Quality Function Deployment

QFD

Dimensions of Service Quality

RELIABILITY: consistency, error-free dependability

RESPONSIVENESS: willingness to help the customer
TANGIBLES: environment for the service presented
COMPETENCE: the right skills and knowledge required

COURTESY: suppliers behavior

SECURITY: freedom from danger or risk
ACCESS: ease of making contact
COMMUNICATION: understandable to the customer
EMPATHY: adopting the customers viewpoint

Introduction of
First Product

Japanese/US Engineering
Change Comparison

Japanese

United States

Time

in production
3 months

market
introduction

(Not Using QFD)

out 1-3
months

out 14-17
months

(Using QFD)

out 20-24
months

Design Changes

Innovation & QFD

QFD Can Reduce Both Costs and Start-Up Time

Quality Function Deployment

Is a structured method that is intended to transmit and

translate customer requirements, that is, the
Voice of the Customer
through each stage of the product development and
production process, that is, through the product
realization cycle.
These requirements are the collection of customer needs,
including all satisfiers, exciters/delighters, and
dissatisfiers.

What Does QFD Do?

CONCEPT

CUSTOMER

Better Designs in Half the Time!

Plan

Design

Redesign

Manufacture

Traditional Timeline
Plan

Design Redesign Manufacture

Benefits

QFD
QFDIs
IsaaProductivity
ProductivityEnhancer
Enhancer

PROCESS
DESIGN

Why Does QFD

Work?
PRODUCTION
IMPROVE
PRODUCT

1:1

10:1

100:1

PRODUCT
DESIGN

LOW VISIBILITY TIME HIGH VISIBILITY

LOW REWARD
HIGH REWARD

The
The Quality
Quality
Lever
Lever

Brief History of QFD

Origin - Mitsubishi Kobe Shipyard 1972

Developed By Toyota and Its Suppliers

Expanded To Other Japanese Manufacturers
Consumer Electronics, Home Appliances, Clothing, Integrated
Circuits, Apartment Layout Planning

Adopted By Ford and GM in 1980s

Digital Equipment, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T, ITT
Yoji Akao is considered as Father of QFD

Yoji Akao

Foundation
Foundation--Belief
BeliefThat
ThatProducts
ProductsShould
ShouldBe
BeDesigned
Designed
To
ToReflect
ReflectCustomer
CustomerDesires
Desiresand
andTastes
Tastes

House Of Quality
Quality Function Deployments
House of Quality

Correlation

Matrix
3

Customer
Needs

Establishes the Flowdown

Relates WHAT'S & HOW'S
Ranks The Importance

Importance Rankings

The
House
of
Quality

Design
Attributes
5
4

Relationships
between
Customer Needs
and
Design Attributes

Customer
Perceptions

Costs/Feasibility
8

Engineering Measures

Building the House of Quality

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Identify Customer Attributes

Identify Design Attributes / Requirements
Relate the customer attributes to the design attributes.
Conduct an Evaluation of Competing Products.
Evaluate Design Attributes and Develop Targets.
Determine which Design Attributes to Deploy in the
Remainder of the Process.

1. Identify Customer Attributes

These are product or service requirements IN THE CUSTOMERS TERMS.

Market Research;
Surveys;
Focus Groups.
What does the customer expect from the product?
Why does the customer buy the product?
Salespeople and Technicians can be important sources of information
both in terms of these two questions and in terms of product failure and
repair.
OFTEN THESE ARE EXPANDED INTO Secondary and Tertiary Needs /
Requirements.

Whats
Key Elements -

What Does The Customer Want

Customer Needs
CTQs
Need 1
Ys
Need 2
Need 3 s
ts
Needh4aat
h
W
Need
W5
Need 6
Need 7

Voice of the
Customer

Kano Customer Need Model

Delighted
M
TI

Degree of
Execution

Fully
Implemented

Absent

Disgusted

Stakeholder Satisfaction

Kano Customer Need Model

Dissatisfiers

Those needs that are EXPECTED in a product

or service. These are generally not stated by
customers but are assumed as given. If they
are not present, the customer is dissatisfied.

Satisfiers

Needs that customers SAY THEY WANT.

Fulfilling these needs creates satisfaction.

Exciters /
Delighters

New or Innovative features that customers do

not expect. The presence of such unexpected
features leads to high perceptions of quality.

The Voice of the customer in a

Doctors clinic- reception area
serviceVoice of the Customer
Length of time until appointment
Number of rings until the call is answered
Time on hold
I was passed from person to person
I was asked few needless questions
Use of automated phone system
Waiting time in office too long.
Responsiveness of personal too slow
Insurance coverage processing properly
Insurance company recognized by office

I got an appointment within a week of my call.

I had my choice of days
I had my choice of times
I spent little time on the phone
I was asked if this was an emergency
I was not put on hold
I was in the doctors office on schedule
My questions were answered accurately and timely
My insurance claim was processed property
My insurance carrier provides coverage for the doctor

Design Requirements
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS (HOW?)

Organize Design requirements

using tree diagram

WHAT'S

HOW'S

Need 1
Need 2
Need 3
Need 4
Need 5
Need 6
Need 7

5
5
3
4
2
4
1

Satisfy the
Customer Needs

HOW 7

Hows
Hows

HOW 6

HOW 5

HOW 4

HOW 3

HOW 2

How Do You Satisfy the Customer Whats

Product Requirements
Translation For Action
Xs

HOW 1

Hows

Key Elements

HOW 7

HOW 6

HOW 5

HOW 4

M M

M
L

65
45
21
36

57 41 48 13 50

8
52

M
6

Conflict

4
1 mm

3 mils

M
8 atm

40 psi

HOW 3

HOW 2

H L

12 in.

5
5
3
4
2
4
1

3 lbs

Need 1
Need 2
Need 3
Need 4
Need 5
Need 6
Need 7

HOW 1

Strong Positive
Positive
Negative
Strong Negative

21

Information
Correlation Matrix

Correlation
Correlation
Matrix
Matrix

Impact Of The Hows On Each Other

3.Relating Customer & Design Attributes

Symbolically we determine whether there is NO relationship, a WEAK

one, MODERATE one, or STRONG relationship between each Customer
Attribute and each Design Attribute.
The PURPOSE it to determine whether the final Design Attributes
adequately cover Customer Attributes.
LACK of a strong relationship between A customer attribute and any
design attribute shows that the attribute is not adequately addressed or
that the final product will have difficulty in meeting the expressed
customer need.
Similarly, if a design attribute DOES NOT affect any customer attribute,
then it may be redundant or the designers may have missed some
important customer attribute.

Need 1
Need 2
Need 3
Need 4
Need 5
Need 6
Need 7

5
5
3
4
2
4
1

Untangling The
Web

H L
H
M

HOW 7

HOW 6

M
p

hhiip L
M nnssM

ttiioo
a
l
a
RReel
L

HOW 5

Transfer Function
Y = f(X)

9
3
1

HOW 4

Strong
Medium
Weak

HOW 3

H
M
L

HOW 2

Between the Whats and the

Hows
HOW 1

Relationship

Key Elements:

Strength of the Interrelation

M
M

4. Add Market Evaluation & Key Selling Points

This step includes identifying importance ratings for each customer

attribute AND evaluating existing products / services for each of the
attributes.
Customer importance ratings represent the areas of greatest interest
and highest expectations AS EXPRESSED BY THE CUSTOMER.
Competitive evaluation helps to highlight the absolute strengths and
weaknesses in competing products.
This step enables designers to seek opportunities for improvement
and links QFD to a companys strategic vision and allows priorities
to be set in the design process.

5. Evaluate Design Attributes of

Competitive Products & Set Targets.

This is USUALLY accomplished through in-house testing and then

translated into MEASURABLE TERMS.
The evaluations are compared with the competitive evaluation of
customer attributes to determine inconsistency between customer
evaluations and technical evaluations.
For example, if a competing product is found to best satisfy a customer
attribute, but the evaluation of the related design attribute indicates
otherwise, then EITHER the measures used are faulty, OR else the
product has an image difference that is affecting customer perceptions.
On the basis of customer importance ratings and existing product
strengths and weaknesses, TARGETS and DIRECTIONS for each design
attribute are set.

HOW 7

HOW 6

HOW 5

HOW 4

M M

M
L

65
45
21
36

57 41 48 13 50

8
52

4
1 mm

M
8 atm

40 psi

HOW 3

HOW 2

H L

3 mils

5
5
3
4
2
4
1

12 in.

Need 1
Need 2
Need 3
Need 4
Need 5
Need 6
Need 7

HOW 1

Hows
Note the Units

3 lbs

Information: How Much

Target Values for the

21

How
How Much
Much

Consistent
Comparison

Need 1
Need 2
Need 3
Need 4
Need 5
Need 6
Need 7

5
5
3
4
2
4
1

H L
H
M

L
M M

HOW 7

HOW 6

HOW 5

HOW 4

HOW 3

n
ttiioon
c
c
e
iirre
D
D
t
t
rrggee
a
a
TT

HOW 2

HOW 1

Target Direction

Information :

Information On The HOW'S

More Is Better

Less Is Better

Specific Amount

M
L

65
45
21
36

L
L

57 41 48 13 50

The Best
Direction

8
52

M
6

21

6. Select Design Attributes to be Deployed in the

Remainder of the Process
This means identifying the design attributes that:
have a strong relationship to customer needs,
have poor competitive performance,
or are strong selling points.
These attributes will need to be DEPLOYED or TRANSLATED

into the language of each function in the design and

production process so that proper actions and controls are
taken to ensure that the voice of the customer is maintained.
Those attributes not identified as critical do not need such
rigorous attention.

Need 1
Need 2
Need 3
Need 4
Need 5
Need 6
Need 7

(CI *Strength)
TI = column

CI 45 5
5
3
4
2
4
1

36
12

45
2

5
9

4 36

HOW 7

HOW 6

HOW 5

HOW 4

HOW 3

HOW 2

Which Hows are Key

Where Should The Focus Lie
CI = Customer Importance
Strength is measured on a 9, 3, 1, 0
Scale

HOW 1

Key Elements:
Technical Importance

15
3
6

ccee
n
n
a
1
M
rrtta
o
o
pp
m
m
I
aall I
c
i
c
nni
h
h
c
57 41 e48
13 50 6 21
TTec

Ranking The
HOW'S

Need 1
Need 2
Need 3
Need 4
Need 5
Need 6
Need 7

CC = (CIrow*Strength)

C H L
5I
3
4
2
4
1

H
M

HOW 7

HOW 6

HOW 5

HOW 4

HOW 3

HOW 2

Captured
Is A What Really A How

HOW 1

Completeness

Key Elements :

Are All The Hows

65

iiaa
r
r
e
21riitte
M M L
CCr
s
36
s
s
nnees 8
e
e
L
lleett M
p
p
52
L oH
m
m
o
CC
4
L
M

57 41 48 13 50

45

21

Have
Have We
We Captured
Captured
the
the HOW'S
HOW'S

Using the House of Quality

The voice of the customer MUST be carried THROUGHOUT the
production process.
Three other houses of quality are used to do this and, together
with the first, these carry the customers voice from its initial
expression, through design attributes, on to component
attributes, to process operations, and eventually to a quality
control and improvement plans.
In Japan, all four are used.
The tendency in the West is to use only the first one or two.

Design Attributes
Component Attributes
Process Operations

Quality Control Plan

Process
Operations

Component
Attributes

Design
Attributes

Customer
Attributes

The
The Hows
Hows at
at One
One Level
Level
Become
Become the
the Whats
Whats at
at the
the
Next
Next Level
Level

The Cascading Voice of the Customer

HOWS
WHATS

NOTES:
Design Attributes are also called Functional Requirements
Component Attributes are also called Part Characteristics
Process Operations are also called Manufacturing
Processes and the Quality Control Plan refers to Key
Process Variables.

Th
e

Fo

ur

H
ou

se
s

Critical to Quality
Characteristics
(CTQs)

of

ua

Key Manufacturing
Processes

lit
y

X
Key Process Variables

Common QFD Pitfalls

QFD On Everything
Set the Right Granularity
Dont Apply To Every Last Project
Inadequate Priorities
Lack of Teamwork
Wrong Participants
Lack of Team Skills
Lack of Support or Commitment
Too Much Chart Focus
Hurry up and Get Done
Failure to Integrate and Implement QFD

 Review
ReviewCurrent
CurrentStatus
Status
At
AtLeast
LeastQuarterly
Quarterly
Monthly
Monthlyon
on11Yr
YrProject
Project
Weekly
Weeklyon
onSmall
SmallProjects
Projects

HOW 7

HOW 6

HOW 5

HOW 4

HOW 3

M M L
L

21

36
8
52

21

12 in.

57 41 48 13 50

3 lbs

1 mm

45

8 atm

65

40 psi

3 mils

HOW 2

HOW 1

52
4

36
8

H L

21

5
5
3
4
2
4
1

65
45

Need 1
Need 2
Need 3
Need 4
Need 5
Need 6
Need 7

The Static QFD