An integrated fuzzy multi-criteria decision making approach for realizing the practice of quality function deployment

In order to avoid fierce price competition, companies intend to differentiate their product lines and to target specific niche market segments. However, companies with expending product lines/families often face the challenge of controlling inventory cost, consistent product quality and good delivery performance. As a result, the platform based modular design becomes a promising method to overcome the above-mentioned difficulties. In this paper, a QFD (quality function deployment) based scheme is presented to accomplish the following tasks, including prioritizing customer need for distinct market segments, linking marketing customer need with technical design requirement, and seeking an optimal modular design. In particular, this study integrates the fuzzy AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) and the fuzzy DEMATEL (DEcision MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) to achieve the goal of marketing-driven product development. An illustrating example relevant to designing a smart phone is used to validate the proposed approach.