Quality Function Deployment and Its Role in Quality Management
It is evident that every organization has its internal or external customers, and these customers have their special needs and requirements. For the company to determine precisely what is necessary to satisfy these needs, or whether the current product or service can do that, there is a method of Quality Function Deployment. According to Stevenson (2014), “obtaining input from customers is essential to assure that they will want what is offered for sale” (p. 155). QFD is a formal way of documenting clients’ wants and a particularly structured approach that integrates “the voice of the customer” into the process of service and product development (Stevenson, 2014, p. 155). The central feature of QFD is listening to and understanding whether the clients are satisfied, that is why this method plays a significant role in quality management. A set of matrices is the base of the QFD structure, and the main matrix’s purpose is to relate the requirements of a customer and the technical ones.
The Kano Model and Its Purpose
The Kano Model is a unique theory of service and product design that provides insights into the attributes that the customers consider essential. This model uses three definitions of quality: basic, performance, and excitement, so the purpose of the Kano Model is to determine the features that can delight the customers. These three definitions have a different level of influence on the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of clients based on the degree of implementation (Stevenson, 2014). Basic are those requirements that barely satisfy the customer if they exist and utterly dissatisfy if they do not. Then, “performance quality refers to customer requirements that generate satisfaction or dissatisfaction in proportion to their level of functionality or appeal” (p. 158). Finally, excitement quality is an attribute or a feature not even expected by a client, but their presence delights them significantly. Therefore, with the help of these definitions, this theory can define the requirements for a product to excel, compete, and even exist in the competitive marketplace.
Reference
Stevenson, W. (2014). Operations management. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.