Specifications and the House of Quality

What is the “House of Quality” Methodology?

The House of Quality Methodology is a tool used by multidisciplinary design teams to ensure that the product team delivers a product that satisfies the needs and desires of the customer.  More precisely, the methodology helps design teams translate the customer quotes into engineering specifications.  The method is systematic and the results are always presented graphically as shown in Figure 1 below.

house of quality graphic

Figure 1. The graphical output or result of the House of Quality methodology.

 Benefits of Using the House of Quality Methodology

  1. A process that forces conversations about customers’ needs to take place early In the design process.
  2. Ensures what is important to the customer becomes important to the design team.
  3. Neutralize the “Voice of the Executives”. In other words, the methodology forces the team to make decisions based on customer needs and not based on the opinion of the loudest or highest ranking team member.
  4. Allows professionals from different backgrounds to communicate effectively.  The methodology facilitates communication between engineering, marketing, research and other departments.

 

What happens if the design team losses sight of the voice of the customer during the design process?  See the example of the Pontiac Aztec here.

 

 

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