QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT SOFTWARE TOOL

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a state-of-the-art new product development methodology that uses charts of large matrices to coordinate competing engineering constraints with input from the "voice of the customer." It optimizes product design, process design, and manufacturing operations to meet customer needs. This powerful technique is universally applicable to any planning process.

The basic mapping mechanism used in QFD is a set of large matrix charts that relate "what" is to be achieved with "how" it can be done. As the number of customer wants and the number of design factors increase, the size of these charts grows correspondingly. The charts are also subject to periodic changes as cross-functional teams build up and refine the knowledge base that the charts represent. Both the size and the evolving nature of the data make it cumbersome and time consuming to prepare and maintain these charts manually.

QFDPLUS, runs on the widely available IBM and compatible personal computers. QFDPLUS software helps keep the charts from becoming the bottleneck in the QFD process.
The QFDPLUS application software and/or educational and commercial pricing rates, please contact Mike Casey, Ford Motor Company, Telephone Number: (313) 337-1626, FAX Number: (313) 322-6423.