A structured planning process that systematically incorporates the voice of the customer into product design, Quality Function Deployment (QFD) has proven itself a highly effective development tool for creating globally competitive products - in software, hardware, services, and many other industries. <

This book not only explains QFD fundamentals clearly and concisely, it takes you well beyond the basics to provide the advanced techniques, specific information, and concrete examples you need to implement QFD successfully and derive its full benefits.

Of course, the book contains detailed information about the House of Quality, the most commonly used QFD matrix that relates customer needs to technical solutions. But rather than stopping there, it goes even further to explore the many possibilities for matrices that you can apply to every phase in product development - including multiple levels of design detail, quality improvement planning, process planning, manufacturing equipment planning, and value engineering planning.

In addition, you will find concise, experienced-based guidance on all the practical aspects of implementing QFD from start to finish, including such issues as establishing organizational support, creating a schedule, and gathering customer data. The book also covers QFD's relationship to the product development cycle, as well as its impact on various functions within an organization.

Most important, Quality Function Deployment: How to Make QFD Work For You helps you to see QFD as a collection of techniques and processes you can customize and adapt to your own real-life situations.

Lou Cohen, a well-known QFD practitioner, has spent 35 years as a product developer and quality manager in the computer industry. He is now a freelance consultant working with clients to apply QFD to products as diverse as laundry detergent, software, office furniture, credit card services, and medical instruments.