2021 QFD Black Belt® — Virtual Training

The QFD Black Belt® Certificate Course is now offered as a live online training, using the Zoom platform. 

It will be delivered over a 10-week period, with a 4-hour session every week (total 40 hours). This makes it less disruptive to students’ work schedule and allows more time to absorb the intense knowledge. 

2021 QFD Black Belt® Course:

• Every Monday @ 9 AM – 1 PM (US Eastern/New York Time),
  starting from September 13 and continuing every Monday
  through November 22 (except for September 27).

• Online Brochure

• PDF Brochure

• Registration Form (PDF)

The curriculum encompasses the breadth and depth of modern Comprehensive QFD per compliance with ISO 16355, and relevant advanced quality and design methods. Most of all, you will be taught how to adapt QFD to unique requirements of the company and project.

This advanced QFD course has prerequisites. 

If you would like to attend the 2021 QFD Black Belt® but do not meet the prerequisites, please contact us as soon as possible.

 

2021 QFD Black Belt® Course

 Online Brochure  |  PDF Brochure  

Registration Forms:  PDF or MS Word

 

Starting September 2021, the QFD Institute will be offering the QFD Black Belt^® Certificate Course as a live virtual training, using the Zoom platform. 

This facilitator-level advanced course consists of ten 4-hour sessions (40 hours total), currently planned to start in the week of  September 13–17, 2021. 

Those who would like to attend are invited to send their registrations soon — because the dates and time zone will be finalized based on attendee preferences, after their registration forms are received.

Registration Options:

• You have a Full QFD Green Belt^® (with a Gold seal on your certificate):
  Please select [QFD Black Belt^® only] on the registration form.
  

• You attended a QFD Green Belt^® in 2020 or 2021:
  Select [QFD Black Belt^® only] on the registration form.

• You have a Provisional QFD Green Belt^® from 2019 or earlier courses:
  Select [QFD Update Package] on the registration form.
  

• You are attending the July 2021 QFD Green Belt^®:
  Select [QFD Facilitator's Package] on the registration form.
  
  

We look forward to your joining us in this new virtual training. For questions, please contact us.

PS: You might be also interested in
July 26–28, 2021 QFD Green Belt^® Certificate Course
@ 11am–3pm EST (New York time)

The First ISO Standard for QFD

We are pleased to announce that ISO 16355, the first ISO standard for QFD, has won full approval, just a few weeks ago at the International Standard Organization meeting in London UK.

This standard is intended to guide both novice and veteran product and process developers who use QFD, including practitioners of Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, and Design for Six Sigma.

One of the important aspects is the decision by the ISO working group to make this standard in descriptive rather than prescriptive, so as to expose practitioners to the full depth and breadth of the QFD concepts and methodology, and not limit to one particular model.

This decision came from the recognition that we cannot be successful in the future products development when bound by old methods and mindsets, while the world around us is going through rapid changes. For example, a wall-sized House of Quality that worked well forty years ago is no longer effective for today's agile and IT-oriented businesses.

Therefore, any approach to new product development must continue to transform over time for a business to survive and sustain success. Our working group decided early on to make this new standard stand the test of time in this regard, and open the eyes of QFD practitioners to multiple broad possibilities and options from which they can find a feasible best path for their unique situation, such as Akao's Comprehensive QFD, modern Blitz QFD^®, and the German QFD models.

Read more about the newly approved ISO 16355.

The standard is now published and available for purchase from the International Organization for Standardization.

Designing environmental sustainability with QFD

Single-serving coffee brewers have become so popular recently. It is everywhere from home kitchens, hotel rooms, airport lounges, to doctors' offices, etc.

You insert a small disposable coffee pod (the photo on the left) into the machine, push a button, and out comes fresh brewed coffee with the flavor, strength, and style described on the package.

People love the convenience, easy care, and fresh coffee aroma with each cup. But have you ever thought of  the environmental impact after their use?

Made of plastic and/or aluminum, some pods can be recycled, while others are not. But how often have you seen a recycle bin provided in hotel rooms or offices where these single brewers are used?  How many people carefully sort out the recyclable pods during the morning rush?

The sad reality is that the majority of these pods currently end up in landfill —  now a 3,000,000,000 per year problem in Germany alone, according to March 1, 2016 National Public Radio blog "The Salt".

In New Product Development, the concern for sustainability is too often treated as an 'either-or' tradeoff, such as "you can have convenience or environmental friendliness, but not both".

But you can resolve this dilemma and do a better job at designing sustainability in your new product by using Comprehensive QFD and deploying Sustainability independently during the design phase.

Those with Modern QFD training can also supplement the Maximum Value table in Blitz QFD^® with an Environmental Value table.

Read more...