A product platform optimization method based on QFD

Quality function deployment (QFD) is a popular approach to design products that satisfy customer needs. To minimize the total quality loss caused by commonality when establishing a product platform and better satisfy customer requirements, this paper presents a five-step QFD-based methodology to determine the optimal values for platform engineering characteristics (ECs) and non-platform ECs of the products within a product family. First, the optimal values of ECs for each individual product within a family are determined. Then, the platform ECs are identified according to the calculated sensitivity indices of the ECs, and the values of each platform EC are clustered. A mathematical model is developed to simultaneously optimize the values of the platform and the non-platform ECs. Finally, the ECs that the worst overall customer satisfaction loss can be avoided are selected as platform ECs. A case study is used to demonstrate the methodology.