Developing Plans for QFD-Based Quality Enhancement

Abstract

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a methodology for transforming customers’ wishes into quality requirements for a product, service or process. QFD methodology was originally developed by Japanese researchers, who designed the approach for transforming customers’ wishes (real or supposed) into detailed product characteristics using special matrices. QFD methodology provides better understanding of customers’ expectations in the process of design and development of products, services, and processes and helps to consider real or supposed customers’ requirements. House of Quality is used to show the relationship between customers’ requirements and product characteristics. Product characteristics are realized using appropriate technological operations and equipment. If we know the methods for quality assessment of a separate operation (Cp indices, control charts, etc.), we can complete the House of Quality with the results of technological equipment analysis. Such data integration allows the complex solution of a problem of product competitiveness improvement. Using quality assessment methods for technological equipment, we acquire knowledge about defect probability at each separate production stage. Quality Function Deployment and integration of mentioned results (amount of defects, process stability) allow approaching assessment of each product characteristic with regard to its importance for a customer as well as with regard to the technical possibility to implement it.