Integration of groupware with quality function deployment methodology via facilitated work sessions
First Claim
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1. An automated product or service design process, comprising the steps of:
- providing a computer system with a multitude of workstations in a room, with respective input means;
providing a multitude of electronic video displays in the room with each of the workstations within view of at least one of the displays;
providing an editing system for a database in the computer system;
meeting with a multitude of customers in the room;
prompting the customers to input wants and needs related to a product or service into the computer system;
inputting signals indicating wants and needs into the computer system simultaneously by a plurality of the customers at multiple respective workstations;
displaying combined input signals indicating wants and needs of the plurality of customers of the plurality of customers to the simultaneously to the multitude of customers on one or more video displays of the computer system;
reaching consensus among the customers for verifying the signals indicating wants and needs;
inputting signals into the editing system to indicate verified wants and needs related to the product or service;
prompting the multitude of customers to indicate priorities of the verified wants and needs;
indicating priorities of the wants and needs by a plurality of the customers;
inputting signals into the system indicating the customer'"'"'s priorities for the verified wants and needs;
displaying signals indicating priorities to all the customers on one or more video displays of the computer system;
reaching consensus among the customers for verifying the priorities indicated by the priority signals;
inputting signals into the editing system to indicate the verified priorities of the needs and wants;
providing QMF program means for implementing the quality function deployment methodology in the computer system.
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Abstract
A network application for automatically formatting and printing documents to be used as planning manuals by company personnel to produce quality products designed to satisfy customer preferences. Output documents can also be used as educational manuals and for dispersing among organizational personnel common information for integrated strategic planning and decision making for engineering and marketing teams. Facilitated collaborative work sessions among work groups inputting and sharing comments and ideas provide starting data to the network application.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. An automated product or service design process, comprising the steps of:
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providing a computer system with a multitude of workstations in a room, with respective input means; providing a multitude of electronic video displays in the room with each of the workstations within view of at least one of the displays; providing an editing system for a database in the computer system; meeting with a multitude of customers in the room; prompting the customers to input wants and needs related to a product or service into the computer system; inputting signals indicating wants and needs into the computer system simultaneously by a plurality of the customers at multiple respective workstations; displaying combined input signals indicating wants and needs of the plurality of customers of the plurality of customers to the simultaneously to the multitude of customers on one or more video displays of the computer system; reaching consensus among the customers for verifying the signals indicating wants and needs; inputting signals into the editing system to indicate verified wants and needs related to the product or service; prompting the multitude of customers to indicate priorities of the verified wants and needs; indicating priorities of the wants and needs by a plurality of the customers; inputting signals into the system indicating the customer'"'"'s priorities for the verified wants and needs; displaying signals indicating priorities to all the customers on one or more video displays of the computer system; reaching consensus among the customers for verifying the priorities indicated by the priority signals; inputting signals into the editing system to indicate the verified priorities of the needs and wants; providing QMF program means for implementing the quality function deployment methodology in the computer system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An automated product or service design process, comprising the steps of:
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providing a computer system with a multitude of workstations in a room with respective input means; providing one or more displays with each of the workstations within view of at least one of the displays; providing an editing system for a database in the computer system; meeting with a multitude of product designers in the room; providing to the product designers, signals indicating the verified customer'"'"'s wants and needs and signals indicating verified customer'"'"'s priority of wants and needs related to a product or service; providing signals indicating characteristics of one or more products or services that relate the wants and needs of the customers; prompting the designers to input into the computer system, relationships between characteristics of products or services; inputting signals indicating relationships between the characteristics into the computer system simultaneously by a plurality of the designers at multiple respective workstations; displaying combined input signals of the plurality of designers indicating relationships between the characteristics simultaneously to the multitude of designers on one or more video displays; reaching consensus among the designers for verifying the relationships between the characteristics; inputting into the editing system to indicate the verified relationships between the characteristics; providing QMF program means for implementing the quality function deployment methodology in the computer system. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An automated product or service design process, comprising the steps of:
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providing a computer system with one or more workstations with respective input means and display means; providing a programmable data base system in the computer system; programming the data base with means for storing and means for retrieving and structures for storing signals indicating wants and needs of customers and indicating relation to a product or service; programming the data base with means for storing and means for retrieving and structures for storing signals indicating customer'"'"'s priorities of respective wants and needs for the respective product or service and signals indicating relation to a want or need; programing the data base with means for storing and means for retrieving and structures for storing signals indicating characteristics of a respective product or service related to the respective wants and needs for the product or service and signals indicating a relation to a product or service; programing the data base with means for storing and means for retrieving and structure for storing signals indicating priorities for respective characteristics for the respective products or services; providing signals and storing signals in the data base indicating verified wants and needs of customers related to a product or service; providing signals and storing signals in the data base indicating verified priorities of each of the customer'"'"'s wants and needs related to the product or service; providing signals and storing signals in the data base indicating verified wants and needs of customers related to a product or service; providing signals and storing signals in the data base indicating verified priorities of each of the customer'"'"'s wants and needs related to the product or service; providing signals and storing signals in the data base indicating characteristics of one or more products or services; providing signals and storing signals in the data base indicating priorities of the respective characteristics of the products or services in satisfying the signals indicating wants and needs of the customers; providing QMF program means for implementing the quality function deployment methodology in the computer system; providing bridge means including one or more bridge programs for automatically converting signals from a structure in the data base to a structure for use in the QMF program means; automatically converting signals indicating wants and needs related to a product or service, from a structure for the data base to a structure for the QMF means; automatically converting signals indicating priorities of respective wants and needs related to a respective product or service, from a structure for the data base to a structure for the QMF means; and automatically converting signals indicating priorities of the respective characteristics in satisfying customers wants and needs related to respective products or from a structure for the data base to a structure for the QMF means. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A computer system for automated product or service design, comprising:
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a multitude of workstations with respective input means in a room; one or more video displays in position for viewing at least one of the displays from each of the workstations; means to input signals simultaneously by a plurality of the customers at multiple respective workstations, for indicating wants and needs of customer'"'"'s related to a product or service and means to input signals for indicating customer'"'"'s prioritization of the wants and needs related to the product or service; automatic means for storing in the computer system, the input signals indicating wants and needs and the input signals indicating the prioritizations; automatic means for displaying on one or more of the displays of the computer system, the combined signals indicating wants and needs input by the plurality of the customers simultaneously viewable by all the customers and the prioritizations simultaneously viewable by all the customers; an editing system in the computer to selectively document the signals indicating verified wants and needs related to the product or service and to selectively document the verified prioritization of the wants and needs; a data base system in the computer system with programmed means for automatically receiving and programmed means for automatically transmitting and structure means for storing customer signals indicating verified wants and needs of customers related to a product and verified customer prioritization of the wants and needs; QMF program means for implementing the quality function deployment methodology in the computer system; means for initiating automatic conversion of the documentation from a structure for the editing system to a structure for the data base system; means for automatically converting the signals indicating needs and wants from a structure for the editing system to a structure for the data base system; means for automatically converting the signals indicating priorities of needs and wants from a structure for the editing system to a structure for the data base system; and means for automatically converting the signals indicating priorities of needs and wants from a structure for editing system to a structure for the data base system. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A computer system for automated product or service design, comprising:
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a multitude of workstations with respective input means in a room; one or more video displays in position for viewing at least one of the displays from each of the workstations; means to input signals simultaneously by a plurality of product designers at multiple respective workstations, for indicating relationships between characteristics of a product or service; automatic means for storing in the computer system, the input signals indicating characteristics of a product or service; an editing system for producing a verified document from input from a plurality of workstations; automatic means for displaying characteristics of one or more products or services that relate to customers signals indicating wants and needs to every workstations on the one or more displays; means for inputting the relationships between the characteristics into the computer system simultaneously by a plurality of the designers at multiple respective workstations; means for displaying the combined input relationships between the characteristics, input by the plurality of the designers at all of the workstations on the one or more video displays; automatic means for reaching consensus among the designers for verifying the relationships between the characteristics; means for inputting into the editing system to document the relationships between the characteristics; a data base system in the computer system, including; programmed means for automatically receiving and programmed means for automatically transmitted and structure means for storing the signals indicating the relationships between characteristics; QMF program means for implementing the quality function deployment methodology in the computer system; means for inputting into the computer system to initiate automatic conversion of documentation from a structure for the editing system to a structure for the data base system; and means for automatically converting the signals indicating relationships between characteristics from a structure for the editing system to a structure for the data base system. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. A computer system for automated product or service design, comprising:
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one or more work stations with respective input means in a room; one or more video display positioned for viewing at least one of the displays from each work station; a data base system in the computer system programmed with information stored in storage structures and programmed means for retrieving the information from the storage structures, such storage structures including; structures for signals indicating wants and needs related to a product or service; structures for a signals indicating priorities of customer'"'"'s wants and needs related to the product or service; structures for characteristics of one or more products or services that relate the customer'"'"'s wants and needs; and structures for determinations of the signals indicating priorities of the respective characteristics of the products or services in satisfying the signals indicating wants and needs of the customers; QMF program means for implementing the quality function deployment methodology in the computer system; bridge means including on for more bridge programs, for converting structures in the data base to a structure for use in the QMF program means, and including; means for converting signals indicating wants and needs related to a product or service, from a structure for the data base to a structure for the QMF means; means for converting signals indicating priorities of each of the wants and needs related to the product or service, from a structure for the data base to a structure for the QMF means; means for converting characteristics of one or more products or services, that relate the customers signals indicating wants and needs, from a structure for the data base to a structure for the QMF means; and means for converting signals indicating priorities of the respective characteristics of the products or services in satisfying the wants and needs of the customers, from a structure for the data base to a structure for the QMF means.
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Specification