43 INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL September 2017 Vol. X & Issue No. 9 September - 2017 QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT A CASE STUDY ON WATER COOLER Prof. Neha Patkar Dr. R. C. Gupta Dr. M.D. Mahajan Abstract This paper presents an approach to review perspective of Quality function deployment (QFD) and its potential area for design and development. Every company must stay constantly alert and responsive to its customer's continuing changing wants and need to survive in today's global competitions. There is obvious gap between what's of customer and how's of designer. QFD is one of the technique that can bridge the gap and help translate customer what's to how's. The survey is being conducted at various locations to get Water Cooler users requirements by using a structured questionnaire and these are translated into design characteristics in the progression of QFD stages. A water cooler is a device that cools and dispenses water. Gemba (where the product is actually used) is the true source of information. So I have visited water cooler users at various places to capture their requirements. A comparative importance was recorded through a questionnaire consisting of 15 questions related to water cooler performance and factor affecting it. In this research relative weight for different VOC and technical descriptors were calculated. Higher relative weight show the area where engineering efforts needs to be concentrated. The result of deployment of VOC has been discussed and the study pointed out the direction of effort to make significant improvement in water cooler performance for greater customer satisfaction. QFD method provides solution to understand the changing demand of fast changing world.. Key Words: Customer Requirements, Voice of Customers, Technical Characteristics, House of Quality, Deployment of VOC, Water Cooler. 1.  INTRODUCTION Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a systematic approach for defining customer requirements and translating them into specific technical characteristics. QFD consist of a series of interlocking matrices often known as house of quality (HOQ) that translates customer need into product and process characteristics. The diverse customer's voices must be considered, reconciled and balanced to develop a truly successful product QFD helps to bridge the gap between the company and the customer. Present problem considered the case of wall mount overhead tank water cooler. The aim of this research is to collect and analyze the customer expectation from water cooler and make an effort to fulfil and satisfy customer need. There are various approaches to get voice of customers. Researcher have selected a structured multiple choice type questionnaire. After many discussion, brainstorming and thinking, finally researcher have designed a Questionnaire includes 15 questions with a choice of answers. Questionnaire were ready to collect voice of customers (VOC) from different sites and these VOC were evaluated for establishing the critical issues affecting water cooler performance and then make a recommendation towards addressing the short fall on water coolers trouble-free performance. 2. METHODOLOGY This particular research follows the quantitative and qualitative research methodology including observation and survey. Flow chart is prepared to present and describe methodology used in research: 1. Data collection 2. Analysis of VOC 3. Building HOQ 4. Calculating absolute weight 5. Deployment of VOC 6. Result and conclusion 2.1: DATA COLLECTION Researcher has visited customers to know how they perceive water cooler and their needs related to Water Coolers. A water cooler is a device that cools and despence water. The most common form of the water cooler is wall mounted and connected to the building's water supply for a continuous supply of water and electricity to run a refrigeration unit to cool the incoming water, and to the building's waste disposal system to dispose of unused water. Personal interaction helps to find and interpret customer requirements, and then after analyzing the filled questionnaire researcher consolidate purchaser and users requirements to get VOC useful for QFD approach. After conducting the survey at various users and purchaser of Water Cooler the following results were obtained. According to results obtained from survey, Voice of Customer requirements are categorized as shown: Table1: Voice of Customers (VOC) Purchaser requirement User requirement Trouble Free Performance After sale services Low Energy Consumption Price Continuous supply Hygienic Pure and Clean Water Cooling Capacity Compact design & Quite 2.2: ANALYSIS OF DATA 2.2.1: Analysis of VOC The process of questioning people will not show everything involved in understanding the customer's wants & needs. The work of 'Noritaki Kano' provides a model that helps us understands the overall spectrum of customer expectations and satisfaction. Then after VOC are classified by Kano's Model as Expected, revealed and exciting requirements to understand the overall spectrum of customer expectations and satisfaction. The customer requirements are categorized as follows: Table2: Customers Requirements Expected Requirements Revealed Requirements Exciting Requirements Temperature Control Continuous supply Repair and Maintenance Accessibility Speedy Drainage Hygienic Quite User Friendly Price Low Energy Consumption DOI: 10.26488/IEJ.6.10.5 DOI: 10.26488/IEJ.6.10.5 DOI: 10.26488/IEJ.6.10.5 DOI: 10.26488/IEJ.6.10.5 DOI: 10.26488/IEJ.6.10.5 ISSN:2581-4915 ISSN:2581-4915 ISSN:2581-4915