Using and Abusing QFD Scores

In this article the authors address implementation and use of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) in organizations today. With both single and multiple houses of quality, there are questions of meaningfulness and validity of the final quantitative output. Unfortunately, the validity of the quantitative output can impact the validity of the qualitative insights into the organization's decision-making process. The meaningfulness of the quantitative output depends, to a large part, on the care and consistency with which the houses of quality were built and scored. The authors offer some advice on scoring houses of quality, based on their findings. The mathematical structure of the QFD calculations, however, dictates certain constraints on the use of its output. These constraints can impact the usefulness of a single house's output and can seriously reduce the value of multiple-house QFD studies. *The views expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Government, or the opinions of Bristol–Myers Squibb Company.