Analyzing Customer Requirements for the American Society of Engineering Management Using Quality Function Deployment

:Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a systematic process for capturing and integrating the voice of the customer into every aspect of the design and delivery of products and services. Understanding customer wants or needs is crucial to the successful design and development of new products and services. QFD is a system that utilizes customer demand information to design products or services that will meet a client's mission. In addition, the process prioritizes and deploys these customer-driven characteristics throughout the product or service development to meet the customer needs, wants, and expectations. QFD determines effective development targets for the prioritized product and service characteristics. The QFD process has been used and documented extensively in product development. The service industry, however, lacks in the application of this process. The purpose of this article is to show practitioners and researchers how this process, in its entirety, can be used as a planning process to link customer requirements and service characteristics in the service industry. A case study was developed in which QFD was applied to develop recommendations for the American Society of Engineering Management (ASEM) in an effort to increase customer satisfaction and to identify opportunities to improve member benefits. The results of this study are applicable to any organization to improve the design and delivery of products and service regardless of industry.