QFD
A Useful Quality Table
Many people have the idea that a quality table has to be some gigantic matrix combining a required quality deployment table and a quality characteristic deployment table. Quality tables, however, are not created for their own sake. They are tools to be used for an express purpose, and to that…
Read More »Quality Deployment and a Narrow Definition of Quality Function Deployment
Quality function deployment is a concept that originated in Japan, and although it is known worldwide by the acronym QFD, the name quality function deployment is a direct translation of the original Japanese name: hinshitsu kinô tenkai. It was originally proposed in 1978 by Drs. Yôji Akao and Shigeru Mizuno,…
Read More »Conceptual Diagrams of Quality Function Deployment
There are many different schemes for graphic representation of QFD, including triangular and rectangular layouts, which outside of Japan are sometimes called house block drawings. Diagrams in which a rectangular section is crowned with a triangular one are said to resemble a house and are sometimes referred to as a…
Read More »Quality Characteristics and Quality Elements
In quality tables and in discussions of QFD, the terms quality characteristic and quality element are often used interchangeably, which causes many people to ask me what the difference between the two is. The term quality characteristic has been defined by Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS), and the term as used…
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