Developing an ANP-QFD Approach for Balers’ Appearance Design: A Case Study

Abstract

The appearance of products plays a crucial role in determining consumers’ preferences and purchase intentions. However, there is sparse literature focusing on the modelling design or related approaches for agriculture machines. To address the issue, this article proposed an innovative design model integrating the Analytic Network Process (ANP) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to improve the appearance of a baler, coordinating customer requirements and engineering technical requirements in the design process. First, three customer requirements (CRs) and eight design requirements (DRs) were identified via several qualitative research methods, including literature review, market research and user interviews. Second, the integrated ANP-QFD model was employed to obtain the weights of DRs considering the inner relationship among them and was then compared with the results derived from a single QFD model. Finally, the theoretical findings in the present study were applied to the appearance design of a baler. The researcher then conducted a specific analysis on the aspects of shape, colour, material, and surface decoration. It can be derived that an integrated ANP-QFD model can overcome the shortcomings of the single QFD method and clarify the weight of demand indicators, providing valuable insights for different stakeholders with regard to balers’ appearance design.