QFD is a systematic tool for aligning customer needs with product or service design. It is a planning activity that reduces design cycle time, minimizing changes downstream and leading to lower costs and quicker time-to-market.

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Quality Function Deployment
Translating Customer Needs With Quality Function Deployment

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Voice of the Customer
Quality Function Deployment 2
Understanding what customers want is
essential for providing better products and
services.
When customers suggest enhancements to
products or services, the task of selecting
which to implement can be challenging.
Companies should include their requirements
into the product or process development cycles,
translating them into design requirements.

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Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
Quality Function Deployment 3
A systematic method that turns customer
needs into clear technical specifications.
Makes customer requirements understandable
and actionable by the various functional areas
within a company.
Establishes a connection between customer
requirements and product or process capabilities to
ensure that customers receive what they truly desire.

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Applications
Quality Function Deployment 4
Widely used technique in product development when
designing and refining products, services and processes.
Particularly useful in certain
industries:
• Manufacturing
• Engineering
• Information technology
• Consumer products
• Logistics
Particularly useful in
certain functional areas:
• Research and
development
• Quality management
• Operational excellence
• Business planning

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QFD Methodology
QFD is a comprehensive methodology used in product and service
development to ensure that customer needs and expectations are
systematically translated into design and engineering specifications.
Gathering
information on
customer needs,
preferences, and
expectations.
Thorough
analysis of
customer
feedback.
House of
Quality (HOQ)
creation.
Cross-functional
collaboration for
HOQ exercise
completion.
Customer needs
and technical
features
prioritization
based on impact.
Decision-making in
alignment with
customer
expectations and
company goals.
Quality Function Deployment 5

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Gathering Information on Customer Needs
Customer needs are typically determined through various methods . . .
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Market
research
Social media
Observational
studies
Customer
Complaints &
Suggestions
Face-to-face
customer
interactions
Customer
Surveys
Brainstorming
sessions with
the customer

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Benefits – Reduces Time and Improves Productivity
While QFD is a straightforward planning activity, it reduces the
overall design cycle time by making fewer changes downstream.
This will result in lower costs and a faster time to market.
Quality Function Deployment 7
Customer
Design Produce
Redesign
Plan
Benefits
Design Produce
Redesign
Plan
Concept

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Benefits – Reduces Startup Costs
The area under each curve becomes the total cost to develop a new product.
Quality Function Deployment 8
Time
Design
Changes
Using QFD
No QFD
1st product
Not only are their total costs higher
to produce the product, but they also
generate an inferior-quality product,
resulting in additional costs to fix.

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Other Benefits
Quality Function Deployment 9
Promotes improved communication
between different functional areas.
Accumulates knowledge of customer
needs, design requirements, and
planning information in one place
Avoids missing product or service
features that are important for
product success.
Optimally allocates resources by
identifying the 'vital few'
requirements.

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QFD Types
QFD comes in various types, each tailored for specific applications and
purposes.
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Product QFD
Focuses on product
development and
quality improvement.
Service QFD
Applies product QFD
principles to service
design and delivery.
Competitive QFD
Evaluates and
compares a product
or service against
those of competitors.
Process QFD
Helps identify crucial
processes and
prioritize CTQ
characteristics.

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Product and Service QFD
Quality Function Deployment 11
• Translates customer requirements into product specifications
or design parameters.
• Helps engineers to focus on significant design elements.
• Employed early in the design process.
Product QFD
• Specifically adapted for service industries
• Focuses on translating customer needs into service
characteristics.
• Relevant in service-oriented industries where the focus is on
delivering intangible experiences.
Service QFD

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Competitive QFD
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Serve as a competitive analysis tool.
Involves benchmarking against competitors
Helps identify areas where products or services
fall short of competitors, and areas in which
enhancements can create competitive
advantages.

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Process QFD
Quality Function Deployment 13
10
30
20
40
Provides a structured approach for prioritizing
improvements based on their impact on
customer satisfaction and business objectives.
Helps Quality personnel to identify which Critical-
to-Quality (CTQs) characteristics are of the highest
importance to the customer, thus improving
existing processes for enhanced quality.
Customers in this context could be either internal
(within the company) or external customers.

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House of Quality
A graphical technique that Illustrates the relationship
between customer requirements and product or
process attributes.
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A key tool in
QFD
Represents
visually the
relationships
Consists of
multiple tables
and matrices
Named for its
house-shaped
appearance

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House of Quality Benefits
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Facilitates a structured approach
to decision-making.
Supports continuous improvement
by adapting to evolving
requirements.
Improves both the speed and
quality of the QFD process.
Encourages cross-functional
involvement from diverse
perspectives.

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QFD vs. House of Quality
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The House of Quality diagram should not be confused with Quality Function
Deployment but rather as a specific component within a complete QFD exercise.
“
“
How the House of Quality fits into the QFD?
Gathering
information on
customer needs,
preferences, and
expectations.
Thorough
analysis of
customer
feedback.
House of
Quality (HOQ)
creation.
Cross-functional
collaboration for
HOQ exercise
completion.
Customer needs
and technical
features
prioritization
based on impact.
Decision-making in
alignment with
customer
expectations and
company goals.

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There are many versions of the House of Quality
The following is one of the simplest versions that focuses on the essential
building blocks.
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Strength of Relationships
Used in the relationship matrix
Strong 9
Medium 3
Weak 1
Customer requirements
Technical features
Relationship matrix
Correlation matrix
Planning matrix
Technical matrix
Whats vs. Hows
Technical Interactions
Used in the correlation matrix
Positive
Negative
Hows vs. Hows
Whats
Hows
Interactions
The roof

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Customer Requirements (The ‘Whats’)
Represent the needs, preferences, and expectations of the
customers.
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Ideally obtained in brainstorming
sessions with the customer
In Process QFD, these are the high-
level Y’s that indicate the voice of the
customer
These inputs should only be
provided by the customer
If necessary, these needs can be
categorized for clarity

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Relative Importance
It is a relative ranking of how important each of the
customer needs is to the customer.
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Weight
Can be assessed through customer feedback or
market research.
Generally provided on a numerical scale of 1 to 5
with 5 being the highest customer importance.

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Technical Features (The ‘Hows’)
Represent how the company is going to translate customer
needs into product and process attributes.
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Generally obtained in brainstorming
sessions with the team
In Process QFD, these are the key X’s
or critical to quality (CTQ)
characteristics
Include functional and design
elements essential for meeting
customer requirements
These features can be categorized
for clarity

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Relationship Matrix (Interaction Matrix)
The central area of the House of Quality where the existence
and strength of the relationship between each customer
requirement and technical feature is rated.
Quality Function Deployment 21
Each label can have an associated
numerical value that will be used
later in computing the technical
importance
In Process QFD, used to clarify the
complex interrelationship between
the Y’s and X’s
Each box in the matrix represents
the influence (positive or negative)
of the needs on the features
The influence is labeled in terms of
High (H), Medium (M), Low (L), or
None (blank)

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Correlation Matrix (The ‘Roof’)
Represents interactions between pairs of technical features.
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Includes both complementary and
conflicting (positive or negative)
relationships
Follow-up from any two columns to
the point where they intersect in the
roof
Changes in one technical feature
may impact others
Helps to understand the impact that
the HOWs have on each other

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Planning Matrix
Uses the performance ratings of products or processes and
customer importance ratings to plan improvements.
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Allows for the assessment of
competing products or processes
according to customer needs
Answers how much improvement is
needed for
the current product or process
Used to plan strategic changes that
are focused on customer needs
Generally, contains three area:
performance rating, benchmark
rating, and
planned rating

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Technical Matrix
Where the weighted scores for technical features are calculated
to determine their priorities.
Quality Function Deployment 24
It also allows for a comparison of
technical features against competing
products or processes
Generally, contains three area:
technical priority, competition
benchmarks, and target values
Identifies the critical few technical
priorities or CTQs
Multiply the value associated with
each symbol by the value of the
weighting score in its row, and add
these values up

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QFD is a Team Effort
QFD requires cross-functional team effort with diverse
skills to collaboratively complete all elements.
Quality Function Deployment 25
Members can hold each other accountable for completing tasks and meeting goals.
A team collectively
address challenges more
effectively
A team fosters
creativity and
innovation
A team collaboration
allows for consensus
building
A team provides a
holistic perspective

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Building the House of Quality
Quality Function Deployment 26
Engage with customers and collect information on their needs,
preferences, and expectations
Guide customers in assigning relative importance to each requirement, using a scale
ranging from 10 for critical importance to 1 for slight importance.

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Building the House of Quality
Quality Function Deployment 27
With your team, list the customer requirements along the left
and the technical features along the top part of the House of Quality
Assign a weight to each requirement based on the importance to the customer.
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Building the House of Quality
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Evaluate the relationship between each customer requirement and
technical feature in the relationship matrix
In the correlation matrix, assess the potential impact of achieving one technical
feature on another.
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Building the House of Quality
Quality Function Deployment 29
In the planning matrix, plan improvements based on performance ratings
of products (or processes) and customer importance ratings
If applicable, conduct a competitive analysis for customer requirements to
benchmark performance.
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Building the House of Quality
Quality Function Deployment 30
In the technical matrix, sum up each column to determine the prioritized
technical feature or CTQ characteristics
If applicable, conduct a competitive analysis for technical features to benchmark
performance.
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Building the House of Quality
Quality Function Deployment 31
Updated the House of Quality diagram as new information becomes available
• QFD is an iterative process that allows for continuous improvement.
• The HOQ should be updated as new information becomes available or as the
project progresses
• This ensures that decisions remain aligned with evolving customer requirements
and organizational goals.

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Strength of Relationships
Used in the relationship matrix
Strong 5
Medium 2
Week 1
House of Quality Template
Quality Function Deployment 32
Direction of improvement
Customer requirements
Technical
features
Weight
Performance
rating
Competition
benchmarks
Planned
rating
Technical priority
Performance rating
Competition benchmarks
Target values
Whats vs. Hows
Technical Interactions
Used in the correlation matrix
Positive 5
Negative 2
Hows vs. Hows

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Example 1 – Buying a Car
This example is created by a car manufacturer to analyze customer requirements
when purchasing a car.
Quality Function Deployment 33
Quality Function Deployment
Customer requirements
Technical
features
Weight
Adaptive
cruise
control
0 – 60
time
Size of
seats
Liters per
100km
Climate
control
systems
Cost for a
basic
service
Comfortable front seating 7
Able to fit three adults in the back seat 8
Includes advanced technology features 5
Equipped with various safety features 7
Good acceleration for safe overtaking 4
Economical to run 9
Technical priority 82 45 79 31 22 88
Strong 9
Medium 3
Weak 1

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Example 1 – Buying a Car
Quality Function Deployment 34
Customer requirements
Technical
features
Weight
Adaptive
cruise
control
0 – 60
time
Size of
seats
Liters per
100km
Climate
control
systems
Cost for a
basic
service
Comfortable front seating 7
Able to fit three adults in the back seat 8
Includes advanced technology features 5
Equipped with various safety features 7
Good acceleration for safe overtaking 4
Economical to run 9
Technical priority 82 45 79 31 22 88
This example is simple, generic,
and uses only a single matrix
(the relationship matrix) to
demonstrate the key elements.
A real example like this one would
be more comprehensive and
include additional customer
requirements & technical features.
It is often sufficient to translate
the customer requirements
into technical features as
outlined in this example.

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Example 2 – Banking Online
This partially completed example is for an
online banking portal created by the IT
team of a bank to improve their online
banking services.
Quality Function Deployment 35
Quality Function Deployment
Direction of improvement
Voice of the customer
CTQs
Weight
Time to
login
Number of
connected
apps
User-
friendly
interface
Data
validation
rules
(accuracy
rate of data)
Time to
respond to
online
inquiries
Performance
rating
Competition
benchmarks
Planned
rating
Ease of accessing the website 4
Ease of online applications 5
Ease of website navigation 4
Responsive customer support 5
Integration with financial tools 3
Technical priority 20 18 41 19 25
Performance rating 12 secs 14 52% 93% 8.4 mins
Competition benchmarks 8 secs 12 84% 97% 3.9 mins
Target values 8 secs 14 80% 95% 5.0 mins
Strong 5
Medium 3
Weak 1
Indicates whether increasing or decreasing
a specific technical feature has a positive
influence on customer satisfaction.
Positive
Negative

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Further Information – The QFD Opportunity
Quality Function Deployment 36
QFD provides a chance to genuinely listen to
customers, who may not always express their
needs directly.
The challenge is to go beyond what
customers explicitly say and uncovers
valuable insights.
It's about grasping not just what customers
state but comprehending their underlying
needs.

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Further Information – QFD answer the Questions . . .
Quality Function Deployment 37
What improvement in technical requirements would result in the most significant
gains?
Which customer requirements are the most important ones?
How do our current technical requirements compare to those of our competitors?
How well do our current technical capabilities match and support customer
requirements?
How well do our competitors’ products or services fulfill customer requirements?
How well does our current product or service fulfill customer requirements?

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Further Information – Useful Tools
The Pugh Matrix and Paired comparisons are useful for comparing
different options and weighing customer requirements.
Quality Function Deployment 38

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Further Information – QFD Flow Down
One of the characteristics of QFD is the ability to cascade through multiple
houses.
Quality Function Deployment 39
Manufacturing Environment
Customer needs
Technical features
Part characteristics
Manufacturing process
Production requirements
Service Environment
Customer needs
Service requirements
Service processes
Process controls
Process Improvement
Customer needs
CTQs
KPIs
Process controls

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Further Information – QFD Flow Down
House of Quality cascading indicates how to identify, communicate, and
deploy resources to achieve customer requirements.
Quality Function Deployment 40
Technical
Features
Key technical
features
Customer
needs
Product Design Parts Development
Part
characteristics
Technical
Features
Key part
characteristics
Process Planning
Manufacturing
processes
Part
characteristics
Key manufacturing
processes
Production Planning
Production
requirements
Manufacturing
processes
Key production
requirements

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Further Information – QFD Limitations and Pitfalls
1. Misconception of QFD as a task rather than a thoughtful analysis.
2. Overloading information into a single QFD make it complicated.
3. Rushing through the QFD process without allowing sufficient
time for quality analysis.
4. Challenges in effective team collaboration, as QFD
requires careful facilitation and discipline.
5. Lack of necessary team skills, commitment, or
support hindering QFD effectiveness.
Quality Function Deployment 41

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