. QFD matrices become highly proprietary due to the high density of product or service information found therein.
QFD House of Quality for Enterprise Product Development Processes
Techniques and Tools based on QFD
House of Quality
3. House of Quality appeared in 1972 in the design of an oil tanker by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Akao has reiterated numerous times that a House of Quality is not QFD, it is just an example of one tool. A Flash tutorial exists showing the build process of the traditional QFD "House of Quality" (HOQ).