paper qfd.pdf

8/10/2019 PAPER QFD.pdf

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international o urnal of

production

e c o n o m i c s

E L S E V I E R Int. J . Production Economics 46 47 (19961 575 585

What and how about qual i ty funct ion deployment (QFD)

C . P . M . G o v e r s *

Eindhoven Universi O, o/ Technology,, Grad uate Schoo l of Industrial Engineerin g and Ma nage men t Science, Fri ts Phil ips blst i tute ./or Quali(v

Management, P.O. B ox 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The ,Netherlands

Abstrac t

Q FD is mo re a process than jus t a tool for prod uc t a s we ll as produc t ion process deve lopm ent based on the concept of

Company Wide Qua l i ty Contro l . Essent ia l cha rac te r i s t ic s a re : cus tomer or ienta t ion , team approach and a way of

conc ise ly s t ruc tur ing communica t ions and l inking toge the r informat ion . The methodology is desc r ibed to d iscuss

e xpe ri e nce s a nd som e im p le m e n ta t i on p r ob l e m s .

Ah hou gh f ir st used by the Japanese , exper iences f rom "W este rn" comp anies suppo r t the resul t s of be t te r produ c ts and

produc t ion p lanning. Key fac tor for success i s the Cross Func t iona l Management approach.

K e v w o r d s : Qual i ty func t ion deployment me thodology: P rac t ice in the Ne ther lands ; Implementa t ion aspec ts : Dutch

qua l i ty award

1 . I n t r o d u c t i o n

Q u a l i t y f u n c t i o n d e p l o y m e n t ( Q F D ) i s a c u s -

t o m e r - o r i e n t e d a p p r o a c h t o p r o d u c t i n n o v a t i o n . I t

g u i d e s p r o d u c t m a n a g e r s a n d d e s i g n t e a m s

t h r o u g h t h e c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n , c r e a t i o n a n d r e a l i z -

a t i o n p r o c es s o f n e w p r o d u c ts . Q F D s u p p o r t s d e -

s ig n t e a m s t o d e v e l o p p r o d u c t s o n a s t r u c t u r e d w a y

t h a t r e l a t e s m a r k e t d e m a n d v i a e n g i n e e r i n g s p e c i -

f i c a t i o n s t o p a r t s s p e c i f i c a t i o n s a n d t o p r o d u c t i o n

p r o c e s s v a r i a b l e s a n d t h u s t o p r o d u c t i o n o p e r a -

t i o n s p l a n n i n g .

T o d i sc u ss p o s s i b l e i m p r o v e m e n t s o f d e v e lo p -

m e n t p r o c e ss e s by Q F D w e n ee d t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e

* Tel.: I 4 31/40 ) 472285/47 21 70. Fa x: ( + 31/40) 45 1275.

p h i l o s o p h y a n d c o n c e p t s t h a t a r e t h e r o o t s o f t h is

m e t h o d . A p p r o a c h e s t o q u a l i t y b a s e d o n t h e c o n -

c e p t o f T o t a l Q u a l i t y C o n t r o l ( T Q C ) a s i n t ro d u c e d

b y F e i g e n b a u m [ 1 ] i s f u n d a m e n t a l l y d i f f e r e n t f r o m

t h e J a p a n e s e T Q C c o n c e p t . I n t h i s v i s i o n T Q C i s

" C o m p a n y W i d e Q u a l i t y C o n t r o l ". I t is m o r e

c o m p r e h e n s i v e a n d c h a r a c te r i z ed b y d e p l o y i n g c u s -

t o m e r d e s i r e s h o r i z o n t a l l y a n d v e r t i c a l l y t h r o u g h -

o u t t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n ( J a p a n I n d u s t r i a l S t a n d a r d

Z81 01 - 1981).

T h e o r i g in s o f t h e J a p a n e s e C W Q C a r e th e s a m e

c o n c e p t s o f s t a ti s t ic a l q u a l i t y c o n t r o l ( S Q C ) a n d

T Q C a s t h e y w e r e b r o u g h t o v e r f r o m t h e U .S . a f t e r

W o r l d W a r I I b u t t h ey a r e d e p l o y e d a s m e a n s o f

s e c u r i n g q u a l i t y a c c o u n t a b i l i t y a t e a c h l e v e l i n t h e

o r g a n i z a t i o n [ 2 ] a n d c o m b i n e d w i t h m a r k e t o r i -

e n t a t i o n . T h e " v o i c e o f t h e c u s t o m e r " d r i v e s a ll

a c t i v i t i e s .

0925-5273/96/$15.00 Co py righ t ,.~'~ 199 6 Els evie r Scienc e B.V. All righ ts reserved

S S D I

0 9 2 5 - 5 2 7 3 ( 9 5 ) 0 0 1 1 3 - 1


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576 C . P . M . G o v e r s / l n t . J . P r o d u c t io n E c o n o m i c s 4 6 - 4 7 ( 1 9 9 6 ) 5 7 5 - 5 8 5

Often in many "Western" companies the execu-

tive's or engineer's voice dominates because there is

still a strong influence of the ideas of scientific

management. The separation of development and

preparation from implementation and doing, as

advocated by Taylor, brought us to organizations

subdivided into more or less isolated functional

departments, staffed with specialists for quality,

cost and delivery (QCD-aspects), paying attention

to output characteristics with separated perfor-

mance objectives.

Because of that orientation the TQC concept is

too often exclusively directed to the quality of

product and service in a proper balance with costs

and usually identified with manufactur ing and as-

sembly activities. US and European companies put

a greater emphasis on problem solving and effici-

ency improvement during the implementation and

production stage. In the CWQC approach more

effort is put into designing quality at the develop-

ment stage and the QCD aspects are managed by

interrelation. Roughly, the differences concerning

product development can be illustrated as depicted

in Fig. 1.

The CWQC philosophy is characterized by cus-

tomer orientation, cross functional management

and process rather than product orientation. It

refers to quality of management and the quality of

work being done. Within that concept QFD pro-

vides a means of translat ing customer requirements

for each stage of produc t development and produc-

tion (i.e. marketing strategies, design, planning,

process development, production control). It is

a mechanism that serves as an "operational defini-

Europe Japan

market

research

product

definition

desgn/cOStengmeermg engineering

purchase

negot iat ion

c o s t

evaMation

I I

pr o duc t ion c o s t r e duc t io n

~

~ o r r e c t i v e a c t io ns "7

efficiency) mpr o v e me nt s~

design

Fig. 1.

market research

product definition

establishmentof

QCD-targets

I

engineering purchasing

p o l i c y

i

pr o duc t io n

ont inuous improvements[

tion" of CWQC [3]. It means that although quality

professionals are important participants to facilit-

ate the QFD process, the marketing, development

and manufacturing professionals play an even more

vital role.

An organized QFD approach follows all the

rules for project management, which means project

definition, team selection and is not restricted to

a single action within just one department. Teams

should be cross-functional, expertise oriented and

consisting of six to eight members of comparable

peer levels.

QFD is a

process

that can help companies to

make the key trade-offs between what the customer

wants and what the company can afford to build. In

essence, QFD encompasses same activities that

people did before but it replaces erratic, intuitive

decision making processes with a structured meth-

odology that establishes all relevant information

and experiences that are available throughout the

organization. As such, QFD lays a basis for organ-

izational learning.

In general, the product development process

from customer-needs to manufacturing process op-

erations, can be outlined by a step by step approach

marking the points at which the requirements for

intermediate results are established and go-or-no-

go decisions can be made. Usually we can discern

four phases:

Strategy

and concept ~ Product Process Manufacturing

Definition design ~des ign ~ operations

In the strategy phase, product policy and deter-

mination of the customer will be established and

the customer needs are translated into a product

concept. The design requirements (WHAT's) serve

as input to establish the component characteristics

(HOW's) of the product design which on their turn

serve to define the process plans and next the

manufac turing process operations. Because of the

complex relationships between the inputs and out-

puts, these relationships are mapped into matrices.

The basic structure is depicted in the relationship

matrix of Fig. 2.

The flexibility of the method of approach allows

for adding any other information which may be


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C . P . M . G o v e r s / l n t . J , P r o d u c t i o n E c o n o m i c s 4 6 4 7 ( 1 9 9 6 ) 5 7 5 - 5 8 5 577

r e l a t i o n s h i p m a t r i x

F i g . 2 . B as i c s t r uc t u r e Q F D .

P H S E I

Fig. 3. C ascade of QFD charts.

u s e f u l t o t h e d e c i s i o n m a k i n g . W h e n v i e w i n g

a Q F D - c h a r t t h e fi rs t t i m e , l o o k f o r t h e W h a t ' s

H o w ' s r e l a t i o n s h i p s . E a c h H o w w i l l b e a p p r a i s e d

t o s e t t a r g e t g o a l s o r v a l u e s , t h e H o w - M u c h ' s w e

w a n t t o a c h i e v e . T h e s e H o w - M u c h ' s s h o u l d b e

m e a s u r a b l e a s m u c h a s p o s s i b l e .

M e a s u r a b l e i t e m s p r o v i d e m o r e o p p o r t u n i t y f o r

a n a l y si s a n d o p t i m i z a t io n . U s i n g Q F D c h a r t s th e

o u t l i n e d d e v e l o p m e n t p r o c e s s c an b e d e p i c t ed i n

f o u r c h a r t s ( F ig . 3) a l t h o u g h i n a c t u a l u s e a s m a n y

l e v e ls o f c h a r t s a s n e c e s s a r y m a y b e u s e d .

O f a ll th e s t e p s in t h e t o t a l p r o d u c t i o n d e v e l o p -

m e n t p r o c e s s , n o n e d e s e r v e s m o r e a n d r e c ei v e s l es s

a t t e n t i o n t h a n t h e d e fi n i t io n o f t h e r i g h t p r o d u c t

f o r t h e r i g h t c u s t o m e r .

T h i s f i r st s t e p i s t h e m o s t c r i t ic a l p a r t o f t h e

p r o c e s s a n d i t u s u a l l y i s t h e m o s t d i f fi c u l t b e c a u s e i t

r e q u i r e s o b t a i n i n g a n d e x p r e s s i n g w h a t t h e c u s -

t o m e r tr u l y w a n t s a n d n o t w h a t w e

t h ink

h e o r s h e

e x p e c ts . T h e g r e a t e s t g a i n s o f Q F D w i ll b e r e al i ze d

w h e n t h e " v o i c e o f t h e c u s t o m e r " g e t s to b e d e -

p l o y e d t o t h e m o s t d e t a i l e d l e ve l o f m a n u f a c t u r i n g

o p e r a t i o n s . T h i s m e a n s d e p l o y i n g a l l p h a s e s a l -

t h o u g h i t i s p o s s i b l e t o a c h i e v e s u b s t a n t i a l b e n e f it s

b y i m p l e m e n t i n g Q F D o n l y in t h e f ir st p h a se .

T h e r e a r e s e v e r a l u s e f u l e x t e n s i o n s t o t h e b a s i c

Q F D - c h a r t s w h i c h g r e a t l y a s s i s t i n t h e t r a d e - o f f

p r o c e d u r e t o e s t ab l i s h t h e v a l u e s o f t h e H o w -

M u c h ' s . D e c i s i o n s w il l b e b a s e d o n a l l th e i n f o r m a -

t i o n n o r m a l l y a v a i l a b l e : b u s i n e s s a n d e n g i n e e r i n g

j u d g e m e n t a s w e l l a s v a r i o u s a n a l y s i s t e c h n i q u e s .

O n c e t h e f ir st c h a r t i s c o m p l e t e d , t h e d o w n s t r e a m

s t a g es w il l b e d e t e r m i n e d m o r e a n d m o r e b y

s p e c i fi c t e c h n o l o g i c a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f a p a r t i c u l a r

o r g a n i z a t i o n . S o t h e m o s t e l a b o r a t e d i m p o r t a n c e -

r a t i n g s y s t e m s a n d a s s e s s m e n t t o o l s a r c t a il o r e d t o

the f i r s t s t a ge .

H e r e , i n c o m m o n w i t h o t h e r g e n e r a l i z e d i n t r o -

d u c t i o n s t o Q F D , w e w il l d i s cu s s s o m e o f t h e m o s t

i m p o r t a n t a n d w e l l k n o w n e x p e d i e n t s b y b u i l d i n g

a ~ 'H o u s e o f Q u a l i t y " a s it w a s n a m e d b y H a u s e r

a n d C l a u s i n g [ 4 ] .

2. Q F D m e t h o d o l og y : " T h e

H o u s e o f

Q u a l i t y "

S t a rt i n g a Q F D - p r o j e c t , t e a m m e m b e r s s h o u ld

r e a c h a g r e e m e n t o n i s s u e s a s :

w h i c h p r o d u c t o r p r o d u c t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a r e w e

g o i n g t o f o c u s o n

- w h o d o w e c o n s i d e r a s o u r c u s t o m e r s

- w h i c h c o m p e t i n g p r o d u c t s w i l l b e u s e d a s a re f e r -

e n c e f o r p r o d u c t e v a l u a t i o n

h o w d o e s t h e Q F D a p p r o a c h f i t i n t o p r o d u c t

a n d p r o c e s s p l a n n i n g .

I n t h e i n it i al p h a s e t h e s c o p e o f t h e p r o j e c t h a s t o

b e e s t ab l i sh e d a n d s h o u l d b e c o m m u n i c a t e d t o a n d

a g r e e d u p o n b y m a n a g e m e n t . M a n a g e m e n t s u p -

p o r t is a l w a y s v e r y i m p o r t a n t b e c a u s e a l l a v a i l a b l e

e x p e r t i s e a s w e l l a s m a r k e t i n f o r m a t i o n w i l l b e

r e q u i r e d . I n o r d e r t o t u r n a p i l o t p r o j e c t i n t o a s u c -

c e s s i t i s c r i t i c a l t o s e l e c t a n a p p r o p r i a t e p r o d u c t t o

be e m p loye d ( s t e p 1 : s e e F ig . 4 ) . T r y t o f i nd a p r o -

j e c t w i t h b r o a d a p p e a l t h a t m a y p i q u e i n t e re s t f r o m

s e v e r al a r e a s o f t h e c o m p a n y . A f ir st p r o j e c t s h o u l d

b e s i m p l e , b u t n o t t r i v i a l, a n d p r e s e n t a r e a l o p p o r -

t u n i t y f o r i m p r o v e m e n t . D o n o t t r y t o t a c k l e y o u r

t o u g h e s t p r o b l e m i n y o u r fi rs t Q F D - e f f o r t .


4/11

578 C . P . M . G o v e r s / I n t. ,Z P r o d u c t i o n E c o n o m i c s 4 6 - 4 7 ( 1 9 9 6 ) 5 7 5 - 5 8 5

~ W h i c h p r o d u c t ~ ................... ~

h [ c h c u s t o m e r / / ~ 0 ~ ' ~ - ' ' ~

~ )

C u s t o m e rR e q u | r m / H O ' ~ s { ~ i

I @ '

i - 2 1 , 1

L

C o r re l a t lo n m a t r lx

D e s i g n P a ra m e t e rs

C o m p e t e t lv e

B e n c h m a r k l n a

i....... S C O R E S

.... ) R e l a t io n s h i p m a t r lx

~ . : ~ Target~

B e n c h m a r kln g

Fi g . 4 . The "Hou se o f Qu a l i t y " showi ng t he " r o om s" o f t he

va r i ous s t eps i n t he QFD p r oces s .

c u s t o m e r

s a t i s f a c t i o n

E X C I T E M E N T

M A N C E

- - - - ~ ~ / degreeof

~-~BAS~C chieVem

/

k

S t e p 2 d ea l s w i t h t h e k i n d o f c u s t o m e r t o f o c u s

o n . E s p e c i a l l y f o r c o n s u m e r p r o d u c t s a c l e a r c u s -

t o m e r p r o f i l e i s n e e d e d . A g o o d d e s c r i p t i o n i n -

c l u d e s t h e e n d - u s e r s b u t c o u l d a l s o i n c l u d e p r o f i l e s

o f p e r s o n s o r i n t e r e s t - g r o u p s w h o i n f l u e n c e t h e

p u r c h a s e d e c i s i o n s , e . g . , r e t a i l e r s , c o n s u m e r s ' a s s o -

c i a t i o n s o r p u b l i c a u t h o r i t i e s ( e n v i r o n m e n t a l r e g u -

l a ti o n s ) . T o c o l l ec t i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t c u s t o m e r

r e q u i r e m e n t s ( s t e p 3 ) v a r i o u s d a t a c o l l e c t i o n

m e t h o d s a r e a v a i l a b l e .

F o r p r o f e s s i o n a l p r o d u c t s i t w il l b e r a t h e r e a s y t o

a s c e r t a i n r e q u i r e m e n t s . I m p r o v i n g a c u r r e n t ( c o n -

s u m e r ) p r o d u c t , t h a n w e a lr e a d y k n o w a lo t a b o u t

t h e c u s t o m e r s ( m a r k e t s u r v e y s , s e r v i c e ca l ls , et c. ). I f

w e t a k e a n e w p r o d u c t t h i s w il l b e m o r e d i f fi c u lt . I n

t h a t c a s e a c l e a r c u s t o m e r p r o f i l e c a n h e l p t o e s t i-

m a t e w h a t i s i m p o r t a n t , l e s s i m p o r t a n t o r n o t i m -

p o r t a n t . S o m e t i m e s a c o m p a r i s o n b e t w e e n d i ff e re n t

t a r g et g r o u p s m a y h e l p .

A s k i n g c o n s u m e r s a b o u t t h e ir r e q u i re m e n t s ,

a d i s t i n c ti o n s h o u l d b e m a d e b e t w e e n e x p r e s s e d

r e q u i r e m e n t s a n d i m p l ic i t r e q u i re m e n t s . T h e K a n o

m o d e l [ 2 ] r e l a t e s c u s t o m e r s a t i s f a c t i o n t o t h e d e -

g r e e t o w h i c h p r o d u c t f e a t u r e s ( o r r e q u i r e m e n t s )

a r e a c h i e ve d ( s e e F ig . 5 ) .

T h e s t r a i g h t l in e r e p r e s e n t s performance f e a tu r e s .

W e w i ll b e m o r e s a ti s fi e d i f t h e p e r f o r m a n c e e x -

c e e d s o u r e x p e c t a t i o n s a n d d i s s a t i s fi e d i f t h e y f a ll

s h o r t . G e n e r a l l y , o n l y t h e s e ( m o s t l y o n e - d i m e n -

s i o n a l ) r e q u i r e m e n t s w i l l b e e x p r e s s e d b y t h e c u s -

t o m e r w h e n w e a s k f o r .

- m a r k e t r e s e a r c h

" k . o n e d i m e n s i o n

Fi g . 5 . The Kano mode l .

T h e i m p l i c i t f e a t u r e s f a l l i n t o t w o g r o u p s : b a s i c

a n d e x c i t e m e n t f e a t u r e s . T h e b a s i c f e a t u r e s a r e

expected.

T h e s e i n c l u d e t h e f u n d a m e n t a l f u n c t i o n s

w h i c h m u s t b e p r e s e n t a l o n g w i t h s a f e ty a n d r e li a -

b i l i ty c o n s i d e r a t i o n s . E v e n i f a l l o f t h e b a s i c f e a t u r e s

a r e i m p l e m e n t e d p e r f e c t l y w e w o u l d n o t a c h i e v e

r e a l c u s t o m e r s a t i s f a c t i o n - w e w o u l d o n l y

elimin-

ate dissatisfaction.

T h e t o p c u r v e r e p r e s e n t s t h e s o - ca l l e d exc i tement

f e a t u r e s . S o m e t i m e s t h e s e a r e s e e m i n g l y m i n o r

i t e m s w h i c h t h e c u s t o m e r s p e r c e i v e a s s u p e r i o r

v a l u e . F o c u s o n t h e e x c i t e m e n t f e a t u r e s a s

sales

points c a n l e a d t o a m a j o r c o m p e t i t iv e o p p o r t u n i t y .

R e q u i r e m e n t s s h o u l d b e e x p r e s s e d i n c o m m o n

p a r l a n c e . S o i n t h e c a s e o f c o n s u m e r p r o d u c t s i t is

i m p o r t a n t t o u s e e x p r e s s i o n s l i k e : e a s y t o c a r r y ,

m o d e r n l o o k , n a t u r a l s o u n d i n s t e ad o f: x x k g ; y y

m m o r z z W a t t s I - 5 ] .

T h e " v o i ce o f t h e c u s t o m e r " n e e d s t o b e w o r k e d

o u t i n o r d e r t o g a i n a c o l l e c t i v e u n d e r s t a n d i n g .

U s i n g a f u n c t i o n t r e e a r o u g h r e q u i r e m e n t c a n b e

d e t a i l e d i n t o t w o o r m o r e l e v e ls ( F ig . 6) t o d e s c r i b e

t h e " W H A T ' s " f o r t h e fi rs t Q F D - c h a r t.


5/11

C . P . M . G o v e r s / l n t . J . P r o d u c t i o n E c o n o m i c s 4 6 - 4 7 ( 1 9 9 6 ) 5 7 5 - 5 8 5 579

level 1 level 2

I // { , Ea syto f ind inform at ion

Eas y t o opera te ~ ,C on t ro l s hav e log i c

positions

' ~ Cont ro ls are eas y access ib le

Fig. 6 . Fu nc t ion t r ee wi th two l evel s.

( ~ \ , , ~ ) I m p o r t a n c e R a t in g

r ~ - - 4 ~ ( lo w ) 1 - 5 (h ig h )

I~ z * l I ........--~-- .;L~ ( for 2 di f fe re nt gro up s)

E a s y t o u s e 3 5

( ~ D i m e n s i o n s 2 5

E n e r g y C o n s u m p . 3 3

N a t u r a l S o u n d 5 2

F i g . 7 . W ha t ' s l i s t and i m por t ance r a t i ng .

T h e li st o f " W H A T ' s " s h o u l d b e s u f f ic ie n tl y d e -

t a il e d t o m a k e j u d g e m e n t s a b o u t t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f

e a c h i t e m t o t h e c u s t o m e r s o n w h o m w e f o c u s .

D e p e n d i n g o n t h e t a r g e t g r o u p t h e r e la t iv e im p o r t -

a n c e o f th e v a r i o u s r e q u i r e m e n t s c a n b e r a t e d . T h i s

c a n b e d o n e u s i n g a s c al e f r o m 1 ( n o t v e r y i m p o r -

t a n t ) t o 5 (ve ry i m por t a n t ) ( s t e p 4 s e e F i g . 7 ) . In t he

c a s e o f o b v i o u s r a t i n g d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n t h e t a r -

g e t g r o u p s , i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o c o n s i d e r t o d e v e l o p

t a i l o r e d p r o d u c t t y p e s . (i n F ig . 7 , f o r e x a m p l e , a d e -

v ic e f o r " s o u n d f r e a k s" o r f o r " e n t e r t a i n m e n t " l .

C u s t o m e r s c h o o s e b e t w e e n p r o d u c t s o f d if f e re n t

b r a n d s . T h e r e f o r e , i t is o f s t r a t e g i c i m p o r t a n c e t o

k n o w h o w t h e p r o d u c t s o f o u r m o s t i m p o r t a n t

c o m p e t i t o r s m a t c h u p t o t h e c u s t o m e r r e q u i r e -

m e n t s c o m p a r e d w i t h o u r o w n p r o d u c t . C o m p e t i -

t i v e b e n c h m a r k i n g ( s t e p 5 ) a n s w e r s t h e q u e s t i o n

" W H Y " w e s h o u l d f o c u s o n w h i c h r e q u i r e m e n t s

a n d w i ll a ll o w a p l a n t o b e d e r i v e d f o r i m p r o v e -

m e n t . T h i s c o m p a r i s o n i s s h o w n i n F i g . 8 .

T h e h e a r t o f t h e Q F D m e t h o d o l o g y in t h e f ir st

p h a s e is t h e g e n e r a t i o n o f t h e d e s i g n p a r a m e t e r s :

t h e " ' H O W ' s ' " lis t. T h e d e s i g n r e q u i r e m e n t s r e s u l t

f r o m t h e t r a n s l a t i o n o f c u s t o m e r w i s h es i n t o t e c h -

n i c a l spe c i f i c a t i ons ( s t e p 6 ) . Th i s l i s t m us t be i n

b a l a n c e w i t h t h e a v a i l a b l e e x p e r t is e a n d t h e g i v e n

t i m e a n d c o s t f r a m e s o f t h e p r o j e c t . T o d e p i c t t h e

s t r e n g th o f t h e r e l a t io n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e W h a t ' s a n d

H o w ' s , s y m b o l s a n d / o r a n i m p o r t a n c e r a t i n g c a n

b e u s e d f o r p r i o r i t i z i n g e f f o r t s a n d m a k i n g t r a d e -

o f f - d e c i s i o n s . S o m e c o m m o n l y u s e d s y m b o l s a n d

we i g h i ng fa c t o r s a re s how n i n F i g . 9 . Th e 9 -3 -1

w e i g h i n g o f t e n a c h i e v e s a g o o d s p r e a d b e t w e e n

i m p o r t a n t a n d l e s s i m p o r t a n t i t e m s , a l t h o u g h a n y

w e i g h i n g s y s t e m w h i c h m a k e s s e n s e , m a y b e u s e d .

S c i e n t i f i c a ll y i t w i l l be a l wa ys pos s i b l e t o i m pro ve

t h e li st b u t y o u s h o u l d a s k y o u r s e l f w h e t h e r a d d i -

t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n g a t h e r i n g w i ll p a y o f f i n t h e

p r o j e c t .

T h e d e s ig n p a r a m e t e r s r e fe r t o c o n c r e t e o b s e r v -

a b l e ch a r a c te r i st i cs a n d m e t h o d s o f m e a s u r e m e n t

( se e F i g. 1 0 ) . F r o m a n o r g a n i z a t i o n a l p o i n t o f v i ew

s o m e t i m e s i t w i ll b e h e l p f u l i f w e a r r a n g e t h e c h a r -

a c t e r i s t i c s unde r he a d i ngs l i ke : m e c ha n i c a l , e l e c t r i -

ca l , sof tware , e tc .

T h e d e s i g n p a r a m e t e r s m u s t r e f l e c t a v a l i d

m e a s u r e m e n t o f c u s t o m e r r e q u i r e m e n t s . A s a l re a d y

s a i d , t h e r e u ' i l l b e n o o n e - t o - o n e r e l a t i o n s h i p a n d

t h e i n t e r a c t i o n s v a r y i n i n t e n s i t y . T h e w e i g h i n g

a n d c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e r e l a t i o n m a t r i x ( s te p 7 ) t r a n s -

l a t e t h e p r o j e c t o b j e c t i v e s i n t o a t e c h n i c a l p r i o r i t y -

list.

T h i s a l s o p e r m i t s u s t o c ros s - c he c k o u r t h i n k i n g .

B l a n k r o w s o r b l a n k c o l u m n s i n d i c a t e p l a c e s w h e r e

o u r t r a n s l a t i o n o f W h a t ' s i n t o H o w ' s h a s b e e n

i n a d e q u a t e

T h e o p e r a t io n a l is a t io n s o f H o w ' s a r e t he H O W

M U C H ' s . T h e H o w M u c h ' s s h o u l d b e m e a s u r a b l e

a s m u c h a s p o s s ib l e . I f H o w M u c h ' s a r e n o t

m e a s u r a b l e o r n o n d e s c r i p t i v e , t h e n w e h a v e n o t

b e e n d e t a i l e d e n o u g h i n o u r d e f i n i t i o n o f t h e H o w ' s

( a n o t h e r c r o s s c h e c k o f o u r t h i n k i n g 1.

W e w a n t H O W M U C H ' s f o r t he f o ll o w in g

re a sons :

T o d e t e r m i n e p r i o r i t i e s a n d d i r e c t i o n s f o r i m -

p r o v e m e n t s o f t h e H o w ' s ( S o m e t im e s a n e x t r a

r o w t o i n d i c a t e t h i s i s a d d e d t o t h e H o w - M u c h

m a p p i n g t .

T o p r o v i d e a n o b j e c ti v e m e a n s o f a s su r i n g t h a t

r e q u i r e m e n t s h a v e b e e n m e t .


6/11

580

C . P . M . G o v e r s / I n t . J . P r o d u c t i o n E c o n o m i c s 4 6 - 4 7 ( 1 9 9 6 ) 5 7 5 - 5 8 5

Easy t o u s e 3 5

D i m e n s i o n s 2 ' 5

EnergyConsump 3 3

N a t u r a l Sound 5 2

SCORES

\

Competitive Benchmarking

p o o r

1 2

v e r y g o o d

3 4 5

.... U l ~ ......... O i o w n p r o d u c t

O : ' ' ~ l l l , c o m p e t i t o r A

i 1 ~ - ~ ............. ~ c o m p e t i t o r B

Fig . 8. Compe tet ive benchmarking .

- T o p r o v i d e t a r g e t s f o r f u r t h e r d e t a i l e d d e v e l o p -

men t ( s t ep 8 ) .

T h e t a r g e t s a r e e n u m e r a t e d i n th e b o t t o m p a r t o f

t h e h o u s e .

T o s e t t h e t a r g e t s , i t i s q u i t e c o m m o n t o p e r f o r m

a c o m p e t i t o r ' s a n a l y s i s o n t e c h n i c a l d a t a . T h e

b e n c h m a r k i n g o n t e c h n i c a l p e r f o r m a n c e ( s t e p 9 )

r e v e a l s o u r t e c h n i c a l p o s i t i o n w i t h r e s p e c t t o o u r

r e la tio n sh ip s y m b o l w e i g h i n g a c to r

WEAK Tr iang le

ME DIUM C i rc le 3

S T R O N G D ot 9

Fig. 9.

c o m p e t i t o r s . T h i s k i n d o f b e n c h m a r k i n g p r o v i d e s

a c h e c k f o r c o n s i s t e n c y o f th e r e l a t i o n m a t r i x ( s te p

7 ) a n d t h e c o m p e t i t i v e b e n c h m a r k i n g d a t a ( st e p 5).

F o r i n s t a n c e , a h i g h s c o r e f o r c u s t o m e r r e q u i r e -

m e n t X s h o u l d b e r e f l e ct e d i n h i g h s c o r e s f o r d e s i g n

p a r a m e t e r s w h i c h a r e s t r o n g l y r e l a t e d w i t h t h a t

r e q u i r e m e n t .

M o s t l y y o u w i l l f i n d i n t e r d e p e n d e n c y b e t w e e n

t h e d e s i g n p a r a m e t e r s . I n t h e a t t i c o f t h e h o u s e

s u p p o r t i n g a n d c o n f l i c t i n g d e s i g n p a r a m e t e r s a r e

iden t i f i ed by a co r r e la t ion m at r ix ( s t ep 10 ). D i f f e r -

e n t d e g r e e s o f i n t e r a c t i o n w i l l a g a i n b e r e p r e s e n t e d

by symbols . ( see F ig . 11) .

T h e a s s i g n m e n t o f p o s i t iv e o r n e g a t i v e c o r r e la -

t i o n s a r e b a s e d o n t h e i n f l u e n c e o f H o w ' s o n a c h i e v -

i n g o t h e r H o w ' s r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e d i r e c t i o n i n w h i c h

t h e H o w M u c h values m o v e . P o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n s

a r e t h o s e i n w h i c h o n e H o w s u p p o r t s a n o t h e r . T h e

o t h e r w a y , n e g a t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n s a r e t h o s e i n w h i c h

o n e H o w a d v e r s e l y a f fe c t s t h e a c h i e v e m e n t o f a n -


7/11

C.P.M. Govers/ hlt. J. Production Economics 46 47 (1996) 575 585

581

\

E S ~ t O U S e 3 ] 5 \

D i m e n s i o n s 2 ~5

E n e r g y

Consump 313

Natural Sound 2

SCORES

D e s i g n P a r a m e t e r s

R e la t ion ship

s t ro n g

m e d i u m

3

w e a k 1

o >

0 e 3

) T a r g e t s

B e n c h m a r k i n g

Fig. 10 . Es t abl i s hm ent of des ign parame ter s .

o t h e r F lo w . T h e s e c o n f li c ts a r e e x t r e m e l y i m p o r t a n t

a s t h e y r e p r e s e n t c o n d i t i o n s t o d i r e c t t r a d e - o f f s .

T h e r e a r e s e v e r a l u s e f u l e x t e n s i o n s t o t h e b a s i c

Q F D c h a r t s w h i c h g r e a t l y e n h a n c e t h e i r u s e f ul n e ss

[ 2, 6] . T h e se p r o v i d e s o m e a d d i t i o n a l m e t h o d o l o g y

t o a s s i s t in t h e d e c i s i o n p r o c e s s . F o r i n s t a n c e , i n t h e

f ig u re s w e m a d e u se o f s y m b o l s . A p o p u l a r m e t h o d

i s t he u se o f importance ra t ing . F or e a c h c e l l , a r e l a -

t iv e w e i g h t i s c a l c u l a t e d b y m u l t i p l y i n g t h e r a t i n g s

o f t h e W h a t ' s a n d t h e a s s i g n e d w e i g h t s to e a c h

r e l a t i o n s h i p m a t r i x s y m b o l . S u m m i n g t h e w e i g h t s

f o r e a c h c o l u m n p r o v i d e s a r e l a t i v e i m p o r t a n c e o f

e a c h H o w i n a c h i e v i n g t h e c o l l e c t i v e W h a t ' s ( s e e

Fig. 12) .

H o w e v e r , i t i s i m p o r t a n t t h a t w e a r e not b l i n d l y

d r i v e n b y t h e s e n u m b e r s . T h e s e v a l u e s a s s u c h h a v e

n o d i r e c t m e a n i n g b u t r a t h e r m u s t b e i n t e r p r e t e d

b y c o m p a r i n g t h e m a g n i t u d e s t o e a c h o t h e r. W e

s h o u l d q u e s t i o n t h e r e la t i v e v al u e s o f t h e n u m b e r s

i n li g h t o f o u r j u d g e m e n t . I s i t r e a s o n a b l e t h a t t h e

H o w v a l u e d a t 9 0 i s a b o u t t e n t i m e s a s i m p o r t a n t

a s t h e H o w v a l u e d a t 9 ? A n d i s i t r e a s o n a b l e t h a t

H o w l s w i t h s i m i l a r r a t i n g s a r e n e a r l y e q u a l i n

i m p o r t a n c e ' ?

I f o u r j u d g e m e n t i s v i o l a t e d w e s h o u l d r e v ie w t h e

c h a r t f o r p o s s i b l e e rr o r s . I f t h e i m p o r t a n c e r a t i n g

c a n b e a c c e p t e d a n d a t r a d e - o f f d e c i s i o n i s n e c e s -

s a r y b e t w e e n t h e H o w ' s w i t h t h e 9 0 a n d 9 r a t i n g s ,

g r e a t e r e m p h a s i s s h o u l d b e p l a c e d o n t h e H o w w i t h

t h e 9 0 r a t i n g .

W h e n t h e f i r s t p h a s e h a s b e e n c o m p l e t e d , w e

h a v e g o t a c o m p i l a t i o n of :

c u s t o m e r r e q u i r e m e n t s a n d t h e i r i m p o r t a n c e

a c o m p e t i t i v e a s s e s s m e n t o f o u r p r o d u c t

t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n c u s t o m e r r e q u i r e m e n t

a n d d e s i g n p a r a m e t e r s

p r i o r it i e s f or i m p r o v e m e n t b a s e d o n a c r o s s fu n c -

t i o n a l a p p r o a c h

a m e a n s t o f a c i l i t a t e c o m m u n i c a t i o n e n s u r i n g

t h a t t h e o b j e c t i v e v a l u e s a n d t r a d e - o f f d e c i s io n s

a r e n o t " l o s t" a n d s u p p o r t t h e c o m p a n y ' s l e a rn -

i n g p r o c e s s .


8/11

582 C . P .M ( G o v e r s / l n t . J . P r o d u c t i o n E c o n o m i c s 4 6 4 7 (1 9 9 6 ) 5 7 5 - 5 8 5

( ~ ':_

Corre la t ionmatr ix

o r r e l a t i o n

.

s t ro n g p o s t , v e

w e a k p o s t t ,v e

w e a k n e g a t ,v e

s t r o n g n e g a t i v e

F i g . 11 . C o r r e l a t i on m a t r i x .

As already mentioned, in the next phase, the

design requirements (HOW's) are carried on as

WHAT's to the next chart to establish product or

part characteristics. This is continued to define the

process characteristics and subsequently manufac-

turing operations.

3 . P r a c t i c e

QFD, as a formalized approach started in 1972

when Yogi Akao introduced his "Qual ity tables" at

the Kobe Shipyards. A survey of QFD usage

conducted in 1986 among the larger member

companies of JUSE showed that Q FD had grown

significantly. About 50% of the respondents re-

ported that they were using QFD [11]. Frequently,

Japanese success stories were attributed to a cul-

tural difference. However, one must keep in mind

that not al l Japanese companies are equally succes-

sfull Mainly the b es t ones demonstrate achieve-

ments with respect to their philosophies and

methods. But what is more some of them demon-

strate also to be successfull with their production

plants in foreign countries.

In 1984 Clausing introduced the QF D approach

in the United States to the Ford Motor Corpora-

tion. As a result of the article "The House of Qual-

ity" by Hauser and Clausing [4] the first case

studies outside of Japan became known. The use of

QFD in the United States is becomming quite

popular. Each year various conferences bring to-

gether speakers to describe various analysis tech-

niques and successful applications of QFD for

a wide variety of industries.

Companies which used QFD reported the fol-

lowing benefits

decreased start up problems

competitive analysis became possible (improved

market research)


9/11

C . P . M . G o v e r s / l n t . J . P r o d u c t i o n E c o n o m i c s 4 6 4 7 ( 1 9 9 6 ) 5 7 5 - 5 8 5 583

sO

3 o A

s A o A

1 O A @

s 0 0

2 @ O @

2 @ A @

Fig. 12. Importance rating.

A = 1

O =

@ =

c o n t r o l p o i n t s c l a r i f i e d ( r e d u c e d d e v e l o p m e n t

t i m e ; b e t t e r p l a n n i n g )

e f f e ct i v e c o m m u n i c a t i o n b e t w e e n d i v i s i o n s (d e -

p a r t m e n t s )

d e s ig n i n t e n t is c a r r i e d t h r o u g h t o m a n u f a c t u r i n g

( Q u a l i t y i s b u i l t i n " u p s t r e a m " ) .

Howe ve r i t i s d i f f i c u l t t o ob t a i n spe c i f i c c a se

m a t e r i a l t o w i t n e s s t h e i m p r o v e m e n t s . G e n e r a l l y

c o m p a n i e s a r e v e r y r e l u c t a n t t o b r o a d c a s t t h e i r

r e s u l ts b e c a u s e t h e r e s u lt s o f a Q F D p r o c e s s a r e

h i g h l y c o n f i d e n t i a l a n d o f s tr a t e g i c v a l u e f o r t h e

c o m p a n y .

O n e o f t h e fi rs t a p p l i c a ti o n s o f Q F D i n T h e

N e t h e r l a n d s w a s w i t h i n t h e P h i l i p s C o r p o r a t i o n .

P h i li p s c o n c e n t r a t e d a t t e n t i o n o n Q F D s in c e 1 98 6.

T h e f i r s t s u c c e s s f u l a p p l i c a t i o n w i t h i n t h e f r a m e -

w o r k o f t h e Q u a l i t y I m p r o v e m e n t P r o g r a m w a s

a c h i e v e d i n t h e C h u n g l i m o n i t o r s f a c t o r y i n T a i w a n

[ 5 , 7 ] . A f t e r w a r d ( e a r l y 1 9 89 ) it w a s i n t r o d u c e d a t

t h e E i n d h o v e n r e s ea r c h a n d d e v e l o p m e n t d e p a r t -

m e n t o f h i g h - e n d T V - t u b e s . T h i s p r o d u c t is a n

e x t r e m e l y c o m p l e x m i x t u r e o f m a n y i n t e r d e p e n -

d e n t t e c h n o l o g i e s w h i c h r e s u l t e d i n a p r e s e n t

H o u s e o f Q u a l i t y o f a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 50 ti m e s 1 20

p o s i t i o n s . F i l l i n g i n a l l t h e t e c h n o l o g i e s ( H o w ' s )

a n d t e c h n i c a l k n o w - h o w i n t h e c h a r t p r o v i d e d

a g r o w i n g i n s i g h t i n t o t h e i n t e r a c t i o n s b e t w e e n t h e

w e i g h e d W h a t ' s o n o n e h a n d a n d t h e H o w ' s o n t he

o t h e r . T h i s k n o w l e d g e f a c i l it a te d d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g

a n d d e c r e a s e d d e p e n d e n c e o n " g o o d f e el in g " f o r

spe c i f i c a t i on s e t t i ng . Th i s wa s e spe c i a l l y u se fu l fo r

t h e e x p e r ts . E a c h o f w h o m w h o m a s t e r a p a r t o f t h e

t e c h n o l o g i e s c o u l d n o t f o r m e r l y m a k e u s e o f t h e

" h i d d e n " k n o w l e d g e o f h i s c o l l e a g u e s .

T h e u s e o f Q F D r e v e a le d th a t :

-

t h e k n o w l e d g e a b o u t c u s t o m e r r e q u i r e m e n t s w a s

i nsu f f i c i e n t

- d a t a o n c o m p e t i t o r s w a s h a n d l e d i n c o r r e c t l y

i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e s b e t w e e n t e c h n o l o g i e s w e r e

o n l y p a r t l y k n o w n .

T h e o u t c o m e s o f th e a p p r o a c h ( fi rs t p h a s e) a r e

s u m m a r i z e d / t r a n s l a t e d i n t o o n e o r m o r e

" s c e n a r i o ' s " t o s u p p o r t m a n a g e m e n t d e c i s i o n s

c o n c e r n i n g s t r a t e g i e s . T h e i n f o r m a t i o n i s w i d e l y

s p r e a d a m o n g s p ec ia li st s o f t h e d e p a r t m e n t s o

e v e r y b o d y c a n c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e p r o c e s s b y h is

obse rva t i ons . I t i s d i f f i c u l t t o e xp re s s be ne f i t s i n

e x a c t f i g u r e s w i t h r e s p e c t t o d i m i n i s h e d l e a d t i m e s

o r c o s t s . H o w e v e r i t h a s b e c o m e c l e a r t h a t t o p

m a n a g e m e n t g e t m o r e i n s ig h t in e x p e c t e d co n s e -

q u e n c e s ( e . g . , t h e n e e d f o r a d a p t a t i o n s o r d e v e l o p -

m e n t s o f p r o d u c t i o n t e c h n o l o g i e s ) o r n o t y e t so l v e d

p r o b l e m s . C o m p a r e d t o t h e p a s t t h e y h a v e b e c o m e

t h e " r e a l " d e c i s i o n m a k e r s . B e f o r e s o m e t i m e s s o l u -

t i o n s h a d t o b e s e l e c t e d o n a d - h o c b a s i s b y l o w e r

m a n a g e m e n t l e ve l s w i t h r e s t r i c t e d i n s ig h t i n t o p o s -

s i bl e c o n s e q u e n c e s o f t h e i r d e c i s io n s .

N o w a d a y s i t i s c o m m o n p o l i c y t o i n c o r p o r a t e

Q F D i n t o a ll d e v e l o p m e n t p r o c es s e s o f t h is p a r -

t i c u l a r d e p a r t m e n t . M o s t p r o j e c t s r e q u i r e p r o d u c t

e x p e r t i s e f r o m m a n y d i f f e re n t s e c ti o n s o f th e d e -

p a r t m e n t . T h e r e f o r e t e a m s a r e c r o s s f u n c t i o n a l

g r o u p s o f in d i v i d u al s r e p r e s e n t i n g a p p r o p r i a t e d is -

c i p li n e s l ik e p r o d u c t p l a n n i n g , m a r k e t i n g , e n g i n e e r -

i n g a n d m a n u f a c t u r i n g . S o m e t i m e s , i n t h e c a s e o f

l es s c om pl i c a t e d p ro j e c t s , t h e f a c i l i t a t o r h i m se l f f il ls

i n t h e Q F D - c h a r t s b y c o n s u l t i n g t h e s p e c i a l i s t s .

T h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t c o n t r i b u t i o n o f th e f a c il i ta t o r

is c o n c e n t r a t i n g o n t h e p r e p a r a t i o n o f s c e n a r io ' s t o

c o m m u n i c a t e t h e Q F D o u t c o m e s to p e o p le w h o

a r e l e s s f a m i l i a r w i t h t h e m e t h o d o l o g y .

A n a p p r o a c h w i t h i n ~ V a n D o o r n e ' s T r a n s -

m i s si e " ( V D T ) w a s q u i t e o u t o f th e o r d i n a r y . H e r e

t h e d r iv i n g fo r c es t o a p p l y Q F D b y s o m e i n t e r e s te d

g r o u p s w e r e v e r y c o m p l e x p r o b l e m s o f p r o c es s c o n -

t ro l . B e c a use t he p roduc t ( a m e t a l push be l t f l ) r t he

a u t o m a t i c t r a n s m i s s i o n } a l r e a d y e x i s t e d t h e y

s t a r te d t o a n a l y s e th e i m p o r t a n c e o f an d r e l at i o n s


10/11

584

C . P . M . G o v e r s / l n t . J . P r o d u c t i o n E c o n o m i c s 4 6 - 4 7 ( 1 9 9 6 ) 5 7 5 - 5 8 5

b e t w e e n p r o c e s s r e q u i r e m e n t s a n d d e s ig n v a r i a b l e s

( p h a s e t h r ee ) . T h e r e s u l t s o f th i s p r o j e c t p e r s u a d e d

q u i t e a n u m b e r o f d e s ig n e r s in t o t h e a p p l i c a t io n o f

Q F D i n o t h e r a r ea s o f th e d e v e l o p m e n t p ro c e s s

a n d t h e y w i ll s t a r t t o d i s c u ss t h e w a n t s o f t h e

a u t o m o t i v e i n d u s t r i es w i th r e s p e ct t o t h e d e v e l o p -

m e n t o f n e w g e n e r a t i o n s o f c o n t i n u o u s v a r i a b le

t r a n s m i s s i o n s .

T h e c o n c e p t s o f Q F D a r e n o t r e s t r ic t e d to t h e

d e v e l o p m e n t o f p r o d u c t s o r s e r v ic e s . S u l l i v a n [ 8- ]

d e s c r i b e s a n a p p r o a c h f o r P o l i c y M a n a g e m e n t i n

c o n c e p t u a l t e r m s b u t h e d o e s n o t o f f e r p r a c t ic a l

r e f e r e n ce . A l s o i n t h a t f i e l d c l e a r c o m m u n i c a t i o n

a n d c u s t o m e r o r i e n t a t i o n a r e f u n d a m e n t a l f o r s u c -

c e s s . I n a n M S c - g r a d u a t i o n p r o j e c t h i s i d e a s w e r e

w o r k e d o u t f o r t h e d e v e l o p m e n t a n d m a n a g e m e n t

o f a n a n n u a l p o l i c y d e c l a r a t i o n f o r a p r o d u c t i o n

p l a n t o f a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l I C - m a n u f a c t u r e r [ 9 ] .

A s f ar a s I h a d c o n t a c t s w i t h D u t c h Q F D f ac il i-

t a t o r s m o s t o f th e m r e p o r t e d t e c h n o l o g i c al im -

p r o v e m e n t s . I n it ia l p r o j e c t s o f Q F D d o n o t y i el d al l

e x p e c t e d b e n e f i t s i n o n e g o . E a r l y a p p l i c a t i o n s r e -

q u i r e m o r e t i m e a n d a d d i t i o n a l e f f o r t b u t r e s u l t s a s

k n o w l e d g e t r a n s f e r , b e t t e r p r o d u c t s a n d b e t t e r

u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e c u s t o m e r e x p e c t a t i o n s a r e

d i r e c t l y e x p l o i t a b l e . O n c e a t e a m h a s g a i n e d e x p e r i -

e n c e le a d t i m e a n d c o s t r e d u c t i o n a s w e l l a s f u r t h e r

r e d u c t io n o f p r o d u c t a n d p r o d u c t i o n p r o b l e m s w i ll

b e a c c u m u l a t e d b y f o s te r i n g a b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g

o f c u s t o m e r s ' r e q u i r e m e n t s a n d w h a t is n e e d e d t o

m e e t t h e s e r e q u i r e m e n t s .

M o s t p r o b l e m s t h e y h a d t o u n t a n g l e w e r e re l a te d

t o o r g a n i z a t i o n a l c i r c u m s t a n c e s l i k e p r o j e c t d e f i n i -

t i o n a n d p r o j e c t m a n a g e m e n t a s w el l a s t e a m s e l ec -

t i o n a n d t e a m b u i l d i n g .

A c r i t i c a l f a c t o r c o n c e r n i n g p r o j e c t d e f i n i t i o n

is th e " V o i c e o f t h e C u s t o m e r " ( s ee K a n o m o d e l )

a n d w h a t a r e t h e C r i t i c a l Q u a l i t y C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s

[ 1 0 ] .

W i t h r e s p e c t t o p r o j e c t m a n a g e m e n t a n d t e a m

s e l e c t i o n , i t c a n b e m e n t i o n e d t h a t f o c u s o n t h e

e x p e r t i s e i s r e q u i r e d b u t t a k e c a r e t h a t t h e r a n k s o f

t h e t e a m m e m b e r s s h o u l d b e a b o u t e q u a l i n o r d e r

t o a v o i d d e c i s i o n s b e i n g m a n i p u l a t e d b y r a n k i n g .

K e e p i n m i n d t h a t s u p p o r t f r o m ( to p ) m a n a g e m e n t

w i l l b e n e e d e d . I t w o u l d b e t h e b e s t t o h a v e r e c e p -

t iv e , o p e n - m i n d e d m e m b e r s o n t h e te a m w h o a r e

w i l li n g t o c h a l l e n g e e s t a b l i s h e d p r a c t i c e .

4. Implementation

Q F D i s n o t a p a n a c e a f o r s o l v i n g d e s i g n p r o b -

l em s n o r f o r d e v e l o p i n g " p e r f e c t" p ro d u c t s . T h e

a i m i s i m p r o v i n g t h e p l a n n i n g a n d c o n t r o l o f th e

development process . T h i s i m p l i e s t h a t t h e o t h e r

p r o c e ss e s o f p r o d u c t i o n a r e m o r e o r l es s u n d e r

c o n t r o l . A c o m p a n y t h a t s t i l l s t r u g g l e s w i t h t h e

q u a l i ty p e r f o r m a n c e a t t h e e x p e c t e d a n d t h e s p e ci -

f i e d l e ve l, ha s t o s t r e s s ba s i c qu a l i t y t e c hn i q ue s f i r s t

a n d t o c h a n g e t h e c u l t u r e t o w a r d s m o r e T o t a l

Q u a l i t y M a n a g e m e n t . W i t h r e s p e c t t o t h i s t h e

E u r o p e a n Q u a l i t y A w a r d a s s e s s m e n t m o d e l c a n b e

s e e n a s a r e f e r e n c e t o d e r i v e c r i te r i a f o r p r o d u c t i o n

a n d d e v e l o p m e n t fu n c t i o n s b u t a l so f o r th e m a n a -

g e r i a l f u n c t i o n s . T h e D u t c h Q u a l i t y A w a r d i s

c o p i e d f ro m t h e E u r o p e a n A w a r d b u t f o r th e i n te r -

p r e t a t i o n o f t h e e s t a b l i s h e d q u a l i t y l e v e l, t h e p a t h

t ow a rds T Q M i s sp l it up i n t o f ive pha se s . Ea c h l e ve l

r o u g h l y c o r r e s p o n d s w i th a s c o r e f o r t h e a w a r d :

P h a s e I A c t i v i t y o r i e n t a t i o n : P r o b l e m s a r e s o l -

v e d , b u t t h e p r o c e s s i s n o t r e c e i v i n g

a t t e n t i o n . ( 0 - 2 0 0 p t s )

P h a s e I I P r o c e s s o r i e n t a ti o n : B a s e d u p o n p r o -

c e s s c o n t r o l , p r o b l e m s a r e s o l v e d i n

a s y s t e m a t i c w a y . ( 2 0 0 - 4 0 0 p t s )

P h a s e I I I S y s t e m o r i e n t a t i o n : A l l f u n c t i o n s o f

t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n a r e c o n t r o l l e d .

C u s t o m e r o r i e n t a t i o n i s a c h i e v e d i n -

c l u d i n g i n t e r n a l c u s t o m e r s . A t t e n t i o n i s

p a i d t o p r e v e n t i o n o f p r o b l e m s .

( 4 0 0 - 6 0 0 p t s )

P h a s e I V C h a i n o r i e n t a t i o n w i t h s u p p li e rs a n d

c u s t o m e r s : O p t i m a l u s e o f k n o w l e d g e

a n d c a p a b i l i t i e s f o r c u s t o m e r s a t i s f a c -

t io n . C o o p e r a t i o n is s o u g h t i n o r d e r t o

m i n i m i s e c o s t s . ( 6 0 ~ 8 0 0 p t s )

P h a s e V T o t a l Q u a l i t y M a n a g e m e n t : P h i l o s -

o p h y a n d s t r a te g y a r e b a s e d u p o n a

s e n s e o f r e s p o n s i b i l i t y w i t h i n t h e s o -

c i e t y . (800 -1000 p t s )

T h e m a j o r i t y o f " g o o d " c o m p a n i e s i s at t h e l e v el o f

a p p r o x i m a t e l y 4 0 0 - 5 0 0 p t s w h i ch c o r r e s p o n d s

w i t h t h e o b t a i n i n g o f a n I S O c e rt if ic a te . A r o u n d

7 0 0 p t s w e f i n d s e r i o u s c a n d i d a t e s f o r w i n n i n g t h e

a w a r d .

T o i m p l e m e n t Q F D s u cc e ss f ul ly a c o m p a n y

s h o u l d h a v e r e a c h e d r o u g h l y t h e u p p e r l e v e l o f


11/11

C . P . M . G o v e r s / I n t. J . P r o d u c t i o n E c o n o m i c s 4 6 4 7 ( 1 99 6 ) 5 7 5 5 8 5 585

p h a s e I t . T h i s a l s o c a n b e a n e x p l a n a t i o n t h a t a t

p r e s e n t m o s t l y t h e b i g g e r f ir m s b e n e f it b y t h e Q F D

m e t h o d . N o t o n l y b e c a u s e t h e y h a v e t h e r e s o u r c e s

b u t p r o b a b l y m o r e b e c a u s e t h e y h a v e a l r e a d y e s -

t a b l i s h e d a s y s t e m ( c h a i n ) o r i e n t a t i o n .

W h e n a n o r g a n i s a t i o n is r e a d y f o r Q F D , t h e r e is

t h e n e e d f o r a g o o d f a c i li t at o r w h o k n o w s t h e

m e t h o d v e r y w e l l a n d h a s a l s o t h e s o c i a l s ki ll s t o

b u i l d a n d t o m a n a g e a t e a m . U s u a l l y t h e f i r s t p r o -

j e c t w i l l b e m o r e t i m e c o n s u m i n g a n d a p p e a l t o

o p e n m i n d e d d i sc u s si o n s. S o l o o k f o r p e o p l e w h o

h a s a p o s i ti v e a t t i t u d e t o w a r d s n e w a p p r o a c h e s

( e a r ly i n n o v a t o r s ) .

5 . C o n c l u s i o n

I t c a n b e s a id t h a t Q F D is a s y n t h e s is o f n u m e r -

o u s m e t h o d o l o g i e s o r i g i n a t i n g f r o m t h e U S A ( e . g . ,

V a l u e E n g i n e e r i n g a n d m a r k e t r e s e a r c h ) b u t t h e y

a r e p e r f e c t e d a n d i n t e g r a t e d b y th e J a p a n e s e . S u c -

c es s s t o ri e s f ro m J a p a n a r e f a ir ly k n o w n b u t d o n o t

f o r g e t t h a t t h e y h a v e a l r e a d y a l o n g s t a n d i n g e x p e r i -

e n c e . P r o b l e m s e n c o u n t e r e d b y f a c i l i t a t o r s i n t h e

" W e s t " c o n c e n t r a t e o n t h e r e a l i z a t i o n o f Cross

Functional Management.

T h e r e i s a w i d e v a r ie t y o f i m p r o v e m e n t t o o l s t h a t

w i l l e n a b l e c o m p a n i e s t o a c h i e v e h i g h q u a l i t y .

T o o l s a lo n e h o w e v e r c a n n o t p r o v i d e r e s u lt s o n

t h e m s e l v e s . T h e y m u s t b e d e v e l o p e d t o r e f l e c t t h e

c o m p a n i e s ' c u lt u r e a n d m a n a g e m e n t v i s io n . T o i m -

p l e m e n t Q F D s u c ce s sf u ll y a c o m p a n y h a s t o b e

s y s t em o r i e n t e d . Q F D p r o v i d e s a c ti v it ie s t h a t b r i n g

t o g e t h e r a l l r e q u i r e d d i s c i p l i n e s t o w o r k a n d p l a n

t h e d e v e l o p m e n t e f f o r t s i n a h i g h l y d i s c i p l i n e d ,

c o m m u n i c a t i v e a n d e ff e ct iv e m a n n e r . Q F D a s su c h

i s n o t a h i g h t e c h n o l o g y r a t h e r i t i s a t e c h n o l o g y

d e v e l o p e d b y users b a s e d o n c o m m o n s e n s e a n d

e f fe c ti v e i n f o r m a t i o n t r an s f e r. M a n y J a p a n e s e a n d

A m e r i c an c o m p a n i e s h a v e e x p e r ie n c e d Q F D t o b e

w o r t h t h e e f f o r t .

W h e n u n d e r t a k i n g a p r o j e c t i t i s c r i t i c a l t o t a k e

t h e t i m e t o plan and organize y o u r e f f o r t s . A n a p -

p r o p r i a t e p r o j e c t n e e d s t o b e s e l e c t e d w i t h r e s p e c t

t o i t s s c ope a nd ob j e c t i ve s . Ke y fa c t o r s fo r i n i t i a l

s u cc e ss ar e m a n a g e m e n t s u p p o r t a n d t h e co n s t i tu -

t i o n o f t h e te a m . T h e t e a m m e m b e r s n e e d t o b e

g i v e n t h e t i m e t o e s t a b li s h i t s r u le s o f o p e r a t i o n a n d

t r a i n i n g r e q u i r e m e n t s .

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t i ng Qua l i t y Fu nc t i on i n Amer ica . 3 r d ed . Goa l QP C,

M e t h u e n . M A .

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dep l oymen t i n p i c t u r e t ube p r oduc t i on , i n : Qua l i t y

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la t ion b~ use of QFD techniques : a case s tudy. In t . J .

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[ 1 1 ] G o a l / Q P C , 1 9 9 0 . Q u a l i t y F u n c t i o n D e p l o y m e n t: A p r o -

ces s f o r I r ans l a t i ng cus t om er s ' needs i n t o a be t t e r p r o duc t

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