Platform Planning for Mass Customization Based on Quality Function Deployment

The decision on the specification of a product development process based on the general platform is determined by the customer requirement/needs analysis, that is, the quality function deployment, through which common parts/components, options, and so on, are determined and MC level (number of derivative products) is decided through the requirements of customers. However, the current QFD method has the shortcomings that some requirements of customers are excluded based on the relative priority when quantitatively averaging such requirements to reflect them in the target and final specification. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to segment the requirements of customers hierarchically by desire of customers based on Kano analysis, break down requirements of customers by the level of customer desire and determine the specification according to QFD in an attempt to present the guideline on the decision of MC level depending on the platform and customer desire class. This will ensure an optimal balance between the customer sacrifice and flexibility of production.