Application of multiattribute decision analysis to quality function deployment for target setting

In the product design and development process, quality function deployment (QFD) provides a comprehensive, systematic approach to support the design of new products intended to meet or exceed customer expectations. The authors use multiattribute value theory to support new product design and hence to augment a design team´s experience and judgment. We introduce the concept of a target set, the set of all value score vectors that are at least as preferred as the value score vectors of any of the given design alternatives. Assuming mutually preferential independence, we characterize the target set and indicate how it can be used to support selecting targets: 1) for the level of customer satisfaction to be attained by the new product, for each customer requirement and 2) for design requirements, presumably based in part on information from engineering competitive assessments. We then use the target set concept to augment the product planning phase of QFD. The concepts are illustrated and evaluated through the retrospective application of the methodology to an actual surgical product (universal converter). Although the analysis was performed retrospectively, without knowledge of the market success of the product and its competitors, the results were consistent with product acceptance and provided valuable insights to the lead engineer