Technical target setting in time-stamped quality function deployment

Abstract

Quality Function Deployment (QFD), one of the major quality systems, has been applied to develop numerous products (Akao, 1990), including software systems, to improve their quality. Target setting is a complicated and important task in product development using Quality Function Deployment (QFD). The targets are extremely important since they directly affect customer satisfaction. We need to develop methods of setting target values of engineering attributes based on their technical trend to achieve the quality goals in terms of satisfaction of customer requirements for a given timeframe so that by the time of completion of a project the values of technical attributes are competitive. Two quantitative approaches for setting target values: benchmarking and primitive linear regression were developed and used in the past, both of which are based on linear regression and not very practical in many applications. In this paper, we present an innovative quantitative approach to set technical targets in QFD to enable assessment of the impact of unachieved target values on customer satisfaction. In addition, both linear and non-linear regression are utilized in our method; hence, we need not be confined to straight-line relationships when an exponential function, a power function, or a polynomial rather than a straight line may better represent the data obtained. We further develop a time-stamped target setting method by incorporating the technical trend and time. By incorporating the market trend and the time of delivery of the product into the target setting process, we can set targets that provide a competitive edge for our product over the competitor's products and a high level of customer satisfaction.