Methods and techniques to help quality function deployment (QFD)

Quality function deployment (QFD) is a management tool that provides a visual connective process to help teams focus on the needs of the customers throughout the total development cycle of a product or process. It provides the means for translating customer needs into appropriate technical requirements for each stage of a product/processdevelopment lifecycle. It helps to develop more customeroriented, higherquality products. While the structure provided by QFD can be significantly beneficial, it is not a simple tool to use. This article outlines how techniques such as fuzzy logic, artificial neural networks, and the Taguchi method can be combined with QFD to resolve some of its drawbacks, and proposes a synergy between QFD and the three methods and techniques reviewed.