Quality function deployment

Competency Group: Business

Type: Marketing

Description: Quality function deployment (QFD) is designed to help planners focus on characteristics of a new or existing product or service from the viewpoints of market segments, company, or technology-development needs. The technique yields graphs and matrices. QFD helps transform customer needs (the voice of the customer [VOC]) into engineering characteristics (and appropriate test methods) for a product or service, prioritizing each product or service characteristic while simultaneously setting development targets for product or service. Some of the needs and wants addressed are explicit demands made by the customer, and some are unspoken. The goal of QFD is to focus an entire design and engineering team on the satisfaction of customer needs.

Citation for Description: Quality function deployment. (2011). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_Function_Deployment.

Advantages: One of the main advantages of QFD is that it focuses the R & D team specifically on the needs of the customer, hence there is a higher chance of market success.

Limitations: May need outsourcing to implement correctly and can be expensive.

Target Audience: Top management, Marketing, R&D

Relevant to Universal Design: Yes

Stages and Steps: 4.11, 4.12, 5.3, 6.3, 7.10

Free Resource: QFD Online. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.qfdonline.com/.

Free Resource: Davis, G., Zannier, C., Geras, A. (2009). Quality function deployment. Retrieved from Slideshare website: http://www.slideshare.net/guy_davis/quality-function-deployment.