Experience the QFD : An Automobile Bumper Client Request: There is too much damage to bumpers in low-speed collisions. Customer wants a better bumper.

Step 1: Identifying the Customer(s) Who wants the product? Who will build the product and how? Who will sell the product? Who will use the product?

QFD Example An Automobile Bumper Step 1: Identify All Customer(s) –Repair Workshops –Automobile Owner –Manufacturing Plant –Automobile parts store

Step 2: Determining Customer Requirements Develop a list of all the customer requirements and constraints. What is the difference between a customer requirement and a customer constraint?

Constraint vs. Requirement Functional Requirements are statements of the specific performance of the design: What the product should do. Constraints are external factors that in some way limit the selection of system or subsystem characteristics.

Types of Requirements Normal Needs – Requirements so fundamental they are often not expressed, however they are crucial and must be identified. If not met, customer is NOT happy. Expected Needs – Requirements which provide increased satisfaction as performance improves. Excitement Needs – Requirements that cause immediate happiness. Creation of excitement features will differentiate your product from the competition.

QFD Example An Automobile Bumper Step 2: Determine Customer Requirements/Constraints –I want something that looks nice (normal) –It must hold my license plate (expected) –I want it strong enough not to dent (excitement) –It must protect my tail-lights and head-lights (expected) –I don’t want to pay too much (normal) –I want something that doesn’t rust (expected) –I want something that lasts a long time (normal) –I want something that protects my fender/hood (normal)

Step 3: Prioritizing the Requirements Each Requirement/Constraint should be listed in order of importance. This helps the designer decide how much effort, time, and money should be invested to achieve the Requirement/Constraint Prioritizing can be done in many ways, we will demonstrate the use of a Binary Comparison to generate a weighting factor

Binary Comparison Compare each requirement/constraint to all others, using a 0 and 1 to determine which is most important. Sum up ‘score’ for each requirement and use percentages to determine order of importance.

QFD Example An Automobile Bumper Step 3: Prioritize Customer Requirements

Step 4: Competitive Benchmarking Benchmarking provides a standard, or point of reference and range, that can be used to judge quality, value, and performance. It provides a perspective on what the best-in-class product is and what makes it so. Final outcomes from benchmarking include discoveries about where the product and industry appear to be headed in the future (industry trends.)

What do you look for while Benchmarking your product? Functions performed Targeted Market Segment Cost Reliability/Warranty Geometry, Space Requirements Material used on individual parts Ergonomics

Where to find Benchmark Information? Stores and other locations with similar products Libraries Thomas Register of Companies ( Consumer Reports Trade Magazines Patents ( World Wide Web Similar Technology Yellow Pages

Competitive Benchmarking Once you have obtained data about potential competitors, you need to compare each competing product with your customer requirements and constraints. Some comparisons are objective, some subjective.

QFD Example An Automobile Bumper Step 4: Competition Benchmarking –Identify Competitors –Test and Analyze Competitor Products –Reverse Engineer Competitor Products –Rate Competitor Products against customer requirements/constraints

Step 5: Translating Customer Requirements into Engineering Specifications You’ve got a list of general requirements, you’ve spoken with your client and have their vision, and you researched a ton of market information. But normally the information you gathered isn’t specific enough in an engineering sense. Low cost Reliable Strong Sustainable What do those words mean in the engineering world?

Step 5: Translating Customer Requirements into Engineering Specifications As an Engineer, you must take your customer’s requirements and constraints and translate them into measurable engineering specifications: Low cost => –Production cost under $25 –Retail cost under $50 Reliability => –MTBF of 200,000 hours –Warranty against failure of 1 year Strong –Specify a yield strength to help choose material

Step 6: Set Engineering Targets for Design Specifications Determine reasonable Engineering Targets for each of your Design Specifications 1.Ascertain how the competition meets the engineering targets 2.Remember targets are not set in stone – they can change as the product develops Engineering targets must be measurable and or testable to be useful.

QFD Example An Automobile Bumper Steps 5 and 6: Translate Customer Requirements into Measurable Engineering Specifications and define target values –Specify how license plate will be held –Specify how to resist dents through material yield strength, young's modulus, etc. –Specify with a dollar amount the term ‘inexpensive’

Visualizing your QFD You have all this information. How do you organize it? 1. Create an Engineering Specification Document 2.Create a Competitive Benchmarking Document 3.Show information in a House of Quality

QFD Example An Automobile Bumper Put prioritized Customer Requirements into a House of Quality Chart

Competitive Benchmarking Scale Below is a possible scale for rating the competition’s product based on customer requirements. 1 = the design does not meet the requirement 2 = the design meets the requirement slightly 3 = the design meets the requirement somewhat 4 = the design meets the requirement mostly 5 = the design completely meets the requirement

QFD Example An Automobile Bumper Put competitive benchmarking information into House of Quality

House of Quality Example An Automobile Bumper