An optimization method for components selection using quality function deployment

When a customer selects a product from a product family, the attributes of the components for selection are usually technical parameters instead of customer-familiar characteristics of the product. In this paper, an optimization method for components selection is proposed based on quality function deployment (QFD) to minimize the difference between the customer’s expectation and the selected product. The model is converted into an equivalent linear integer programming model to facilitate the solving approach. Fuzzy customer requirements are also considered in this model. A practical example from applying this model is presented to prove the feasibility and effectiveness of the model. The computation result shows that the mapping relations among the customer requirements, technical attributes, and component attributes are developed by matrices of house of quality (HoQ), and that the optimal solution corresponds reasonably with the customer requirements.