Quality Function Deployment

Report on for Bathroom Scale

Report one

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................................................ii
1. INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................1
1.1 Quality Function Deployment..........................................................................................1
1.2 Bathroom Scale................................................................................................................1
1.2.1 Application of Bathroom Scale to the Customers.....................................................2
2. PRODUCT PLANNING USING QFD..............................................................................2
2.1 Analysis of Customer Requirements................................................................................2
2.2 Competitive Analysis.......................................................................................................3
2.3 Analysis of Voice of Technicians (Technical Attributes)................................................4
2.4 Analysis of Relationship Matrix.......................................................................................6
2.5 Roof Matrix......................................................................................................................7
2.6 Target Values and Trade-Off’s........................................................................................9
2.7 Target Values Versus Difficulty Rating...........................................................................9
2.8 Reality with Respect to Price Point, Technology and Difficulty Rating........................10
2.9 Reasonability with Respect to the Importance Rating...................................................10
2.10 Critical Few HOW’s.....................................................................................................10
3. CONCLUSION and SUMMARY....................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................12
APPENDIX I............................................................................................................................13

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 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Bathroom Scale...........................................................................................................1
Figure 2. Customer Voice and Importance Rating.....................................................................3
Figure 3. Competitive Analysis..................................................................................................4
Figure 4. Technical Descritors...................................................................................................6
Figure 5. Relationship Matrix....................................................................................................7
Figure 6. Roof Matrix Analysis.................................................................................................8
Figure 7. Target and Difficulty Rate..........................................................................................9

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 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Quality Function Deployment

Quality function deployment (QFD) is a customer-oriented approach to product innovation. It

guides product managers and design teams through the conceptualization, creation, and
realization process of new products. QFD supports design teams to develop products in a
structured way that relates market demand via engineering specifications to parts
specifications and production process variables and, thus, to production operations planning
(Govers, 1996).

It helps in:

 Better understanding of customer needs.

 Improving organization on development projects & productions.
 Fewer manufacturing problems with start-ups.
 Increasing business

1.2 Bathroom Scale

The bathroom scale is the most ubiquitous tool for diagnosing and managing weight issues -
arguably, the universal health sensor of all - and several studies have shown that frequent
weigh-ins help maintain weight loss (VanWormer et al., 2012; Wing et al., 2007).

Any company that wants to stay in business must sell products/services and rely on repeat
customers. This could only be accomplished with the customer's ongoing satisfaction as a
foundation. In turn, one can only achieve customer satisfaction if one can meet their
expectations. As a result, the gathering and application of customer needs is indeed the
foundation of QFD.

Figure 1. Bathroom Scale

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 Source: OIP.C9z5Gg6U4zJt76l7mn-1ZAHaHa (474×474) (bing.com)
1.2.1 Application of Bathroom Scale to the Customers
The wide range of buyers varies from the usage. Some of the common usages are in

 Clinics
 Laboratories
 Pharmacies
 Home
 Fitness center
 Educational institutions

2. PRODUCT PLANNING USING QFD

2.1 Analysis of Customer Requirements
Customer needs or requirements are stated as follows:

1. Accuracy: - When we work hard at trying to lose weight, we want to see the exact
results/weight. When the scale doesn’t reflect our efforts, it’s only natural to think that
it’s broken and that it’s time for a new one. Accuracy and precision must not vary by
scale age. Thus, accuracy plays a vital role in customers.
2. Lightweight: - The weight of the solution is one of the most critical customer
requirements. A lightweight product means it is easy to put here and there.
3. Low cost - who doesn’t love a product when it is efficient and affordable. The lower
price helps a new product or service penetrate the market and attract customers away
from competitors.
4. Portable: – this requirement ensures individuals can quickly obtain, move, transfer
and reuse the product across different services.
5. Maintenance: – the bathroom scale after failure, maintenance, and support of any
hardware, software, accessories, cabling, material, supplies, parts, or other goods
should be easier to do.
6. Durability: - is the amount of use the customer could get from the product before it
deteriorates. A durable bathroom scale helps the customer not frequently buy to save
money. It also contributes to the environment by conserving resources and reducing
wastes and the environmental impacts of repair, frequent disposal, and replacement.
7. Flexibility - The amount of responsiveness (or adaptability) for any future change in a
product design. A flexible design will reduce redesign costs and allow quicker

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 responses to customers with increased performance. As in here, the functions can be
changed.
8. Size: - the product should adequately fit everyone with small, medium, and large foot
sizes.
9. Colour: - determines the attractiveness and aesthetic look of the product.
10. Ergonomics: - If a client can easily use the product, there will be less need for
customer services, saving the manufacturer time and money as a business.

Figure 2. Customer Voice and Importance Rating

2.2 Competitive Analysis

Knowing the company's strengths and constraints in all aspects of a product and, in
comparison, with its main competitors is essential for a company if it wishes to improve its
competitiveness in the relevant markets.

The competitive analysis section of figure 3 shows the area of improvement. For instance, the
gripping ability or resistance to friction of our company’s (it is rated 2) bathroom scale is not

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as good as other companies, except for the WYZE smart scale company. Additionally, its
functional flexibility is also lower than products manufactured by Ozeri, Etekcity, and
RENPHO companies. Relative to others, ergonomically, our product has been rated lower.
All this clearly shows where we need improvement to get a competitive advantage in the
market by satisfying and exceeding the customer's needs.

Figure 3. Competitive Analysis

2.3 Analysis of Voice of Technicians (Technical Attributes)

Technical measures are identified by technicians or a product development team. Sometimes
they can be generated from current product standards (Ashrafuzzaman et al., 2016). The
product is described in terms of the business’s core competencies. The QFD design creates
these technical solutions by identifying all the product metrics that are connected to fulfilling
the specified customer needs. To show the direction of the change in each of the variables, an
additional row is frequently added at the top of the matrix.

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These are some of the technical requirements considered while evaluating against customers’
needs.

1. Calibration: - A scale’s accuracy is essential when converting accuracy to the technical

aspect: Pylon Electronics is an industry leader in calibration, and every scale has an
allowable tolerance of error. The reduction of tolerance is being focused on.
2. Weight (lbs) – The scale’s total weight is lowered to achieve lightweight.
3. Proper Finishing: – one of the most critical customer needs is to have a product with
good colour. To do that, the manufacturer uses more than 40 colors. Antirust paint is
imparted to make it, corrosion resistant, making the product durable or long-lasting. A
smooth finish is given so the product texture will not be rough.
4. Programming – A digital scale has always been a priority when it is ergonomics and
portable; building an app which consists of Bluetooth connectivity to store and focus on
the progress along with the calculation of body fat by sending a signal to the feet and
calculating the response of the signal.
5. Raw materials (% area of recycled materials): – customers want to buy a good quality
product at a low price, using aluminium, glass is being a trend, but virginal materials are
expensive. A compatible recycled raw material (composites from plastic and textile
waste) can be used to minimize the cost of raw material and the selling price.
Simultaneously it positively contributes to a better tomorrow by converting waste to
wealth.
6. Removable pieces: – As a step of maintenance when the parts can be removed it is easier
to disassemble and maintain without a difficulty.
7. Exterior Volume: – determines the size of the product. An average foot length of a
person is 28.6 cm. When it comes to the size, a 30 x 30 cm scale should be large enough
for most feet without taking up too much space in a bathroom or cupboard.
8. Suction pads/rough surface - When counting the need of customer for the portability
and stability a gripping system introducing suction pad can be fitted to bottom of
bathroom scale on smooth surface / the rough pads in four corner helps as a slip resistant.

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 Figure 4. Technical Descriptors

2.4 Analysis of Relationship Matrix

The links between the engineering characteristics and the customer requirements are shown
in this matrix.   The agreement on these assessments, which should be based on expert
engineering knowledge, consumer feedback, and information from statistical research and
controlled experiments. A collection of symbols is employed to denote the importance as
there will be variations in the strength of the linkages. These signs are used:

key Interpretation Weight

Θ - Strong relationship = 9

Ο - Medium relationship = 3

▲ - Weak relationship = 1

As it is shown in the figure 5 the degree of relationship of each customer voice with techncal
requirement is shown clearly in the relationship matrix.

 Accurcay is basically depends on the calibration and programming that is why it is

indicated there relationship is strong.
 The weight of the product is usually depend on the material type used for construction,
exterior volume/dimension and etc. However, exterior volume is not always determine
the wieght, so their relationship has kept as a moderate.

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 Material cost consists 50-70% of the cost of a product. Therefore, using a recycled
material could enable the company to provide a product at an affordable price. Similary,
others customer voice relationship with technical descriptors have shown in the figure 5.

Figure 5. Relationship Matrix

2.5 Roof Matrix

Identifies engineering features that must be improved collaterally. It is employed to draw
attention to connections among the engineering characteristics. The symbols depicted for
correlation are as follows:

key Interpretation

┼┼ - Strong positive correlation

┼ - positive correlation

▬ - Negative Correlation

▼ - Strong Negative Correlation

Calibration has a strong correlation with programming. This is because as programming
accuracy increases, the accuracy of calibration will also increase.  On the other hand,

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increasing the exterior volume could increase the weight of the product, which is not required
by our customer. Similarly, an increase in removable pieces to simplify the maintenance
might increase the weight of the bathroom scale. Therefore, these conflicting technical
requirements need a trade-off.

Figure 6. Roof Matrix Analysis

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2.6 Target Values and Trade-Off’s
QFD is a process that can help companies to make the key trade-offs between what the
customer wants and what the company can afford to build (Govers, 1996). There are two
conflicting technical requirements (exterior volume and removable pieces with weight) on the
roof matrix constructed for bathroom scale. Their conflict has been identified based on the
degree of correlation (negative). Negative correlations are those in which one how adversely
affects the achievement of another How. These conflicts are extremely important as they
represent conditions to direct trade-offs.

Increasing or trying to meet the target exterior volume (dimension) could increase the weight
of the end-product, which is not required by our customers. Therefore, as a manufacturer, we
need to balance these conflicting requirements. According to Pullman et al. (2002), the
HOW’s with a maximum relative value should be given greater emphasis. So, in the case of
the bathroom scale, an exterior volume which has a greater relative value (207.0) than a
weight (108.5) will be given more emphasis with simultaneous consideration for weight.

With an exterior volume/dimension of 900 cm2 it is possible to get a 3 lb bathroom scale.

However, having more removable pieces to disassemble during maintenance easily might be
challenging, with a required target weight of 3 lbs. Therefore, pieces should be at an optimum
level. On the other hand, as the program is easily set up, the calibration could also be
accurate, or the error may not be more than 0.8%.

Figure 7. Target and Difficulty Rate

2.7 Target Values Versus Difficulty Rating

Two target values may need an adjustment because it seems difficult to achieve since the
perfect scale without deviation is impossible; a digital bathroom scale consists of a small
error. Getting a calibration in between 0.4% and 0.8% has been rated 9 for its difficulty.

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Therefore, the margin of error should be somehow greater than 0.4% and 0.8%. Similarly, the
programming may not be easy to set up it has been rated seven, so we need a modification on
the target setting.

2.8 Reality with Respect to Price Point, Technology and Difficulty Rating
From the price point of view, it is realistic as aforementioned the material cost consist of 50-
70 % of the product cost. Therefore, using around 75% recycled materials enable us to
manufacture at lower cost and sell at an affordable price.

Nowadays, the technological advancement is better than ever, therefore it is possible to get
different software’s which increase the precision of our program, simplify recycling of wastes
to composite and many other.

2.9 Reasonability with Respect to the Importance Rating

As we can see from figure 6 accuracy/precision and size are relatively the most important
with a value of 12.7% and 12.7% respectively. The target we set will respond to these
requirements (Figure 7). Especially the size of 30*30 cm (l*w) or 900 cm 2 will fit to a user in
all ages (given difficulty rate is 2 see Figure 7). Low cost and function flexibility has been
rated following accuracy and size both with equal relative value of 11.3%. as the
programming is made to be easily setup the user can change the weight from pound to
kilogram and they can connect with different devices. Similarly, the low cost can be achieved
by making the 75% of the scale component from recycled materials.

2.10 Critical Few HOW’s

Technical requirements with the highest relative value are considered as a vital few, because
they need more attention and investment. In this case, proper finishing (20.6%), programming
(18.7%), exterior volume (17.1%) and calibration (12.2%) are the critical technical
requirements which consist of the maximum relative weight and need greater attention as it is
seen in figure 7. These critical few requirements weigh around 70%. It implies that these
HOW’s have a relationship with more than one voice of customer. Therefore, the as a
manufacturer we give a greater emphasis on these four HOW’s.

3. CONCLUSION and SUMMARY

This report shows that how to use QFD to manufacture a bathroom scale by considering the
voice of customers to provide sufficiently accurate and consistent results for use. Explanation
of the target values as well as the trade offs versus difficulty ratings, critical HOW’s reason

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of ignorance less significant items and realistic approach by means of price point, technology
and difficulty rating were discussed.

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 References
Ashrafuzzaman, M., Al-Maruf, A., Mahbubul, I., Malek, A. A., & Mukaddes, A. (2016).
Quality function deployment approach to measure supply chain performance: a case
study on garments accessories industries. International Journal of Industrial and
Systems Engineering, 22(1), 96-120.

Govers, C. P. M. (1996). What and how about quality function deployment (QFD).
International Journal of Production Economics, 46-47, 575-585.
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/0925-5273(95)00113-1

Pullman, M. E., Moore, W. L., & Wardell, D. G. (2002). A comparison of quality function
deployment and conjoint analysis in new product design. Journal of Product
Innovation Management: AN INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION OF THE
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION, 19(5), 354-364.

VanWormer, J. J., Linde, J. A., Harnack, L. J., Stovitz, S. D., & Jeffery, R. W. (2012). Self-
weighing frequency is associated with weight gain prevention over 2 years among
working adults. International journal of behavioral medicine, 19(3), 351-358.

Wing, R. R., Tate, D. F., Gorin, A. A., Raynor, H. A., Fava, J. L., & Machan, J. (2007). "
STOP regain": are there negative effects of daily weighing? Journal of consulting and
clinical psychology, 75(4), 652.

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APPENDIX I

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