A QFD-based optimization method for a scalable product platform

In order to incorporate the customer into the early phase of the product development cycle and to better satisfy customers’ requirements, this article adopts quality function deployment (QFD) for optimal design of a scalable product platform. A five-step QFD-based method is proposed to determine the optimal values for platform engineering characteristics (ECs) and non-platform ECs of the products within a product family. First of all, the houses of quality (HoQs) for all product variants are developed and a QFD-based optimization approach is used to determine the optimal ECs for each product variant. Sensitivity analysis is performed for each EC with respect to overall customer satisfaction (OCS). Based on the obtained sensitivity indices of ECs, a mathematical model is established to simultaneously optimize the values of the platform and the non-platform ECs. Finally, by comparing and analysing the optimal solutions with different number of platform ECs, the ECs with which the worst OCS loss can be avoided are selected as platform ECs. An illustrative example is used to demonstrate the feasibility of this method. A comparison between the proposed method and a two-step approach is conducted on the example. The comparison shows that, as a kind of single-stage approach, the proposed method yields better average degree of customer satisfaction due to the simultaneous optimization of platform and non-platform ECs.

[1]  Juite Wang,et al.  Fuzzy outranking approach to prioritize design requirements in quality function deployment , 1999 .

[2]  Richard Y. K. Fung,et al.  A new approach to quality function deployment planning with financial consideration , 2002, Comput. Oper. Res..

[3]  Gunnar Erixon,et al.  Modularity - the basis for product and factory reengineering , 1996 .

[4]  Kwang-Jae Kim,et al.  Determining product platform elements for mass customisation , 2006 .

[5]  Michael J. Scott,et al.  Product platform design through sensitivity analysis and cluster analysis , 2007, J. Intell. Manuf..

[6]  Yoji Akao,et al.  Quality Function Deployment : Integrating Customer Requirements into Product Design , 1990 .

[7]  Zahed Siddique,et al.  Product Platform and Product Family Design , 2006 .

[8]  Marc H. Meyer,et al.  The power of product platforms : building value and cost leadership , 1997 .

[9]  Richard Y. K. Fung,et al.  Modelling of quality function deployment planning with resource allocation , 2003 .

[10]  Richard Y. K. Fung,et al.  Fuzzy regression-based mathematical programming model for quality function deployment , 2004 .

[11]  Sevin Sozer,et al.  Product planning in quality function deployment using a combined analytic network process and goal programming approach , 2003 .

[12]  Ming-Chyuan Lin,et al.  Using AHP and TOPSIS approaches in customer-driven product design process , 2008, Comput. Ind..

[13]  Richard Y. K. Fung,et al.  Product design resources optimization using a non-linear fuzzy quality function deployment model , 2002 .

[14]  Kikuo Fujita,et al.  Product variety optimization under modular architecture , 2002, Comput. Aided Des..

[15]  Kwang-Jae Kim,et al.  Determination of an Optimal Set of Design Requirements Using House of Quality , 1998 .

[16]  Roger Jianxin Jiao,et al.  Product family design and platform-based product development: a state-of-the-art review , 2007, J. Intell. Manuf..

[17]  Gerald W. Evans,et al.  Fuzzy multicriteria models for quality function deployment , 2000, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[18]  Timothy W. Simpson,et al.  Product platform design and customization: Status and promise , 2004, Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing.

[19]  Li Pheng Khoo,et al.  An investigation on a prototype customer-oriented information system for product concept development , 2002, Comput. Ind..

[20]  Susan Carlson Skalak.  House of Quality , 2002 .

[21]  Gary S. Wasserman,et al.  ON HOW TO PRIORITIZE DESIGN REQUIREMENTS DURING THE QFD PLANNING PROCESS , 1993 .

[22]  Fereydoon Jariri,et al.  Quality function deployment planning for platform design , 2008 .

[23]  Louis Cohen,et al.  Quality Function Deployment: How to Make QFD Work for You , 1995 .

[24]  Kosuke Ishii,et al.  Design for variety: developing standardized and modularized product platform architectures , 2002 .

[25]  Deepak Kumar,et al.  A Market-Driven Approach to the Design of Platform-Based Product Families , 2006 .

[26]  Farrokh Mistree,et al.  A PRODUCT PLATFORM CONCEPT EXPLORATION METHOD FOR PRODUCT FAMILY DESIGN , 1999 .

[27]  J. Hauser,et al.  The House of Quality , 1988 .

[28]  Farrokh Mistree,et al.  Designing Platforms for Customizable Products and Processes in Markets of Non-Uniform Demand , 2007, Concurr. Eng. Res. Appl..

[29]  R. Y. K. Fung,et al.  Fuzzy expected value modelling approach for determining target values of engineering characteristics in QFD , 2005 .

[30]  Michael P. Martinez,et al.  Effective Product Family Design Using Physical Programming , 2002 .

[31]  Farrokh Mistree,et al.  DESIGNING PLATFORMS FOR CUSTOMIZABLE PRODUCTS IN MARKETS WITH NON-UNIFORM DEMAND , 2004 .

[32]  Timothy W. Simpson,et al.  Commonality indices for product family design: a detailed comparison , 2006 .

[33]  James M. Utterback,et al.  The product family and the dynamics of core capability , 1992 .

[34]  Timothy W. Simpson,et al.  A Variation-Based Method for Product Family Design , 2002 .

[35]  Herbert Moskowitz,et al.  QFD optimizer: a novice friendly quality function deployment decision support system for optimizing product designs , 1997 .

[36]  Jinxing Xie,et al.  An intelligent hybrid system for customer requirements analysis and product attribute targets determination , 1998 .

[37]  Elim Liu,et al.  A structural component-based approach for designing product family , 2005, Comput. Ind..

[38]  R. Verma,et al.  Using conjoint analysis to help design product platforms , 1999 .

[39]  Christian N. Madu,et al.  House of Quality (QFD) in a Minute , 2000 .

[40]  Farrokh Mistree,et al.  A PRODUCT VARIETY TRADEOFF EVALUATION METHOD FOR A FAMILY OF CORDLESS DRILL TRANSMISSIONS , 1999 .