28 April 2014

The importance of understanding what the customer really means

Dr. Tom Saaty (founder of AHP) in his 17th "Thinking Man's Jokebook" (1994), tells this story, paraphrased here.

Yggdrasil (Norse mythology tree) and rocks, painted by Oluf Olufsen Bagge 1847
Norse mythology tree and rocks,
painted by Oluf Olufsen Bagge 1847
Wikipedia Commons
Two anthropologists travel to two remote islands to study the natives. After a few months, one visits his colleague on the other island to compare notes.

"How is it going?" he asks. The other replies, "I have discovered an important fact about their language. Watch."

He points to a tree and asks "what is that?" The natives reply in unison, "umbalo-gong."  Then he points to a rock and asks "what is that?" The natives reply in unison, "umbalo-gong."

The anthropologist exclaims "You see, they use the same word for tree and for rock."

The visiting anthropologist is astonished and replies, "That is truly amazing. On the other island, the same word means 'index finger.'"

So take care to analyze the voice of the customer. Use at least two people, preferably a marketing type and a technology type, to look at the context and the words, translate into product-independent needs, and validate with the customer with the affinity diagram, hierarchy diagram, and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP).


06 April 2014

QFD training in Dallas and Istanbul

Here are two opportunities to learn the modern QFD and best practices from one of the top QFD instructors around the world.  

Both courses include your copy of the Modern QFD training manual, Modern QFD templates, and case studies. No Prerequisites.

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 May 7–8, 2014
Dallas, Texas USA

This course will be held conveniently following the 2014 ASQ World Congress, in a venue next door. Registration is in progress. The attendees of this course will be eligible for the December 2014 QFD Black Belt® Certificate Course in Charleston (a discount will be offered). 

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September 2–3, 2014
Istanbul, Turkey

This course will be held conveniently at the same venue as the 2014 International Symposium on QFD. To mark the inaugural QFD course in Istanbul, the QFD Institute is offering significant price breaks for early registrations. We encourage you to take advantage of this and sign up now!













    19 March 2014

    Call For Papers -- 2014 Symposium on QFD

    The QFD Institute is issuing a Call For Papers for The 26th Symposium on QFD, scheduled for December 5, 2014 in Charleston, South Carolina USA.

    We invite you to send a paper proposal by May 31, 2014.

    People of all countries and industries are welcome. Come share your QFD experience and research -- how QFD helped your product and business development, unique applications and innovative methods, your QFD journey, the challenges you faced, things you learned, etc.

    photo of Angel Oak Tree in Charleston
    Photo: Angel Oak in Charleston

    Typical presentation topics include:
    • Case studies reporting QFD applications for Design Quality, New Product/Service Development, Voice of Customer (VOC), Marketing and Strategy, etc.
    • Integration case studies involving DFSS/DFLS, DMAIC, New Kano Model, Kansei Engineering, TRIZ, Phase-Gates, etc.
    • Proposals for enhancement methods and tools for QFD
    • Academic research, and more.
    Both completed projects and those in the progress are candidates for presentation. Speaker benefits include special discounts for the popular QFD Certificate Courses, publication of your paper in the QFD Institute Symposium Transactions, and more.

    For questions, please contact the QFD Institute.




    14 March 2014

    Bonehead specs are not customer needs

    An automotive customer may demand these things from its vendor, for example:
    • Performance level or specifications
    • Features or functions
    • Specific hardware or methods
    • Complaint solutions or failure mode prevention
    • Lower prices, etc.
    In concept, the product performance, features, and methods outlined by the automaker may seem exciting. But sometimes satisfying these requirements still fails to satisfy the end customers (consumers).

    Similarly, customers may express desires for such things as speed, engine power, braking performance, roomy interior, and so forth for a new car. Often these requirements show up in customer surveys, focus groups, various marketing research and even in consumer magazines.

    The problem is that what you get from these stated requirements are specifications, not "customer needs." People often confuse the two. The distinction is critical for successful new product development.

    "The stated customer wants are only a starting point in design. What they said they want is the best guesstimate of what they think the producer could deliver," says Glenn Mazur, executive director of the QFD Institute. "In New Product Development (NPD), the goal should be creating the future experience and value for the customers."

    This is how to better-understand this:


    The relationship between the customer needs and what customers tell you is similar to a fishbone diagram, with needs representing the "head" or a desired effect, and the specifications, functions, components, materials, etc. representing the "bones" or causal factors.

    Customers are experts in "heads" and producers are experts in "bones." When customers give your bones instead of heads, you get "bonehead specs" ☺ where the customer mistakenly thinks their stated specs will meet their unstated needs. Then. when the product is delivered, it fails to fit their use, and they scream.

    In the above automotive industry example,
    Classical QFD using a 4-phase model and House of Quality matrix would lump all of the customer-stated requirements together and attempt to prioritize the results.  When you approach NPD that way, price and complaint issues dominate, and innovative product development gets inhibited.

    Modern QFD, on the contrary, has specific tools for these:
    • Identify what are product features and specs vs. what are customer needs
    • Uncover 'unstated' customer needs
    • Identify the unknown unknowns
    • Determine what are 'true' customer needs (the foundation for highly competitive products)
    • Set the needs priorities correctly
    Modern QFD tools are strongest where you want to make a difference by widening the gap between merely meeting product specifications vs. satisfying the customer.

    To truly build the "true customer needs" and innovation in your New Product Development, rather than the same old fixes of complaints and cost-pinching, we invite you to come learn the Modern QFD in the next public courses.

    This advice also applies to those who have been doing Classical QFD for many years or learned the old QFD from books.








    04 February 2014

    I'd like my QFD sunny-side up!

    You've earned your Spring Break from the coldest, snowiest winter in recent memory.
    Come to Orlando, Florida for the next QFD Green Belt® training course on March 6–7, 2014.

    Learn modern QFD tools to translate voice of customer into unspoken customer needs, get accurate priorities, and operationalize innovative solutions to what matters most.

    Blitz QFD® uses simple Excel sheets (provided) to feed into, and often replace, the House of Quality and other matrices. Can be applied to systems, modules, components — for hardware, software, service, and healthcare. Bring your own project for the workshops.

    (QFD Green Belt® Course in Orlando FL)
    Online Brochure   |   PDF Brochure   |   Registration

    The course has these components:

    • Workshop 1: Defining project goals and outcomes. (Project Goals Table)
    • Workshop 2: Defining key customers and stakeholders, and their applications/scenarios. (Customer Segments Table)
    • Workshop 3: Planning customer visits (gemba) to see for ourselves, and model what they say and do. (Customer Process Model)
    • Workshop 4: Documenting what goes right (and is to be protected) and wrong (and is to be improved) based on voice of customer and observational study. (Gemba Visit Table)
    • Workshop 5: Translate voice of customer into true customer needs, both spoken and unspoken. (Customer Voice Table)
    • Workshop 6: Structure customers needs to find missing ones. (Affinity Diagram and Hierarchy Diagram).
    • Workshop 8: Deploy high priority needs into solution requirements and concepts. Assure quality in deliver. (Maximum Value Table).
    • Discussion on advanced QFD tools for competitive assessment (Quality Planning Table), complex projects (Modern House of Quality), Emotional Quality (Kansei Engineering), etc.
    • Implementing QFD in your organization.

    Course includes workbook, Excel tool templates for workshops, and related case studies. Bring your own projects for the workshops.



    30 January 2014

    Shakespeare's Gemba

    While ago, I nominated Champlain as my Mr. Gemba ("I get my kicks from Champlain").

    (stain glass image of Polonius)
    Polonius
    Here are more Gemba wisdom for you, one from the literature masterpiece and another from today's TV show.

    Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 3, Lord Polonius advises Laertes.
    • Listen twice as much as you speak.
    • Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice
    • Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment


    Today's TV star Judge Judy puts it more directly:
    "God gave your two ears and one mouth for a reason."

    I believe the #1 gemba tool is a piece of tape across the lips of every QFD team member.

    When we are silent, the customer fills the silence with gold – his take on his life and business, what he likes and dislikes. This is the true VOC from which we can begin to understand his needs.

    26 September 2013

    Report from the 2013 International Symposium on QFD

    On September 4 - 13, 2013, the QFD enthusiasts from around the world gathered together in Santa Fe, New Mexico for the 19th International Symposium on QFD and Training. It was attended from as far as Brazil, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Sweden, Thailand, The Netherlands, Turkey, Canada and USA.

    We learned the latest case studies and research, innovative new tools and applications, as well as the international trends. The face-to-face interactions were priceless even in this digital age. We made new friends, renewed old friendships, and learned from each other, getting inspired to do things even better at work and home with the help of QFD.

    If you missed this year's event, we do hope you will join us next year (see below for 2014 Calls For Papers). Meanwhile, here are some of the highlights from the 2013 events:
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    Akao Prize® is awarded to individuals who have made notable contribution to the dissemination and advancement of QFD for many years on the international level. The 2013 Akao Prize® was awarded to Sixten Schockert (GERMANY) and Yoshimichi Watanabe (JAPAN).
    Recipients of this year's and past Akao Prize® at 2013 ISQFD
    (Dr. Akao, front center, is flanked by this year's recipients)

    Best Paper - SCG Chemicals, Thailand
    Best Paper Award: "Quality Function Deployment for New Product Development: Transforming Waste to Worth" By Pattarit Sahasyodhin (SCG Chemicals); Kritaya Suparnpongs, QFD Black Belt® (Siam Cement Group); Paweena Lertchanyakul, QFD Green Belt® (SCG Chemicals), THAILAND.  




    Best Presentation - Tamagawa University, Japan
    Best Presentation Award: "A Study of Service Quality Improvement Using the Theories of Nonverbal Communication, FMEA and QFD" By Kazushi Nagai (Tamagawa University); Tadashi Ohfuji (Tamagawa University); Masamitsu Kiuchi, Ph.D. (Josai University), JAPAN. 



    photo - 2013 QFD Black Belt<sup>®</sup> Graduates
    2013 QFD Black Belt® Graduates
    QFD Belts® Achievement: Once again, we salute those who rose to the challenge of earning the QFD Green Belt® and QFD Black Belt® in Santa Fe. Congratulations.





    Dr. & Mrs. Akao
    Dr. Yoji Akao, founder of QFD, remains just as enthusiastic about learning new case studies and students as he was nearly half a century ago when he began the research that led to the development of QFD.




    Native American blessing
    Native American Blessing. The QFD attendees were honored to receive this special blessing, performed by the tribal governor of Picuris Pueblo, one of the Eight Northern Pueblos in the Santa Fe region.


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    Join us in 2014! 

    2014 QFD Call For Papers









    31 August 2013

    2013 International Symposium on QFD & Public QFD Courses

    For anyone wanting to find out how QFD is used today in real projects, innovative new tools and current best practices, better integration with DFLS and other initiatives, and what international markets are using QFD to their advantage, here are the annual QFD events that are perfect for you:

    September 4–5 : QFD Green Belt® Certificate Course

    September 6–7 : The 19th International Symposium on QFD   See presentation schedule

    September 8 : QFD Black Belt® UPDATE and QFD Green Belt® UPDATE

    September 9–13 : QFD Black Belt® Certificate Course


    Registrations for QFD courses will be accepted up to 1 day before the start of the respective courses. The Symposium accepts walk-ins. In any case, we recommend contacting the QFD Institute as soon as you decide, so as to ensure your seat, materials, and meals.

    Venue: Hotel Santa Fe
    All events will be held in Santa Fe, New Mexico USA. Please see Venue details and Travel information.

    This year's International Symposium will have keynote addresses by Dr. Yoji Akao (founder of QFD) and Glenn Mazur (executive director of QFDI) and case studies and research from Germany, Japan, Turkey, Brazil, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, The Netherlands, and USA. See here for details.

    The QFD courses include the modern QFD templates which also include the House of Quality matrix with modernized math, AHP, Customer Voice Table, Maximum Value Table, etc.

    We hope you will be able to join us.

    22 August 2013

    An Apple a day — Use QFD to systematize Steve Jobs' design genius beyond a single individual

    (image - An Apple a day keeps competitors away)
    In my opinion, late Steve Jobs was a rare individual who had such an intuitive grasp of the fundamentals of QFD thinking. For example, in the April 1, 1989 interview with Inc. Magazine, he was asked by reporters Bo Burlingham and George Gendron, "Where do great products come from?"

    This is what Jobs said:

    "I think really great products come from melding two points of view-the technology point of view and the customer point of view. You need both.

    "You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new. It took us three years to build the NeXT computer. If we'd given customers what they said they wanted, we'd have built a computer they'd have been happy with a year after we spoke to them-not something they'd want now..."

    Let me put this in QFD perspective.

    We see two common flows in the way QFD is practiced: forward and reverse. Forward QFD begins with the voice of the customer which is often a mixture of "what they want," that is product performance, features, and technology. Because customers rarely know what the future may bring, their voice is typically tied to the past or present.

    As Jobs points out, the product may be sufficient for the past, but insufficient at the time of launch or during its useful life. You can ask customers what they want as a starting point of a QFD analysis. The tool for this analysis is the Customer Voice table; its purpose is to translate voice of customer (VOC) into true customer needs. In this table, we explore with customers why they want something.

    For example, a customer in a café may state "I need a hot cup of coffee," but what they really need is "I am cold and I want to warm up." Using Jobs logic, you could produce a cup of coffee that was too hot to drink, thus forcing the customer to wait until it cooled down. You would give them what they asked (hot), but not really meet their needs (warm up).

    In modern QFD, we define a customer need as being product-independent, and that is the first step in creating great product.  Read More ...






    15 August 2013

    Mirror Neurons – the science behind "gemba" ?

    Recent studies on the behavior of monkeys in a research lab in Parma Italy accidentally found that brain neurons that fired when a monkey picked up a peanut, also fired when a monkey watched a human pick up a peanut.

    Ongoing research in these so-called "mirror neurons" in humans have discovered what might be the root-cause of empathy. When we see someone performing a task, it triggers the same neurons as if had been doing the same task ourselves.

    A recent discovery has also shown that people on the "empowered" side of a relationship lose some ability to fire these mirror neurons compared to those on the "unempowered" side of the relationship.  (See the report and video at NOVA: Mirror Neurons)

    For QFD practitioners, this gives strong support for the power of gemba visits. Unlike surveys and questionnaires which are passive, going to gemba to observe and even participate in activities with our customers, apparently triggers empathy in our brains that may improve how we understand our customers and how we innovate solutions to their problems. Further, this latest research suggests that if we empower the customer to lead the gemba visit, we consequently unempower ourselves, thus improving our ability to empathize.

    Wow! I've been teaching "go to the gemba" for twenty years and now have an explanation for why this works so well, especially for bringing marketing and technical people together to better understand customers.

    The tools we've developed, which are now core in the Blitz QFD® approach and taught in the QFD Green Belt® course are designed to capture this implicit mirroring process and make it explicit. The result has been more marketing-technical teams attending both public and in-company Blitz QFD® training.

    Why not join our next course on September 4-5, 2013 in Santa Fe NM and learn how to put your mirror neurons to good use!