Application of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) at
Table of Contents
Introduction
Intense competition in international business, pressures firms to utilise product quality to create value for consumers in a cost-effective manner and/or distinguish the company from its competitors. Quality is an important source of competitive advantage. However, quality should also match the needs and expectations of consumers to support effective value creation. This requires a competitive strategy that strongly links product quality with customer requirements since the ability to match customer needs is key to competitiveness.
A tool that enables business firms to link quality with customer requirements is the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) model. This model first emerged in 1978 as the process of translating customer requirements into product design and engineering specifications. This model creates a relationship among various parties—consumers, design engineers, competition, production team. As such, applying QFD captures the entire process of conceptualising, designing and manufacturing of a product. Having these stages ensures the efficient achievement of quality because issues during the different stages emerge for immediate resolution. By integrating customer requirements in these stages, the final product is likely of a quality satisfactory to consumers.
Many well-known business firms have applied the QFD model to establish the link between customer requirements with product design and production processes. Daimler Chrysler, Ford and General Motors are firms within the automobile industry that applied QFD. IBM and Boeing are other firms that also utilised QFD to achieve the quality expectations of its customers. Utilising QFD contributed a number of benefits including cost efficiency, product quality improvement, and customer satisfaction.
The paper has two parts. The first part applies QFD in the development of perfume able to represent the company name as its brand name while reflecting the requirements of its target customers from a perfume. The second part discusses the problem in the implementation of the QFD model.
Part A: Application of the QFD Model
The application of the QFD model employs four stages including ‘House of Quality’, ‘Parts Deployment’, ‘Process Planning’, and ‘Production Design’. House of Quality constitutes the initial stage. This identifies the different critical technical areas requiring change. By doing so, issues could emerge for the first time for consideration in the next stage. Parts Deployment involves the conceptualisation of the product design that best suits the values identified in the previous stage. Process Planning involves the conversion or transference of details of the product design into parameters, methods and processes. Production Planning involves the identification of specific instructions for production including particular descriptions of the part for measurement. This results to a prototype and a final product for launch.
Forming QFD Team
The determination of customer requirements as basis for design characteristics requires a cross-functional team with members coming from the different departments particularly the marketing department, customer service department, product development department, and manufacturing department. The marketing and customer service departments provide first hand information on the characteristics, components or design that the company’s customers would require from a perfume. The product development department provides technical expertise on the components to use in the perfume itself and the perfume bottle. The manufacturing department provides insight into the viability of actualising the design into a product for consumption with consideration of resource availability and utilisation. The members of the team represent different perspectives on the design and processes together with issues that requires consideration to ensure the effective achievement of intended outcomes.
Four Steps of QFD Process
Applying the QFD model has four stages, which are:
Ø Stage 1 House of Quality (Product Planning)
During this stage, the cross-functional team determines analyses and prioritises customer requirements in order to derive product characteristics that would satisfy customers. This stage also involves benchmarking or consideration of product characteristics of existing competitors. This confirms customer requirements as well as identifies the value created by the new product.
Ø Stage 2 Parts Deployment (Product Design)
In the second stage, the team converts customer requirements into detailed product design including the components used and packaging.
Ø Stage 3 Process Planning (Process Design)
In the third stage, the team focuses on the development or identification of the methods and processes that fit the product design.
Ø Stage 4 Production Planning (Production Design)
In the fourth and last stage, the team further develops the methods and processes by specifying details of procedures and control processes at the manufacturing levels to translate the product design and production methods into a tangible product, which reflects customer requirements.
Application to a New Perfume Product
The new product for Brooks Brothers is a perfume reflecting the brand equity of the company. The perfume should be something that represents class and elegance in terms of fragrance, ingredients, colour, texture, container, and other components of packaging. The company’s primary business is men’s formal, casual apparel, shoes, belts, brief cases, and accessories. It has also ventured into women’s clothing but only to a limited extent. The company wants to expand its product line to create a full line of products for men to increase value for its consumers and to make the store experience rewarding and longer increasing the chances of increased sales.
Forming a Cross-functional QFD Team
The members of the cross-functional team involve an eight-man team, two from the four departments, which are sales departments, customer service department, R&D department, and manufacturing department. The team provides different information as well as perspectives on the different aspects of the product design and production processes. The R&D department provides unique ideas for the product design, the sales and customer service departments provide insight into the ideas matching customer requirements, and the manufacturing department provides insight to the ways of efficiently manufacturing the product. Having two-members from each department ensures confirmation of the perspectives of the departments.
Stage 1 House of Quality
The initial step in the first stage is the identification of the characteristics that customers want from the new perfume product of the company. The derivation of information from customers is through store surveys, customer feedback through customer service, online market surveys, and product trends from its competitors.
Customer feedback from customer service and product trends provide information on what customers are looking for in an apparel store and brand as well as extent of potential uptake for the new product.
Surveys involved the posting of different questions encompassing the characteristics or product experience they expect from a new men’s perfume. This means determining those that customers prefer and detest. The respondents had room to provide feedback on any or all perfume characteristics from the fragrance, colour, ingredients and texture, to the container’s shape and application options, to the packaging including the brand print and box. Feedback reflected different levels of needs, which are: 1) basic needs; 2) performance needs; and 3) excitement needs. Basic needs refer to expectations of the basic product features and function of a perfume, which is to constitute part of men’s daily hygiene especially if they work in the corporate world. Performance needs are expectations of the functions of the new perfume including the expression of mood and personality through fragrance. Excitement needs comprise functions that would enchant and surprise customers if incorporated into the perfume.
Information drawn from consumers point to the following customer preferences for a new perfume, which are:
v Unique fragrance
v Class or elegant fragrance
v Long lasting fragrance
v Natural components or earth friendly ingredients
v Hypoallergenic
v Elegant container and box
v Clear texture
v Pleasing colour
v Fits different occasions
v Blends well with sweat
The team considered, analysed and prioritised all the requirements taken from the different sources to resolve trade-off issues especially in quality, cost and time factors. This resulted to the identification of unique and elegant fragrance as the top priority given 9 as weight, followed by long-lasting fragrance, hypoallergenic character, and blends well with sweat with a weight of 8. The rest of the customer requirements are shown in the House of Quality graph in the separate excel file.
Stage 2 Parts Deployment
Stage 3 Process Planning
Stage 4 Production Planning
House of Quality Chart
Benefits from Applying QFD
Part B
Advantages of QFD Model
Problems of Applications
Difficulty in Determining Customer Needs
Organizational Problems
Corporate Culture
Organizational Structure
Management Commitment and Resources Allocation
Hindering Innovation
Methodological Problems
Conclusion
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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