FREE online courses on Quality by DesignQuality Function Deployment

 

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a methodology to ensure that customers' requirements are met throughout the product design process and also in design and operation of production and service processes. It provides a set of planning and communication tools that focuses on customer requirements in co-coordinating the design, production and marketing of customer- driven quality products.

 

Quality function deployment provides a means of translating customers' requirements into appropriate technical parameters for each stage of product development and production.

 

The customer requirements as expressed in their own terms, are called the voice of customer. These are the collection of customer needs including stated and real needs, perceived needs, cultural needs, unintended use needs, emergency needs and satisfiers, delighters, dissatisfiers – the ‘what' customer really wants from the product.  These requirements are called as customer attributes.

 

The voice of customer expressed in the form of ‘whats' is translated into technical language – the ‘hows' that determine the means which meet customer attributes.

 

For example, a customer wants higher mileage from a new model of a car, then by use of QFD a car can be designed which can meet the customer requirements.

 

A set of matrices is used to relate the voice of the customer to technical features, production planning and quality control requirements.  This matrix is referred to as House of Quality.