| What is it? |
| QFD is used to translate customer requirements to engineering specifications. It is a link between customers - design engineers - competitors - manufacturing. |
| Why is it
important? |
| It is very powerful as it incorporates the voice of the customer in the designs - hence it is likely that the final product will be better designed to satisfy the customer's needs. Moreover, it provides an insight into the whole design and manufacturing operation (from concept to manufacture) and it can dramatically improve the efficiency as production problems are resolved early in the design phase. |
| When to use it? |
QFD is applied in the early stages of the design phase so that the customer wants are incorporated into the final product. Furthermore it can be used as a planning tool as it identifies the most important areas in which the effort should focus in relation to our technical capabilities. Ask yourself these questions:
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1. |
Why do QFD in this case? |
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2. |
What will the QFD be made of? |
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3. |
Is it the right tool at this time? |
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4. |
Is this the right place for implementation? |
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5. |
What is the goal and what is success? |
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6. |
Who all should we involve? |
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| How to use it? |
Follow these steps:
| 1. |
Learn what each element represents |
| 2. |
Form a multidisciplinary team |
| 3. |
The development of the first issue of the charts is the most time consuming part. |
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Once this is completed regular reviews and updates require minimum time. Remember that the benefits from an appropriately developed QFD chart are very big compared with the effort - put focus on the issues that are important to the customer. |
Benefits of QFD include better understanding of customer demands and design interactions; early manufacturing involvement during the design process reducing design iterations and focusing the design while fostering teamwork.
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| Food for Thought ! |
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