The House of Quality (QFD) in a Minute is written with two major objectives. First, to introduce the reader to the basics of Quality Function Deployment (QFD)which is now widely used in major corporations and second, to get the practitioner ready to use QFD without extensive training and seminars that may end up being very costly. In this book, we have demonstrated in simple form how other techniques such as the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) can be used within the QFD chart. It is also important that the reader understands the role of QFD within the overall quality imperative of a firm. As a result, we have added chapters to demonstrate the link between QFD and other important quality programs such as quality control charts and concurrent engineering. QFD is also shown to be part of the organization's business strategy. The need to integrate QFD within the firm's strategic plan is also demonstrated. Evidently, the driving force behind the use of QFD is to help the firm design products and services that satisfy customer requirements by listening to the voice of the customer. We have also shown that through the application of QFD, a firm can improve its productivity, control costs, increase market share, remain in business and remain competitive.
Another major feature of this book can be seen from its title, House of Quality in a Minute. It is precise and direct. The reader with no knowledge of the topic can read this entire book quickly and begin to apply the concepts. The book covers topics such as the voice of the customer, designing house of quality, analytic hierarchy process, benchmarking, strategic planning, statistical quality control, product design, concurrent engineering, cost control and productivity improvement as they relate to quality function deployment and the overall quality imperative of a firm.
