Quality Function Deployment Framework and the House of Quality matrix

When designing a new product or service, it is crucial to understand the requirements that customers desire, alongside their wants and needs.

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a method used to translate customer requirements into specific design and engineering characteristics for a #product or service. This process helps companies understand what their customers want in a product or service and then create a design that meets those needs.

It is commonly used in the manufacturing, engineering and service industries as a tool for product and process design and improvement. It is used in the early stages of #productdevelopment, to identify and prioritize customer needs and requirements, and then translate those needs into specific design features and characteristics of the product or service.

QFD can be applied to new product development, product redesign, and process improvement projects. Some industries where it is common to be found are: automotive, aerospace, healthcare, construction and IT.

The Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method was developed by a team led by Yoji Akao, a Japanese engineer and quality control expert, in the 1960s and 1970s. Akao began developing the method while working at the Kawasaki Heavy Industries, a Japanese manufacturing company, where he was tasked with improving the quality of their products. Akao's team developed QFD as a tool for translating customer requirements into specific design and engineering characteristics for a product, which then later became known as the "House of Quality" (HOQ) matrix. The method has since been widely adopted in manufacturing and engineering industries worldwide.

QFD approach incorporates customer needs into product design and development by involving multiple functions within a company, not just marketing. It encourages the use of market research by different departments to gather data on customer preferences and requirements. For example, engineers require detailed information on customer needs to make specific design decisions, such as where to place controls in an automobile. However, too much detail can make it difficult to make strategic design decisions, such as whether to prioritize sporty performance or a smooth, comfortable ride. As QFD is a cross-functional process, it requires market research that is useful for both strategic and operational decisions.

The process involves creating a "House of Quality" (HOQ) matrix that links customer requirements to the design and engineering of the product. The HOQ matrix is used to identify and prioritize customer requirements and to ensure that they are consistently met throughout the design and development process. HOQ matrix is a key component of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method and it is used to link customer requirements to the design and engineering of a product. The matrix is divided into several sections, each with its own specific purpose.

The customer needs section: this section lists the customer requirements or needs, such as performance, durability, and ease of use, that the product must meet.

The technical characteristics and design attributes section: this section lists the design and engineering characteristics, such as size, weight, and materials, that will be used to meet the customer requirements.

The correlation section: this section is used to establish the relationship between the customer requirements and the technical characteristics. It is represented by a matrix, where the customer requirements are listed along one axis and the technical characteristics along the other.

The competitive evaluation section: this section is used to evaluate the competition products and services, it compares the features and characteristics of the product or service being developed with those of competing products.

The importance-performance matrix: this section is used to evaluate the importance of customer requirements in relation to the performance of the product or service.

The prioritization matrix: this section is used to prioritize the customer requirements and technical characteristics that are most important to the overall success of the product or service.

In conclusion, the HOQ matrix, in every variation, is used as a tool to identify and prioritize customer requirements and to ensure that they are consistently met throughout the design and development process. One benefit of using QFD is that it utilizes a graphical format for presenting #data, which is easy for both engineers and marketers to understand. This format creates a natural connection between different functions within a company. Since its creation in 1972, QFD has continued to evolve to meet the needs of product development teams.