Abstract: Quality Function Deployment (QFD) was conceived in Japan in the late 1960s, during an era when Japanese industries broke from their post-World War II mode of product development through imita- tion and copying and moved to product development based on originality. QFD was born in this envi- ronment as a method or concept for new product development under the umbrella of Total Quality Control. The subtitle An Approach to Total Quality added to Quality Function Deploy- ment (1), the very first book on the topic of QFD written by the late Dr. Shigeru Mizuno and myself, illustrates this relationship. After World War II, statistical quality control (SQC) was introduced to Japan and became the central quality activity, primarily in the area of manufacturing. Later, it was integrated with the teachings of Dr. Juran, who during his 1954 visit to Japan emphasized the importance of making quality control a part of business management, and the teaching of Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, who spearheaded the Company Wide Quality Control movement by convincing the top management of companies of the importance of having every employee take part. This evolution was fortified also by the 1961 publication of To- tal Quality Control by Dr. Feigenbaum. As a result, SQC was transformed into TQC in Japan during this transitional period between 1960 and 1965. It was during this time that I first presented the concept and method of QFD. The Japanese automo- bile industry was in the midst of rapid growth, going through endless new product development and model changes. At that time, the following two issues became the seeds out of which QFD was con- ceived.
Publication Year: 1997
Publication Date: 1997-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 160
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