The Supertool: QFD, Structured Analysis & Concurrent Engineering Combined

ABSTRACT To be competitive, companies must efficiently develop products that meet their customers' needs. Three established methodologies, Quality Function Deployment, Structured Analysis, and Concurrent Engineering combine to form a superpowerful technique to help companies be competitive. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a universally‐used, powerful tool for relating the customer requirements to detailed engineering requirements. It is frequently referred to as “the voice of the customer”. Structured Analysis is a technique of systematically decomposing a system into progressively more detailed parts. A “picture oriented” method, this technique has a history of providing visibility into large systems. It is useful on small systems as well. Concurrent Engineering simultaneously deals with marketing, design and production concerns; traditional approaches treat each of these concerns separately. Concurrent Engineering emphasizes design for cost, design for manufacturing and assembly, design for serviceability, design for reliability, design for maintainability… in short, design for “X”. This emphasis on design for “X” begins at the very conception of the product. This paper describes how these three methods, QFD, Structured Analysis, and QFD interrelate and then describes a unique way to combine them into a supertool for assuring product competitiveness.