An Integrated Fuzzy QFD Methodology for Customer Oriented Multifunctional Power Bank Design

Abstract

Due to the intense global competition and rapid advances in technology, companies are forced to continually invest into the new product development (NPD). The main reason for NPD is offering new value to customers. In this context, customer-oriented product development is crucial. The purpose of the article is to propose a new method for determining and prioritizing the most important design requirements for customer-oriented product design. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) tool is selected for this purpose; since it efficiently considers customer needs. Fuzzy logic is applied thanks to its ability to represent uncertain information. It enables decision makers (DMs) to assess different elements with linguistic term sets. A case study about power banks is illustrated to test the usefulness of the method. Power banks are saviors when one has no access to power outlets, and are gradually entering our lives as accessories. However, there are various power bank models in the market and manufacturers desire to produce the most satisfying power banks for their customers. Therefore, in this chapter, an integrated fuzzy QFD and fuzzy multi criteria decision making (MCDM) method are implemented for customer-oriented multifunctional power bank design. We applied the fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique to determine the customer needs’ weights and the fuzzy QFD technique to find the most important design requirements in multifunctional power bank design. The results of the case study are shared in the final section of the chapter.