Systems, methods and computer program products for assessing delivery affectivity in quality function deployment

• US 8,548,842 B1
• Filed: 01/07/2009
• Issued: 10/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Race, John Frederick
• Primary Examiner(s): Singh, Gurkanwaljit
• Application Number:
  US12/349,883
• Time in Patent Office: 1,728 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/7.41
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06395 Quality analysis or management

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for a quantifiable assessment of the delivery effectiveness of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) planning designs. In this regard, present embodiments provide quantifiable metrics that help a key stakeholder, such as a product or service provider, determine the level of success for each design requirement or Critical-To-Quality (CTQ) attribute defined in the QFD design process. Thus, based on presently described embodiments, the stakeholder can assess how well the deployment of their product or service met the original defined CTQs and/or design requirements and which CTQs and which design requirements related to those CTQs should garner further attention to ensure that the CTQ meets its objective, which in turn allows for the opportunity for the highest possible customer satisfaction with the new or re-designed product, process or service.

Claims

1. A method for assessing the effective delivery of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) design planning, comprising:

associating a plurality of lowest detail level QFD requirements with one or more of a plurality of second level QFD requirements, wherein the QFD requirements are defined for a design of a product or service and the second level is a next level above the lowest detail level;

implementing the lowest level QFD requirements and the second level QFD requirements;

receiving, via a computing device, an implementation grade for the plurality of lowest detail level QFD requirements, wherein the implementation grade is an indicator of how effective a corresponding lowest detail level QFD requirement has been implemented;

determining, via a computing device processor, an implementation score for each of the plurality of second level QFD requirements by averaging the implementation grades of each lowest detail level QFD requirement that is associated with a corresponding second level QFD requirement to determine the implementation score of the corresponding second level QFD requirement, wherein the implementation score is an indicator of how effective the corresponding second level QFD requirement has been implemented;

comparing, via a computing device processor, the implementation scores to predefined implementation score thresholds;

categorizing, via a computing device processor, implementation success for each of the second level QFD requirements as one of low success, medium success or high success based on the comparison of the implementation scores to the predefined implementation score thresholds; and

prior to releasing the product or service to customers, executing remedial actions based on the second level QFD requirement being categorized as low success.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the implementation score for each of the plurality of second level QFD requirements further defines each of the plurality of second level QFD requirements as including at least one of QFD design requirements, QFD functional requirements or Critical-To-Quality (CTQ) attributes.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein associating the plurality of lowest detail level QFD requirements with the one or more of the plurality of the second level QFD requirements further comprises associating the plurality of lowest detail level QFD requirements with the one or more of the plurality of the second level QFD requirements based on QFD relationship matrix scoring values.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the implementation grade further comprises receiving, via the computing device, a numeric implementation grade for the plurality of lowest detail level QFD requirements, wherein the numeric implementation grade is based on a predetermined numeric grading scale.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the implementation grade further comprises receiving, via the computing device, a categorized implementation grade for the plurality of lowest detail level QFD requirements, wherein the categorized implementation grade is based on a perceived effectiveness of a corresponding lowest detail level QFD requirement.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising converting, via a computing device processor, the categorized implementation grade to a numeric implementation grade prior to determine the implementation score for the plurality second level QFD requirements.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the implementation score further comprises determining, via the computing device processor, a Critical-To-Quality (CTQ) implementation score for one or more CTQ attributes based on the implementation grades of lowest detail level QFD requirements that are associated with corresponding one or more CTQ attributes.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising weighting, via a computing device processor, the implementation grades of each lowest detail level QFD requirement prior to averaging the implementation grades, wherein weighting accounts for an importance factor.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the implementation score further comprises averaging, via the computing device processor, the implementation score of first-higher detail level QFD requirements associated with a second-higher detail level QFD requirement to determine the implementation score of the second-higher detail level QFD requirement.

10. A device for assessing the effective delivery of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) design planning, comprising:

a computing platform having at least one processor and a memory in communication with the processor; and

a QFD implementation scoring module stored in the memory, and executable by the processor after implementing all design and functional requirements of an associated product or service design, wherein the module includes,

QFD implementation scoring logic operable for (1) receiving an implementation grade for a plurality of lowest detail level QFD requirements and (2) determining an implementation score for each of a plurality of second level QFD requirements by averaging the implementation grades of each lowest detail level QFD that is associated with a corresponding second level QFD requirement, (3) comparing the implementation scores to predefined implementation score thresholds, and (4) categorizing implementation success for each of the second level QFD requirements as one of low success, medium success or high success based on the comparison,

wherein the implementation grade is an indicator of how effective a corresponding lowest detail level QFD requirement has been implemented, the second level is a next level above the lowest detail level and the implementation score is an indicator of how effective a corresponding second level QFD requirement has been implemented.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the QFD implementation scoring logic is further operable to determine the implementation score for each of the QFD requirements above the lowest detail level.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the QFD requirements above the lowest-level include at least one of QFD design requirements, QFD functional requirements or Critical-To-Quality (CTQ) attributes.

13. The device of claim 10, wherein the QFD implementation scoring module is further operable to access relationship matrix data associated with QFD design planning to determine associations between the lowest detail level QFD requirements and the second level QFD requirements.

14. The device of claim 10, wherein the QFD implementation scoring logic is further operable to receive a numeric implementation grade for the plurality of lowest detail level QFD requirements, wherein the numeric implementation grade is based on a predetermined numeric grading scale.

15. The device of claim 10, wherein the QFD implementation scoring logic is further operable to receive a categorized implementation grade for the plurality of lowest detail level QFD requirements, wherein the categorized implementation grade is based on a perceived effectiveness of the lowest detail level QFD requirement.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the QFD implementation scoring logic is further operable to convert the categorized implementation grade to a numeric implementation grade prior to determine the implementation score for each of the plurality of second level QFD requirements.

17. The device of claim 10, wherein the QFD implementation scoring logic is further operable to determine a Critical-To-Quality (CTQ) implementation score for one or more CTQ attributes based on the implementation grades of lowest detail level QFD requirements and an association between the lowest detail level QFD requirements and the one or more CTQ attributes.

18. The device of claim 10, wherein the QFD implementation scoring logic is further operable to weight the implementation grades of each lowest detail level QFD requirement prior to averaging the implementation grades, wherein weighting accounts for an importance factor.

19. The device of claim 10, wherein the QFD implementation scoring logic is further operable to average the implementation grade of lowest detail level QFD requirements associated with a first-higher detail level QFD requirement to determine the implementation score of the first-higher detail level QFD requirement.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the QFD implementation scoring logic is further operable to average the implementation score of first-higher detail level QFD requirement associated with a second-higher detail level QFD requirement to determine the implementation score of the second-higher detail level QFD requirement.

21. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising;

a first set of codes for causing a computer to associate a plurality of lowest detail level QFD requirements with one or more of a plurality of second level QFD requirements, wherein the QFD requirements are defined for a design of a product or service and the second level is a next level above the lowest detail level;

a second set of codes for causing the computer to receive an implementation grade for the plurality of lowest detail level QFD requirements, wherein the implementation grade is an indicator of how effective a corresponding lowest detail level QFD requirement has been implemented;

a third set of codes for causing the computer to determine an implementation score for each of the plurality of second level QFD requirements by averaging the implementation grades of each lowest detail level QFD requirement that is associated with a corresponding second level QFD requirement to determine the implementation score of the corresponding second level QFD requirement, wherein the implementation score is an indicator of how effective the corresponding second level QFD requirement has been implemented;

a fourth set of codes for causing the computer to compare the implementation scores to predefined implementation score thresholds; and

a fifth set of codes for causing the computer to categorize implementation success for each of the second level QFD requirements as one of low success, medium success or high success based on the comparison of the implementation scores to the predefined implementation score thresholds, wherein prior to releasing the product or service to customers, remedial actions are executed on the second level QFD requirements categorized as low success.

22. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the third set of codes further comprising codes for causing the computer to determine the implementation score for one or more QFD requirements above the lowest detail level based on the implementation grades of the lowest detail level QFD requirements that are associated with the one or more QFD requirements above the lowest detail level.

23. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein the third set of codes further comprises codes for causing the computer to determine the implementation score for each of the QFD requirements above the lowest detail level.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the third set of codes further comprises codes for causing the computer to determine the implementation score for each of the QFD requirements above the lowest detail level further defines each of the QFD requirements above the lowest detail level as including at least one of QFD design requirements, QFD functional requirements or Critical-To-Quality (CTQ) attributes.

25. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the first set of codes further comprises codes for causing the computer to associate the plurality of lowest detail level QFD requirements with the one or more of the plurality of second level QFD requirements based on QFD relationship matrix scoring values.

26. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the second set of codes further comprises codes for causing the computer to receive a numeric implementation grade for the plurality of lowest detail level QFD requirements, wherein the numeric implementation grade is based on a predetermined numeric grading scale.

27. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the second set of codes further comprises codes for causing the computer to receive a categorized implementation grade for the plurality of lowest detail level QFD requirements, wherein the categorized implementation grade is based on a perceived effectiveness of the first lowest detail level QFD requirement.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein the second set of codes further comprises codes for causing the computer to convert the categorized implementation grade to a numeric implementation score prior to determine the implementation score for the plurality of second level QFD requirements.

29. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the third set of codes further comprises codes for causing the computer to determine a Critical-To-Quality (CTQ) implementation score for one or more CTQ attributes based on the implementation grades of the lowest detail level QFD requirements that are associated with the one or more CTQ attributes.

30. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein the third set of codes further comprises codes for causing the computer to average the implementation of the lowest detail level QFD requirements that are associated with a first-higher detail level QFD requirement to determine the implementation score of the first-higher detail level QFD requirement.

31. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the third set of codes further comprises codes for causing the computer to average the implementation scores of first-higher detail level QFD requirements that are associated with a second-higher detail level QFD requirement to determine the implementation score of the second-higher detail level QFD requirement.