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QFDforServiceIndustriesFromVoiceofCustomertoTaskDeploymentGlennH.MazurJapanBusinessConsultants,Ltd.TheFifthSymposiumonQualityFunctionDeploymentNovi,MichiganJune,1993TheFifthSymposiumonQualityFunctionDeploymentJune20-22,1993JapanBusinessConsultants,Ltd.valuesthespreadofideas.Inthisspirit,youhavepermissiontoreproducethispaperasacompleteunit(noextracts).Allcopiesmustincludethecopyrightnoticeasfollows:Copyright©1993byGlennMazurAllRightsReserved.JapanBusinessConsultants,Ltd.1140MoreheadCt.AnnArbor,MI48103(313)995-0847Fax:(313)995-3810byGlennH.MazurJapanBusinessConsultants,Ltd.IntroductionQualityFunctionDeployment(QFD)beganmorethantwentyyearsagoinJapanasaqualitysystemfocusedondeliveringproductsandservicesthatsatisfycustom-ers.Toefficientlydelivervaluetocustomers,itisnec-essarytolistentothe“voice”ofthecustomerthroughouttheproductorservicedevelopmentprocess.ThelateDr.ShigeruMizuno,Dr.YojiAkao,andotherqualityexpertsinJapandevelopedthetoolsandtech-niquesofQFDandorganizedthemintoacomprehen-sivesystemtoassurequalityandcustomersatisfactioninnewproductsandservices(seeFigure1)[MizunoandAkao1993,Akao1990].Since1983,anumberofleadingNorthAmericanfirmshavediscoveredthispowerfulapproachandareusingitwithcross-functionalteamsandconcurrentengineeringtoimprovetheirproductsandservices,aswellasthedesignanddevelopmentprocessitself[Akao1983,Sul-livan1986,King,1987].TheauthorusedQFDin1985todevelophisJapanesetranslationbusiness,JapanBusinessConsultants,andsawrevenuesincrease285%thefirstyear,150%thesecondyear,and215%thethirdyear.Anupdateofhisstudyisincludedinthisreport.QFDwasanintegralpartofFloridaPower&Light’ssuccessfulbidtobecomethefirstnon-JapaneseDemingPrizerecipientin1990[“QualitySystemIm-plementation...”1988,Webb1990].Ithasbeensuc-cessfullyappliedintheU.S.healthcareindustrysince1991attheUniversityofMichiganMedicalCenter[Gaucher1991]andMedicalCenterofCentralMas-sachusetts[presentedbutunpublishedreportattheThirdSymposiumonQualityFunctionDeployment(Novi,MI:1991)byL.Kelly].EarlyapplicationsofQFDinserviceorganizationsinJapanbyOhfuji,Noda,andOginoin1981wereforashoppingmall,asportscomplex,andavarietyretailstore[Akao,1990].Morerecently,KanekohasbeenintegratingQFD,reliability,andqualitycircleactivitiesinhotels,shoppingcenters,andhospitals[Kaneko1990a,1990b,1991,1992].Since1990,theauthorhasconsultedwithotherserviceorganizationsindistribution,education,personnel,fi-nance,healthcare,repair,andretailbusinesses.QualityFunctionDeploymenthasprovidedastructureforas-suringqualityandcustomersatisfactionintheother-wisefuzzyandintangibleworldofservice.©1993GlennMazurAllrightsreserved.1QFDforServiceIndustriesFromVoiceofCustomertoTaskDeployment19681972197819821984198819901992basicconceptsfirstapplicationfirstQFDbookfirstserviceapplicationfirstQFDsymposiumNorthAmericaJapanbasicconceptsfirstapplicationfirstQFDbookfirstserviceDemingPrizefirstQFDsymposiumfirstserviceDemingPrizefirstserviceapplicationFigure1.HistoryofQFD.OriginatinginJapanovertwodecadesago,QFDistheonlycomprehensivequalitysystemforsatisfy-ingcustomers.WhyQFDforServices?Increasingeconomicpressuresfromcompetition,gov-ernment,andrapidlychangingtechnologyhaveforcedcompaniestoaskmoreoffeweremployees.Internalcompanyservicessuchaspersonnel,accounting,infor-mationmanagement,etc.arenolongerancillaryactivi-ties,buthavebecomecriticalprocessesinassuringendcustomersatisfactionandinachievingorganizationalobjectives.Howwilltheydothiswitheverdiminishingfinancial,time,andhumanresources?Whataboutserviceorientedbusinesses?Forexample,therearemountingpressuresforhealthcarereformthatwillundoubtedlymeanfewerpeoplewithfewerre-sourcesdoingmoreformorecustomers.Howwilltheyassurethatthequalityofhealthcarewillnotsuffer?Whataboutsmallbusiness?InLiberationManagement[Peters1992,p.142],TomPetersdescribeshispersonalviewoftheconsultingfirmMcKinsey&Companyasanorganizationwithconsultants(professionals)andsupportstaff(second-classcitizens).AslongastheyremainatMcKinsey,theywillneverrisetotopposi-tions(partnership).Forthesesupportstafftobecomefirst-classcitizens,theymusteventuallyjoinanorgani-zationthatspecializesinsupportactivities(research,duplicatingservices,desktoppublishing,transcription,etc.)wheretheycanbe“professionals”intheirownright.PetersseesaNorthAmericaproliferatingwithservicefirmselectronicallylinkedtotheircustomers.WhylooktoQFDtoaddresstheproblemsofservices?WhatcanQFDdothatisnotalreadybeingdonebytra-ditionalqualitysystems?InunderstandingQFD,itishelpfultounderstandthedifferencesbetweenmodernandtraditionalqualitysystems.NothingWrong≠AnythingRightTraditionalQualitySystemsTraditionalapproachestoassuringservicequalityoftenfocusonworkstandards[Love1986],automationtoeliminatepeople,orinmoreenlightenedorganizations,QualityImprovementTeams(QuITs?!)toempoweremployeestosolveproblems.Asmanufacturersarefindingout,however,consistencyandabsenceofproblemsisnotacompetitiveadvantagewhenonlygoodplayersareleft.Forexample,intheautomobileindustry,despitethecelebratednarrowingofthe“quality”(readthatfitandfinish)gapbetweenU.S.andJapanesemaker