Using quality function deployment for collaborative product design and optimal selection of module mix

In response to fast-growing and rapidly-changing markets, launching new products faster than competitors cannot only assist firms in acquiring larger market share but also reducing development lead time, significantly. However, owing to its intrinsically uncertain properties of managing NPD (new product development), manufacturing companies often struggle with the dilemma of increasing product variety or controlling manufacturing complexity. In this study, a fuzzy MCDM (multi-criteria decision making) based QFD (quality function deployment) which integrates fuzzy Delphi, fuzzy DEMATEL (decision making trial and evaluation laboratory), with LIP (linear integer programming) is proposed to assist an enterprise in fulfilling collaborative product design and optimal selection of module mix when aiming at multi-segments. In particular, Fuzzy Delphi is adopted to gather marketing information from invited customers and their assessments of marketing requirements are pooled to reach a consensus; fuzzy DEMATEL is utilized to derive the priorities of technical attributes in a market-oriented manner; and LIP is used to maximize product capability with consideration of supplier’s budget constraints of manufacturing resources. Furthermore, a real case study on developing various types of sport and water digital cameras is demonstrated to validate the proposed approach. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.