QFD and Design for Six Sigma: A Quality Product Development System

In today’s fast-paced global economy , t ime to market constraints are demanding that companies produce their products more quickly and with higher quality. This has driven a shift from inspection based quality where defects are found and repaired, to design based quality where defects are prevented from ever occurring. Through QFD, design of e xperiments, detailed failure mode analyses, and other quality tools, zero defect or 3ppm defect levels are being achieved by design. This is called Design for Six Sigma (DFSS). Even greater gains can be made from DFSS when it is combined with QFD to assure not just an absence of defects, but true value as defined by the customer. QFD helps the DFSS team find critical, unmet customer needs and assure they are designed into the product and supported throughout the manufacturing and assembly process. We could call this Customer Driven DFSS. This paper will show how the goals of DFSS can be achieved and surpassed through the complimentary usage of QFD.