Modelling the Product Development performance of Colombian Companies

Organised by: Cranfield UniversityThis paper presents the general model of the Product Development Process (PDP) in the Metal mechanics Industry in Barranquilla-Colombia, since this sector contributes significantly to the productivity of this industrial city. This case study counted on a five-company sample. The main goal was to model the current conditions of the PDP according to the Concurrent Engineering philosophy. The companies were selected according to their productive profile, in order to contrast differences regarding the structure of their productive processes, conformation of multidisciplinary teams, integration of different areas, customers and suppliers to the PDP; human resources, information, technology and marketing constraints.Mori Seiki – The Machine Tool Compan

Applying Quality Function Deployment to Social Housing?

Purpose of this paper This paper focuses on the application of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) in a Housing Association located in the UK. Facing the problem of improving a company‟s performance, practitioners and academics have fashioned and applied a variety of models, theories and techniques. Design / methodology / approach The research questions were developed from a review of the quality and process improvement literature and tested using evidence from field- based, action research within a UK Housing Association company. The case study provides insight to the benefits and challenges arising from the application of QFD. Findings The results provided insight to the benefits and challenges arising from the application of a specific tool, QFD. The primary findings were: i) QFD can be successfully adapted, applied and utilised within the challenging environment of social housing and other sectors, such as professional services; ii) the model can be modified to use most processes/sub-processes; it must include both external and internal requirements and, to be useful, use more detailed process parameters appropriately. Practical implications The conclusions drawn add to on-going commentaries on aspects of quality improvement, especially the application of QFD within the service sector. The authors develop questions for future research regarding improvement projects. Originality/ Value The conclusion proposes that the implementation of QFD should have a positive impact upon a company; if approached in the right manner. It provides a useful mechanism for developing evidence based strategy of operational change, control and improvement. The research proposes questions for future research into aspects of operational quality and efficiency

Product Design

Product design is a comprehensive process related to the creation of new products, and the ability to design and develop efficient products are key to success in today’s dynamic global market. Written by experts in the field, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the product design process and its applications in various fields, particularly engineering. Over seven chapters, the authors explore such topics as development of new product design methodologies, implementation of effective methods for integrated products, development of more visualized environments for task-based conceptual design methods, and development of engineering design tools based on 3D photogrammetry, among others

A Kano Model Based Linguistic Application for Customer Needs Analysis

Linguistic is the systematic study of language. Now quality doesn’t always mean the “tangible attribute” of a product or service. It may also be linguistic. Thus, linguistic has applied for product design through capturing the voice of Customers. Capturing of the voice of customers has been done in different way, like Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Kansei Engineering and Kano Model regarding product design. Kano Model has two dimensional linguistic approaches, which is more voice capturing capacity than other methods. Reverse attribute study is important for more reliable product design for next actions than other attributes of Kano model i.e. attractive, must‐be, one‐dimensional and indifferent. Thus, this paper is exclusively study for reverse attribute. For this purpose, a reverse attribute based linguistic approach, which is run in the computer system for product design regarding Kano model aspect using threshold numbers of real consumers opinions converted into probability through fuzzy concept as an input of Monte Carlo Simulation system determining virtual customers is described in this paper. 

SEE: Extending the Service Engineering Methodology for Experience Innovation

This study is concerned with improving the Service Engineering methodology for experience-oriented service systems. It critiques the Service Engineering methodology based on the motivating example of automotive navigation service system design, and it describes the Service Experience Engineering (SEE) methodology, which extends Service Engineering by making three improvements, namely the use of formal models of experiences, service-experience requirement analysis, and the simulation of service experiences. The example presented here demonstrates that SEE can help capture context-wide service-experience requirements and translate them into functional requirements. This study further indicates that a methodology for engineering service experiences is possible and promising

Manufacturing Quality Function Deployment: Literature Review and Future Trends

A comprehensive review of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) literature is made using extensive survey as a methodology. The most important results of the study are: (i) QFD modelling and applications are one-sided; prioritisation of technical attributes only maximise customer satisfaction without considering cost incurred (ii) we are still missing considerable knowledge about neural networks for predicting improvement measures in customer satisfaction (iii) further exploration of the subsequent phases (process planning and production planning) of QFD is needed (iv) more decision support systems are needed to automate QFD (v) feedbacks from customers are not accounted for in current studies

Deploying business excellence – success factors for high performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of how organisations successfully deploy business excellence (BE) by comparing the tools and strategies implemented by organisations at different levels of BE maturity. Design/methodology/approach – The study used a combination of a questionnaire, discussion groups and interviews with respondents including private sector organisations across India, Japan, Republic of China, Singapore and Thailand. These countries were selected due to them being considered as having the most advanced BE organisations in Asia by the Asian Productivity Organisation (APO) that commissioned the study. Once triangulated, the quantitative data were analysed through use of the IBM SPSS Statistical software package. Findings – The study has shown that on average, organisations with higher BE maturity outperform their less mature counterparts. The study also revealed that organisations with a high BE maturity were more likely to use specific tools and were more likely to use some of these tools more effectively. Finally, the study identified differences in strategic approaches to BE between organisations with high and low BE maturity. Research limitations/implications – Only five Asian countries were considered due to resource limitations. However, the study of 74 organisations represents one of the most comprehensive to date with 30 of these organisations being award winners. Practical implications – The findings offer guidance to those organisations wishing to progress from a low level of BE maturity to a more advanced level. The findings have already assisted the APO and its 20 member countries in the development and implementation of strategic interventions at a regional and national level. Originality/value – No other study in Asia has been conducted on such a large sample of BE-orientated organisations. The study was also unique in its focus on the tools and strategies that should be used for successful BE deployment. In addition, the study is one of only a few in Asia that has studied the results of BE on organisational performance