Quality Function Deployment House Research Articles

New hybrid AHP-QFD-PROMETHEE decision-making support method in the hesitant fuzzy environment: an application in packaging design selection

This paper presents a new hybrid decision-making support method (New Hesitant Fuzzy AHP-QFD-PROMETHEE II Method), which jointly uses the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and the Preference Ranking Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE II), as well as the Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic Term Sets (HFLTS) to capture hesitation and aggregate divergent opinions from different experts. A real application of the new method to a packaging design selection problem for an automotive company is described, finding that AHP assisted in determining the importance of QFD’s customer requirements (CRs) and PROMETHEE II was used to select the best packaging design. With this same problem, for the purpose of validating the proposed method, a comparative analysis was made with the use of the Hesitant Fuzzy AHP-QFD-TOPSIS method and also with the traditional AHP-QFD-PROMETHEE method, which makes it impossible to capture the hesitation of decision makers. The result showed similarity in the rankings of design alternatives found in the three methods application. The proposed method proved advantageous for solving problems that can generally be solved with the QFD House of Quality but have serious difficulties when decision makers have divergent opinions and hesitate in evaluating criteria and alternatives.

Research on Human-Computer Interaction Design of Office Chair Based on QFD Method

Based on quality function deployment (QFD) and emotional design theory, the psychological needs of users are explored, and the interactive design system of office chairs is developed centering on users, thus solving the problems of space efficiency, office mode and human-computer interaction. First of all, through the relationship between the emotional concept and “function-behavior-benefit” in QFD method, from the perspective of emotional experience, the man-machine relationship is analyzed, and the principles and methods of contemporary office chair comfortable and healthy experience design are summarized. Secondly, based on the product structure and human-computer interaction design, the internal demand of consumers is transformed into the actual demand of products, and the QFD house of quality model is output to obtain the best design scheme. Finally, through design demonstration, the integrated application of emotional design and QFD method is feasible and effective, which can form a mapping relationship between product benefits and user needs, thus realizing the man-machine interaction design of multi-adaptive office chairs.

Participatory decision-support model in the context of building structural design embedding BIM with QFD

The design and optimisation of building structures is a complex undertaking that requires the effective collaboration of various stakeholders and involves technical and non-technical expertise. The paper investigated an integrated decision-support framework using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) in structural design optimisation. The aim of the study was to develop and test a systematic participatory model that utilises Building Information Modelling (BIM)-enabled technologies for data collection and group decision-making theory. The uncertainties associated with the decision-makers’ preferences were computed using Evidential Reasoning (ER) algorithms in the QFD house of quality. An actual decision scenario was used to test the proposed framework and investigate its capabilities in the context of reinforced concrete buildings. The study demonstrated how the proposed QFD model could effectively enhance decision-making by managing the diversity of stakeholders’ preferences via design integration, enhanced communication and shared domain knowledge.

Establishment of quality function deployment with special reference to good manufacturing practice of Chandraprabha Vati.

Context:Quality function deployment (QFD) is a powerful tool for the translation of vague, imprecise customer requirements into clear, measurable technical requirements.Aims:The objective of this article is twofold: (a) to propose a platform conceptual model for Chandraprabha Vati and (b) to present 10-step procedure to build QFD matrix.Materials and Methods:The method deals with, first, preparing two conceptual models for Chandraprabha Vati for the sake of manufacturing unit. The survey study was carried out for two products for the selection of customer requirement. Then, with the help of survey study QFD’s house of quality matrix was prepared which contained two products, i.e., classical product prepared by pharmacy of university and marketed product. High performance thin layer chromatography study was also carried out.Statistical Analysis Used:Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to the data using unscrambler software.Results:The results of QFD chart and PCA analysis were obtained from the two surveys. The first survey reveals that if proper care is taken during preparation on hardness and capping of Vati, then product goes toward zero defects. The second survey reveals that if proper care is taken during preparation on hardness, capping and sticking, then physically Vati goes toward zero defects.Conclusions:The 10-step procedure facilitates the process of reasoning and reduces the time spent for manufacturing with zero defect in product.

Prioritizing Sensor Performance Characteristics for Automotive Seat Weight Sensors in Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

Quality function deployment (QFD), a key tool to convert the customer needs into product features, is generally integrated into the New Product Development (NPD) process at the design stage. Prioritizing customer needs in a QFD process leads to using the resources (time, money, and staffing) effectively by eliminating the unimportant customer needs. The overall goal of the research was to develop a textile-based optical fiber sensor for automotive seat occupancy. The findings of this paper were focused on the design of experiments in our previous publication. In this paper, a research study was conducted to better understand market demands in terms of sensor performance characteristics for automotive seat weight sensors, as a part of the QFD House of Quality (HOQ) analysis. A survey was sent to more than 20 companies operating in the field of automotive seat weight sensors, and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) via e-mail. Only five companies participated in this study due to competitive concerns and confidentiality reasons. However, the companies responded to the survey were of quality relevant to the research and could be perceived as representative of the group of experts. All 5 companies participated in the survey agreed on the first 5 most important sensor characteristics: reproducibility, accuracy, selectivity, aging, and resolution, where The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied to prioritize the sensor characteristics.

User Requirements Analysis for Restaurant POS and Accounting Application Using Quality Function Deployment

Abstract The purpose of this study is to identify the consumer requirements and technical requirements that are part of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) analysis, as applied to restaurant SMEs in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi (Jabodetabek). The design of integrated Point of Sales (POS) and accounting applications prepared based on “Restoku” POS and Accounting applications that has been built and implemented at the restaurants. The draft then used as the basis for preparing a questionnaire that has been distributed for 200 restaurants. The research methodology begins with the collection of user requirements and analyse it using QFD. Application design is funded by the government through a program of Featured Universities Research by the Directorate General of Higher Education (DIKTI). Conclusions from this research are identified which include the Consumer Requirements of integrated POS and accounting application. The elements of the consumers requirements consists of 11 elements and 49 elements of Engineering Characteristics restaurant requirements. Therefore the design of POS and accounting applications that will be built, is designed according to the findings by eliminating features that are not needed by restaurant based on QFD House of Quality.

International business curriculum design: identifying the voice of the customer using QFD

PurposeCurriculum development in higher education must be continuously evaluated in this dynamic business environment, where business needs change day‐to‐day. The literature on the application of quality function deployment (QFD) to curriculum design is increasing, with student opinion representing the sole voice of the customer. The purpose of this paper is to present an alternative approach to QFD curriculum design by using a survey of employers, not students, to represent the voice of the customer.Design/methodology/approachThis paper applies the widely used quality management process of QFD to the curriculum development process of a major international business program.FindingsThe findings illustrate the application of QFD's house of quality in international business curriculum development and best practices benchmarking.Practical implicationsThe results of this study are useful to any university to revise or design new academic programs. It presents a methodology to design curriculum based on the voice of the real customer: industry, without forgetting about the expertise of academicians.Originality/valueThis study is intended to be one of the first in defining the customer as the industry, instead of just students or academic experts. The combination of all stakeholders in the curriculum design of international business will help universities make better decisions regarding international business programs.

Benchmarking the Quality of Secondary Education at the Micro Level and Policy Imperatives

Different schools (& board of examinations) have students with different expectations from the school and different perceptions about the quality of education they receive from the school. It is therefore necessary for the schools to create objective benchmarks in order to know where they stand currently in satisfying the student’s expectations. These benchmarks may be used in the future to gauge the impact of policies implemented in order to improvise the situation. Also, these benchmarks can be used to compare the performance of various schools. In the first part of this paper, we create the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) house of quality (a matrix) for the secondary level students of a prominent school (with ICSE board of examination) at Lucknow, India. In this process, we come across various expectations (with respect to curriculum, teachers & examinations) of the students and evolve policies in consultation with the Principal of the School in order to satisfy these expectations in a better way. The QFD house of quality generates objective rankings of the priority to be attached to various policies for implementation. In the second part, QFD house of quality was created for secondary level students of another prominent school (with CBSE board of examination) at Lucknow, India. It was found that some expectations of the students in this school were different from that of the other school. In the last part of the paper, we compare the performance of the two schools on various student expectations, which are common to both the schools. In this process, the better performing school (& the board of examination) becomes a benchmark for the other on various expectations. On the remaining unique expectations of students, the school’s own performance becomes an objective benchmark. It was found that both the schools were benefited in terms of improvising the quality of secondary education by implementing the policy imperatives arising out of this exercise.

Quality Function Deployment in Business Case Studies

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) has been used earlier in the design of curriculum of courses and various other aspects of imparting higher education. In this paper, we have shown the use of this concept in designing and discussing business case studies in imparting management education. It is becoming increasingly difficult to get readymade case studies, which can satisfy the learning requirements of heterogeneous group of students in any MBA program. It is thus imperative that the instructors will have to make case studies on their own suitable to their own set of students with unique expectations for discussion in the classroom. The QFD process starts by asking the students about their overall expectations and the relative importance of each of the expectations on a scale. Various relationships between these expectations and the corresponding technical requirements to satisfy these expectations are then found. The interrelationships between these technical requirements are also determined. The entire information is shown in different parts of a matrix known as the QFD house of quality. The output of this matrix is a set of values suggesting which technical requirements are more important to be addressed in order to satisfy the requirements of students in a better way. In the first part of this paper, we discussed a case from a textbook authored by one of the authors of this paper, in a class of MBA students. Then, we interviewed a sample group of students to know the performance ratings of this case and the cases of our closest competitor (instructor) with respect to their various expectations. In the second part, we applied the QFD to find the technical requirements, which will help in satisfying the student’s expectations in a better way. In the last part of the paper, on the basis of these inputs, we designed a new case study and discussed the case with the same class of MBA students. Feedback from students was obtained to find the performance ratings of the new case subjected to quality function deployment. The performance rating of the new case was found to be higher on various parameters giving positive results of the QFD exercise.

Automating the Quality Function Deployment House of Quality

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) initially evolved from the manufacturing organizations, but over the time has found applications in services of various kinds. Often, it is deemed as difficult to construct the QFD house of quality and perform the related calculations, especially by its potential users in the services industry like education, healthcare, government etc. This paper identifies the limitations of QFD house of quality in its present form and also highlights the advantages of automating it. It simplifies the construction of the house of quality by creating it on Microsoft Excel. The standard format of the automated house of quality (AHOQ) created here has been tested to be reusable and extendable for multiple services applications.

Development of a Generic Quality Function Deployment Matrix

The concept behind the research presented in this article is that a generic software process improvement model, based on quality function deployment (QFD), can be used to help companies improve their software process in an affordable manner while also keeping business goals in focus. The ultimate aim was to develop a model that would be useful in practice for small software development companies. In the course of this project, the researchers developed, verified, and validated part of such a model, the software process matrix (SPM), which is based on the QFD house of quality. The SPM is generic for all companies using it. The processes and practices in the matrix are based on existing software process improvement models. To verify the relationships in the matrix the researchers used hypothesis tests taking expert opinion into account, carried out over three iterations of the matrix. The SPM has been validated using action research with control groups in a longitudinal study.