J.A. Harding, A.R. Omar and K. Popplewell
Companies needing to establish competitive advantage must ensure their products are brought to market quickly, with the quality features sought by potential customers. Concurrent…
Abstract
Companies needing to establish competitive advantage must ensure their products are brought to market quickly, with the quality features sought by potential customers. Concurrent Engineering techniques can reduce time scales, but quality issues are more difficult, as customers’ needs are not readily available to the project team throughout the design process, so design effort may focus on satisfying a functional specification, imperfectly translated from customer requirements, rather than on satisfying the real customer needs as perceived in the market. The research reported here demonstrates how a Concurrent Engineering environment and Quality Function Deployment techniques can be brought together to provide an extended design team with valuable, shared information throughout the design process.
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A.R. Omar, J.A. Harding and K. Popplewell
The role of market information is critical to the success or failure of new product introduction. The challenge of bringing market information to design engineers throughout the…
Abstract
The role of market information is critical to the success or failure of new product introduction. The challenge of bringing market information to design engineers throughout the design process is addressed, using an information modelling approach. This allows valuable quality function deployment (QFD) information to be captured alongside other product design information, within an object‐oriented database. An environment that facilitates the collection, modification and evaluation of information for QFD analysis is provided. This integrated software environment allows valuable market information to be shared between multi‐discipline project team members. Use of the decision support system is demonstrated through a case study.
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B. Yu, J.A. Harding and K. Popplewell
Enterprise activities are intricate, as companies often produce multiple product families which require a complex mixture of production modes. Modelling techniques are commonly…
Abstract
Enterprise activities are intricate, as companies often produce multiple product families which require a complex mixture of production modes. Modelling techniques are commonly applied to expose the behaviour of an enterprise and to investigate the feasibility of achieving business objectives. However, enterprise modelling can be a slow process and models become invalid if business objectives are changed, because their information content may be overtaken by fast changing market conditions. The modelling process is accelerated if new models can use part or all of the information from previous models. This paper addresses these issues by introducing a reusable enterprise model, called a factory data model (FDM). It has been implemented using an object‐oriented approach, and contains five key class hierarchies. The model can be specialised to meet the requirements of individual enterprises; hence, less time and effort are involved in creating new models to satisfy changes in enterprise requirements.
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Richard Y.K. Fung, Dave S.T. Law and W.H. Ip
Since imprecision, vagueness and ambiguity are often innate in human semantics, a flexible and tolerant method is needed to decode the voice of customer (VoC), so that the…
Abstract
Since imprecision, vagueness and ambiguity are often innate in human semantics, a flexible and tolerant method is needed to decode the voice of customer (VoC), so that the essential customer requirements can be identified and duly addressed. Quality function deployment (QFD) is a well‐known methodology for projecting the customer requirements onto the relevant design and production requirements and actions plan. This paper proposes an intelligent approach which extends the applications of QFD beyond its conventional boundary. The fuzzy inference technique is adopted to accommodate the possible imprecision and vagueness during VoC interpretation. The resulting model maps the customer requirements onto the relevant product attributes, taking into consideration their relationships and correlation during the inference process. The sub‐conclusions drawn from the fuzzy inference process are aggregated and defuzzified to yield the crisp design targets which can be used to guide the downstream manufacturing planning and control activities.
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R.Y.K. Fung, A.C. Pereira and W.H.R. Yeung
This paper introduces a generic performance measurement methodology for identifying and dimensioning the user requirements of laboratory information systems with a view to…
Abstract
This paper introduces a generic performance measurement methodology for identifying and dimensioning the user requirements of laboratory information systems with a view to evaluating and improving their overall user satisfaction. The dynamic Web‐based laboratory information system (known as IntraMEL) for the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratories (MEL) in the City University of Hong Kong is used as a case study for formulating, testing and implementing the methodology. The proposed model takes an analytical approach to assess the performance of an information system using psychometric concepts. Through the experience gained from applying the methodology on IntraMEL, a set of performance evaluation guidelines can be established. These evaluation guidelines will be applicable to the information systems in other laboratories and service centres.
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Adnan Hassan, Mohd Shariff Nabi Baksh and Awaluddin M. Shaharoun
The field of quality has undergone significant changes as reflected by changes in its definition, paradigms, approaches, techniques, and scope of application. This paper reviews…
Abstract
The field of quality has undergone significant changes as reflected by changes in its definition, paradigms, approaches, techniques, and scope of application. This paper reviews emerging trends and issues focusing on quality engineering. Changes in customer expectation have driven the changes in the technology of design and manufacturing, which is becoming more important in satisfying individual customer expectations. This also calls for special attention to the engineering aspects of quality. Brief reviews on recent advances in the prominent quality tools such as statistical process control, quality function deployment, and design of experiment are reported. General trends in quality engineering research show the tools are being enhanced, integrated, computerized and broaden their application bases, where possible opportunities for further investigation are indicated. Among others these include contributions in multiple‐response optimization, intelligent quality systems, multivariate SPC, and practical and simple guidelines for actual implementation of various tools.
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Jianxin Jiao and Mitchell M. Tseng
This paper presents a database system developed to provide a computerized environment for requirement management during the product definition phase. The scope of this database…
Abstract
This paper presents a database system developed to provide a computerized environment for requirement management during the product definition phase. The scope of this database system is to facilitate and demonstrate a methodology for product definition by recognizing and adopting functional requirement patterns from previous product designs so as to address a broad spectrum of domain‐specific customer requirements and organize requirement information for product specifications. The database system improves the product definition process during design and redesign efforts by integrating customer and design information all together and by reusing this information. A prototype requirement management database system is implemented on a PC platform using Microsoft Access.
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Hannan Amoozad Mahdiraji, Khalid Hafeez, Hamidreza Kord and AliAsghar Abbasi Kamardi
This paper analyses the voice of customers (VoCs) using a hybrid clustering multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach. The proposed method serves as an efficient tool for how…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper analyses the voice of customers (VoCs) using a hybrid clustering multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach. The proposed method serves as an efficient tool for how to approach multiple decision-making involving a large set of countrywide customer complaints in the Iranian automotive sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The countrywide data comprising 3,342 customer complaints (VoCs) were gathered. A total of seven determinant complaint criteria were identified in brainstorming sessions with three groups (six each) of experts employing the fuzzy Delphi method. The weights of these criteria were assigned by applying the fuzzy best–worst method (FBWM) to identify the severity of the complaints. Subsequently, the complaints were clustered into five categories with respective customer locations (province), car type and manufacturer using the K-mean method and further prioritised and ranked employing the fuzzy complex proportional assessment of alternatives (FCOPRAS) method.
Findings
The results indicated that the majority of complaints (1,027) from the various regions of the country belonged to one specific model of car made by a particular producer. The analyses revealed that only a few complaints were related to product quality, with the majority related to service and financial processes including delays in automobile delivery, delays in calculating monthly instalments, price variation, failure to provide a registration ( licence) and failure to supply the agreed product. The proposed method is an efficient way to solve large-scale multidimensional problems and provide a robust and reliable set of results.
Practical implications
The proposed method makes it much easier for management to deal with complaints by significantly reducing their number. The highest-ranked complaints from customers of the car industry in Iran are those related to delivery time, price alternations, customer service support and quality issues. Surveying the list of complaints shows that paying attention to the four most voiced complaints can reduce them more than 54%. Management can make appropriate strategies to improve the production quality as well as business processes, thus producing a significant number of customer complaints.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a comprehensive approach to critically analyse the VoCs by combining qualitative and decision-making approaches including K-mean, FCOPRAS, fuzzy Delphi and FBWM. This is the first paper that analyses the VoCs in the automotive sector in a developing country’s context involving large-scale decision-making problem-solving.
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George Paltayian, Katerina D. Gotzamani, Andreas C. Georgiou and Andreas Andronikidis
Recognizing the fundamental role of quality as a means to differentiate service organizations, the purpose of this paper is to propose a strategic decision making framework for…
Abstract
Purpose
Recognizing the fundamental role of quality as a means to differentiate service organizations, the purpose of this paper is to propose a strategic decision making framework for service organizations, which prioritizes performance improvement strategies that are rooted to customer requirements, organizational goals and constrained by organizational resources.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed framework is realized through the implementation of two stages and four distinct phases mirroring the combination of enhanced quality function deployment (first stage), and zero-one goal programming (second stage). It proposes the utilization of a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, and the collection of data from multiple sources including customers, middle, and top management.
Findings
The application and validation of the proposed framework utilizes information from both customers and employees in the bank services sector. Overall, results from the specific study revealed that a combination of “reengineering” and “expansion” strategies was more appropriate corresponding to customer priorities, organizational goals and effective utilization of available resources.
Originality/value
The paper presents a novel two stage strategic framework for service organizations. It utilizes a balanced mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods in an effort to capture and delineate elusive customer requirements and design characteristics of services, allowing the assessment of different combinations of quality improvement strategies in response to management objectives.
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The purpose of this paper is twofold: to incorporate the symbolic relationships among the attributes of customer requirements (CRs) and engineering characteristics (ECs) as well…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: to incorporate the symbolic relationships among the attributes of customer requirements (CRs) and engineering characteristics (ECs) as well as to factor in the values numerically to enhance the prioritization process for an improved, comprehensive quality function deployment (QFD) analysis. The aim is to develop the concept of assimilating and factoring in the often-ignored interrelationships among CRs and ECs utilizing the weighted average method for the CR and EC correlations with overall calculations.
Design/methodology/approach
After a brief literature review of the methods utilized, the research paper discusses the framework for the correlation triangle challenge and introduces a novel mathematical solution utilizing triangle values in conjunction with computed initial raw weights for CRs and initial priority scores for ECs. The capability and applicability of the proposed model are demonstrated with a real-life example.
Findings
Through the proposed technique, the roof and the interrelationship triangle's signs and symbols are translated into numerical values for each permutation of ECs and CRs, and then the prioritization values are processed and finalized. The proposed model successfully modifies and removes vagueness from an otherwise overlooked part of the QFD process.
Practical implications
The illustrated case study aptly proves that the proposed methodology yields more revealing and informative outcomes for engineers and designers, thus adding much-needed reliability to the outcome and its analysis. The validation conducted through the rank comparison endorses the premise, and the results obtained reflect the strength and accuracy of the progressive QFD as a product planning tool.
Originality/value
The research article proposes a fresh and unique QFD approach that solves typical procedural complications encountered in a regular QFD. Whereas the traditional methods neglect the interrelationships among CRs and ECs, this new methodology employs them in an improved, numerical way by incorporating them in quantitative analysis, which leads to judicious and improved decision-making.