Quality Management: DFM, QFD, and Fishbone Diagrams

Product Development Process

Product quality can be measured in several ways. The first is by conformity to the conditions specified: a product is of high quality if, when finished, it matches exactly how it was designed to be. A second measure is the product's effectiveness — whether it serves the customer's intended use. Finally, quality can be gauged by how well the product satisfies customer needs relative to its price. In totality, the quality of a product is inherently and largely influenced by the product development process.

Apple Inc. is one of the most renowned and celebrated companies in the world. The company manufactures and retails a wide range of products and services, including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, iPod, Apple TV, Mac, iOS, and HomePod. The product development process encompasses all phases required to take a product from conception to market availability. This includes identifying a market need, conducting research on the competitive environment, conceptualizing a solution, developing a product roadmap, and creating a minimally viable product. All of these phases occur from the time an idea is formed until the product reaches end-user consumers (Hill, Jones, and Schilling, 2014). The product examined here is the MacBook Pro — Apple's line of Macintosh laptop computers.

The first step of Apple's product development process is design. Every product and service at the company begins with design. Apple gives its design department the autonomy to create products that align with the company's vision, and the department is granted unrestricted access to resources, including finances and manufacturing capabilities. The second step is the formation of a new product team. In this phase, a dedicated team is organized and isolated from the rest of the organization through confidentiality agreements and, at times, physical barriers, providing exclusive working space for those developing the new product (Panzarino, 2012).

Once the MacBook Pro's design has been initiated, Apple's New Product Process is implemented. This is a document that details every stage of the product development cycle — mapping out the steps of product creation, identifying the parties responsible for each stage, listing the individuals involved, and setting completion timelines. The third step is a product review. At Apple, this takes place every Monday during an executive team meeting. Two key roles are involved in overseeing production once it begins: the engineering program manager and the global supply manager. Both positions spend the majority of their time at Apple's manufacturing facilities in China, supervising the production process (Interaction Design Foundation, 2019).

The subsequent phase involves iterative refinement. Once Apple finishes building a product, it undertakes a redesign and runs the product through manufacturing again — which accounts for the multiple versions that occasionally leak to the media. The engineering program manager then receives a beta MacBook Pro device for examination and feedback. Numerous versions of the device are produced at this stage, and these are not merely prototypes. Following testing, the process moves to packaging. Apple has a dedicated department tasked solely with device packaging. The final step in the product development process is the product launch (Menear, 2020).

Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) represent the integration of both product design and process planning into a single joint activity. The primary goal is to design a product that can be manufactured efficiently and economically (Groover, 2010). The significance of DFM is underscored by the fact that approximately 70 percent of the manufacturing costs of a product — including raw materials, processing, and assembly — are determined by design decisions. By contrast, production decisions such as selecting equipment and planning processes account for only about 20 percent of manufacturing costs (Evans and Lindsay, 2013). In short, design for manufacturing refers to the process of designing a product with the primary objective of making it simpler and less costly to manufacture. It is a pivotal phase of tooling design and process development that must occur before a new product goes into production. When carried out properly, DFM guarantees both quality and productivity, and it influences the appearance, texture, accuracy, and function of the final product (Groover, 2010).

The product used to illustrate these guidelines is a television. The following are eight significant design guidelines for improving manufacturability, and thereby improving quality and reducing cost.

Design Guidelines for Improving Manufacturability

Reducing the number of parts in a television is arguably the most effective opportunity for decreasing manufacturing costs. Fewer parts mean fewer procurement requirements, smaller inventories, less handling and assembly work, less development and processing time, and reduced time for engineering, servicing, and testing.

The use of modules in television design streamlines and shortens manufacturing activities, including inspection, testing, assembly, procurement, remodeling, maintenance, and service. A key reason is that modules increase flexibility for product updates during remodeling. They also allow components to be tested before final product assembly and enable the use of standard parts, which reduces product variation.

Using standard parts in television manufacturing is less expensive than using custom-made parts. The high availability of standard components reduces lead times. Their reliability characteristics are well established, and their use transfers some of the manufacturing burden to the supplier, partly relieving the manufacturer's concern about meeting production timelines.

Multi-functional components reduce the total number of parts in a product design, thereby realizing the cost and efficiency benefits described above. For instance, in a television, certain components can serve simultaneously as electrical conductors and as structural elements.

Within a manufacturing company, various product lines can share components that have been designed for multiple uses. These components may perform the same or different functions when used across different product lines. Achieving this requires identifying which parts are suitable for multiple applications.

To minimize manufacturing costs, all parts should ideally be assembled in a single direction. In television production, the most efficient approach is to add components from above, since gravitational effects naturally facilitate assembly in that direction.

Errors can occur during production and assembly due to dimensional variation in parts and imprecision in the positioning tools used. Such errors can damage individual parts or the overall product. It is therefore essential to incorporate compliance into both the design of individual television components and the overall assembly process.

Handling involves ensuring the correct positioning, orientation, and placement of television parts. During this process, symmetrical components should be used wherever possible to avoid assembly failures. Additionally, the most suitable and safe form of packaging for the product must be selected (Wysk, Hsu-Pin, and Chang, 1991).

Key Customer and Technical Requirements

The product selected for this section is a vehicle. The table below presents the key customer requirements, organized by primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.

The following are several critical technical requirements for a vehicle:

1. Functional engine
2. Properly working brakes and suspension
3. Working headlights and tail lights
4. Efficient air filtering
5. Proper tire inflation and condition
6. A clean exhaust system

Conclusion

Groover, M. P. (2010). Fundamentals of modern manufacturing: Materials, processes, and systems. John Wiley & Sons.

Evans, J. R., & Lindsay, W. M. (2013). Managing for quality and performance excellence. Cengage Learning.

Kerzner, H. (2003). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling (8th ed.). Wiley.

Youssef, C., Wäldele, M., & Herbert, B. (2007). QFD — a link between customer requirements and product properties. Guidelines for a Decision Support Method Adapted to NPD Processes.

Haron, N. Z., & Kairudin, F. L. M. (2012). The application of quality function deployment (QFD) in the design phase of industrialized building system (IBS) apartment construction project. European International Journal of Science and Technology, 1(3), 56–66.

Naagarazan, R. S. (2005). Total quality management. New Age International Limited Publishers.

Hakes, C. (1991). Total quality management: The key to business improvement. Chapman & Hall.

Charantimath, P. (2003). Total quality management. Dorling Kindersley.

Wysk, R. A., Hsu-Pin, W., & Chang, T. C. (1991). Computer-aided manufacturing. Tien-Chien Chang Richard.