QFD: an interactive algorithm for the prioritization of product's technical characteristics

The paper is concerned with the problem of the ``prioritization' ' of technical design characteristic s of a product. An interactive algorithm has been developed with the aim to better support the engineering design process by means of quality function deployment (QFD). The algorithm tries to soften customer approach to QFD in those situations in which customers are not able to give a ``significant' ' evaluation of the relative importance of their requirements . The method allows determining a ranking order of design characteristic s without the artificia l conversion of symbols contained in the relationshi p matrix, and without the use of explici t information concerning the relative degree of importance of customer requirements. A simple numerical applicatio n is also provide

A fuzzy-QFD approach for the enhancement of work equipment safety: a case study in the agriculture sector

The paper proposes a design for safety methodology based on the use of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method, focusing on the need to identify and analyse risks related to a working task in an effective manner, i.e. considering the specific work activities related to such a task. To reduce the drawbacks of subjectivity while augmenting the consistency of judgements, the QFD was augmented by both the Delphi method and the fuzzy logic approach. To verify such an approach, it was implemented through a case study in the agricultural sector. While the proposed approach needs to be validated through further studies in different contexts, its positive results in performing hazard analysis and risk assessment in a comprehensive and thorough manner can contribute practically to the scientific knowledge on the application of QFD in design for safety activities

Hazard function deployment: a QFD-based tool for the assessment of working tasks–a practical study in the construction industry

Despite the efforts made, the number of accidents has not significantly decreased in the construction industry. The main reasons can be found in the peculiarities of working activities in this sector, where hazard analysis and safety management are more difficult than in other industries. To deal with these problems, a comprehensive approach for hazard analysis is needed, focusing on the activities in which a working task is articulated since they are characterized by different types of hazards and thus risk levels. The study proposes a methodology that integrates quality function deployment (QFD) and analytic network process methods to correlate working activities, hazardous events and possible consequences. This provides more effective decision-making, while reducing the ambiguity of the qualitative assessment criteria. The results achieved can augment knowledge on the usability of QFD in safety research, providing a basis for its application for further studies

On the use of the quality function deployment matrix for flexible and quantitative prioritization

The QFD methodology is totally directed to the client instead of the product, wherein the effort from all the involved departments allows the match between the client’s requirements and the offered product. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the engineering characteristics that aim at satisfying those customer attributes. These engineering characteristics must be measurable, in order to provide analysis and optimization opportunities. Afterwards, the prioritization of these engineering characteristics is carried out so that they are performed in the most efficient way. Throughout the paper, the authors propose the design of a new simple, flexible and quantitative methodology of activities prioritization. Strategic planning is introduced in the QFD methodology of organization and proposes the minimization of possible incompatibilities that may arise between its capabilities and customer requirements. Business variables are introduced at different stages of the design in order to calculate with greater precision the value resulting from the prioritization and to allow nullity or uniformity of the relative importance of customer attributes. The qualitative fulfillment of the correlations of the QFD methodology is replaced by a quantitative aspect that aims to minimize the filling of errors and interpretation when using the methodology. At the end of the paper, an example of planning the design of a smartphone using the new methodology is given.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Application of Quality Function Deployment in new product and service development

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a systematic process to integrate customer requirements into every aspect of the design and delivery of products and services. Understanding the customers wants or needs from a product or service is crucial to the successful design and development of new products and services. QFD is a system that utilizes customer demands to meet client missions by outlining what the customer wants in a service or product. QFD was used in this research to determine customer needs and thus to ensure that customer demands are met. This methodology is demonstrated using two case studies: Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle (HFCV) and American Society for Engineering Management (ASEM). QFD was also integrated with SERVQUAL to present an effective methodology that was demonstrated in a Career Opportunities Center (COC) case study. The results included prioritized customer requirements, resource allocations and technical requirements. The QFD methodology presented in this study could serve as a powerful tool in the development of many new products/services --Abstract, page iv

A design navigator to guide the transition towards environmentally benign product/service systems based on LCA results

With rising societal demands for a transition towards a circular economy and intensifying market competition, manufacturing companies are increasingly seeking alternative ways to design and develop their industrial offerings with reduced environmental impacts and increased value. A possible solution lies in designing environmentally benign product/service systems (PSSs), which often requires the redesign of existing offerings in industrial practice. This article presents a design navigator named lifecycle-oriented function deployment (LFD), which builds on the widely utilized life cycle assessment (LCA) and quality function deployment (QFD) to support the redesign of existing industrial offerings towards PSSs with reduced environmental impacts. LFD includes a novel procedure to derive environmental requirements using LCA and to prioritize them along with customer requirements. It introduces a list of generic service design characteristics to support service design. It also contains a QFD-based procedure to identify design parameters (characteristics and components for both products and services) that have a relatively strong influence on the prioritized requirements. Further, a novel way is proposed to capture specific product and service design characteristics that are feasible to integrate and potentially have a rather strong influence on the requirements when combined. LFD is subsequently applied in a case study to conceptually redesign an existing offering in a manufacturing company. The application is then assessed using an LCA and a semi-structured interview with the users of LFD. The LCA results indicate significant reductions in environmental impacts of the redesigned concepts, and the interview revealed benefits for the practitioners who used LFD

COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORKS FOR DECISION MAKING SUPPORT IN MEDICAL EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT

Throughout medical equipment life cycle, hospitals need to take decisions on medical equipment management based upon a set of different criteria. In fact, medical equipment acquisition, preventive maintenance, and replacement are considered the most important phases, accordingly a properly planned management for these issues is considered a key decision of medical equipment management. In this thesis, a set of frameworks were developed regarding acquisition, preventive maintenance, and replacement to improve management process of medical equipment. In practice, quality function deployment was proposed as a core method around which the frameworks were developed

An Integration of Kano Model, QFD and Six Sigma to Present a New Description of DFSS

Business competitiveness is no longer a choice but a matter of survival in global market place. For any company, the continuous and timely development of new products and services, which include creative features that are expected to satisfy customers, is essential to remain competitive. At present, the companies not only focus on customer satisfaction, but also want to please them that ultimately lead them towards loyalty in future. Therefore, in-depth and quick understanding of the dynamic needs of customers can be important in the development of products and markets through a short period of time. However, there have been numerous failures in product development efforts leading towards enormous waste of time and resources. One of the reasons for this is the lack of a structured and comprehensive process for product development that utilizes powerful models and methodologies, such as Kano model, QFD and modern QI methodologies as well as the principles of concurrent engineering including cross-functional teams and timely communication. As all these methodologies share the same goals of pursuing customer satisfaction thus their integration into a common model is possible and beneficial Kano model strengthens the modern QI methodologies such as Six Sigma or Lean Six Sigma approach and further enhances customers’ satisfaction level. Six Sigma is used to achieve high-levels of stability through reduction in process and product variation. This directs to an almost defect free level which is also the focus of DFSS (or DMADV) building quality upstream for existing products and new product development methods. This level is essential to the customer, but not necessarily economic. Therefore, it is important to understand the customer's needs and requirements of the target, and understanding about company's own capabilities and costs. In addition to integrating Kano model and QFD into Six Sigma, the proposed approach extends previous works on these models. This paper presents a new description of the DFSS structured approach including a simple way for calculating the degree of importance for customer requirements with the adoption of Kano factor (K).An integrated approach for DFSS is proposed for practitioners to strategically understand the VOC. It included the use of different powerful tools such as Kano model, QFD, Taguchi’s QLF, TRIZ, AHP, DOE, SIPOC and FMEA. All of these tools are relevant and have consensus in terms of solving customer problems to achieve customer satisfaction. They also complement each other and can be integrated together, within DFSS, to form a better methodology. Therefore, the integration of these tools for the DFSS method is considered to be possible and useful. This work extended the previous works regarding these tools, included new ideas and incorporated them in a new model. Kano model lies in the center of the framework as it forms a basis for a profound understanding of the customer needs. The DFSS methodology utilizes Deming’s PDCA cycle through the DMADV phases for Cl. Kano model strengthens DFSS and brings an intelligent approach to understand and prioritize customer requirements. In addition, a generic case study is used to demonstrate some of the steps in the proposed methodology about how it can be implemented. Keywords: Kano model, QFD, QI, Six Sigma, VOC, DFSS, QLF, FMEA, CI, DMADV, SIPOC, Customer satisfaction, product developmen

Improving the quality of process reference models: A quality function deployment-based approach

Little academic work exists on managing reference model development and measuring reference model quality, yet there is a clear need for higher quality reference models. We address this gap by developing a quality management and measurement instrument. The foundation for the instrument is the well-known Quality Function Deployment (QFD) approach. The QFD-based approach incorporates prior research on reference model requirements and development approaches. Initial evaluation of the instrument is carried out with a case study of a logistic reference process. The case study reveals that the instrument is a valuable tool for the management and estimation of reference model quality

Engineering characteristics prioritisation in QFD using ordinal scales: a robustness analysis

Quality function deployment (QFD) is a management tool used for the design of new products/services and the related production/supply processes. One of the goals of the method is to translate the customer requirements (CRs) into measurable engineering characteristics (ECs) of the new product/service and prioritise them, basing on their relationships with CRs and the related importances. To this purpose, the current scientific literature encompasses several alternative approaches (the most used is the independent scoring method – ISM), in most of which cardinal properties are arbitrarily attributed to data collected on ordinal scales. This paper describes and discusses a new approach based on ME-MCDM (multi expert/multiple criteria decision making) techniques, which do not require any debatable ordinal to cardinal conversion. The theoretical principles and the robustness of the method are presented and tested through some application examples related to a well-known case study reported in the scientific literature