The Need for Quality Function Deployment

One thing that never changes is the daily heightening of the level of customer’s demands, creating the need for businesses to handle accurately the following situations:

Diversification of customer’s needs
Increased interest in customer satisfaction
Introduction of new products that match market needs
Accelerated schedules for product development
Quality assurance from product development sources
Creation of attractive products and services
Reliable value assurance
Accurate handling of product liability issues
Timely compliance with ISO 9000 series standards
Timely compliance with ISO 14000 series standards

A certain level of preparation is necessary in order to be able to respond to a wide range of situations in a timely manner, and businesses need to listen to the voice of the customer, keep a careful watch on market trends, as well as organize and maintain on a regular basis a database of information that can be referred to at any time. It is not just factory equipment and working drawings or the filing of office documentation that needs “Sorting Out” and “Setting Limits”, but also quality data and work operations themselves.

In this case, the word “Sorting Out” refers specifically to categorizing information into necessary items and unnecessary ones as well as removing unnecessary ones. The word “Setting Limits” refers specifically to managing a database of information that can be referred to at any time. Effectively organizing and maintaining data makes it easier to understand cause-and-effect relationships, which is an essential element of management activities. A thorough understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship between human behavior and its results is what enables effective control.

The QFD concept is essential to achieving this. Utilization of the three QFD principles described in this document in determining cause-and-effect relationships will enable you to respond to a wide range of situations in a timely manner.