What Is Quality Function Deployment (QFD)? An Automotive Example
What Is Quality Function Deployment (QFD)?
Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a structured methodology for translating customer needs into specific, measurable engineering requirements. Rather than relying on assumptions about what a customer wants, QFD starts with actual customer feedback, ranks those needs by importance, and maps them against the engineering and functional requirements needed to satisfy them. The result, usually captured in a QFD chart (sometimes called a “house of quality”), gives program teams a single reference showing which customer priorities matter most and how well a design, or a competitor’s design, currently meets them.
QFD is widely used in automotive product development because it forces teams to prioritize objectively, rather than designing around internal assumptions or the loudest voice in the room. Those functional targets also make it easier for program management to communicate back to each engineering team on what goals or metrics must be met to deliver a well-balanced product. QFD is also a foundational tool in Six Sigma and Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) programs, since it ties measurable engineering targets directly back to what actually drives customer satisfaction.
Below is a full worked example of the QFD process applied to a real automotive component: the instrument cluster.
Worked Example: Vehicle Instrument Cluster
An instrument or gauge cluster is a device usually positioned in front of the driver which displays useful information for operating a vehicle. The information usually displayed in an instrument cluster is vehicle speed, remaining fuel/range, in addition to any vehicle hazard/safety lights. The first vehicle to incorporate an instrument cluster into its design was the 1976 Aston Martin Lagonda. The instrument cluster would not show up in the US market for another two years, when it was added to the 1978 Cadillac Seville. Below is a picture of a traditional analog instrument cluster as well as a more modern digital instrument cluster.
As a worked example of Quality Function Deployment (QFD), consider the 3-row mid-size crossover SUV segment. The crossover SUV is a combination of a road-going passenger car with features of an off-road vehicle. These vehicles are more family-oriented, with plenty of space to transport 7-8 passengers plus plenty of cargo room. The target customer for this vehicle is a middle-aged adult with multiple kids and a pet. The vehicles compared in this example are:
- 2022 Honda Pilot
- 2022 Ford Explorer
- 2022 Nissan Pathfinder
To create the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) chart for the instrument cluster, current customer data was gathered and evaluated. Customer expectations and requirements were then translated into specific engineering/product requirements. Once the QFD chart was set up, the vehicles selected above were evaluated on the QFD chart and scored.
Customer Wants
The purpose of this example is to understand customer needs/wants with regard to an instrument cluster. To understand the voice of the customer, a survey was conducted and sent out to a total of 11 individuals. Of the 11 respondents, 1 drove a full-size SUV, 2 drove crossover SUVs, and the remainder of the participants drove sedans. The results from the survey can be seen below:
Package Engineer’s Considerations
The package engineer is the voice of the customer and must balance all the specific requirements of each component that come together in and around the instrument panel (interior/electrical/HVAC/seats/steering wheel). This ensures that when the customer sits in the driver seat and looks around, they see a vehicle that is well balanced and tailored for the target customer: a middle-aged adult.
Based on the target customer for this vehicle segment, the two biggest priorities for this vehicle should be safety and convenience. This customer will have their kids in the back seat, and keeping them safe by reducing distraction is the number one priority — as a result, the instrument cluster should be within the sight line of the driver to minimize the time their eyes are off the road. The instrument cluster should be simple to use, since this target customer already has a lot on their hands and wants a simple, clear user interface. The instrument cluster should be a larger digital display that has all the useful information in one place (current music information, rear seat reminders, vehicle condition).
Based on the customer feedback, the following engineering criteria were created:
- The driver should not have to look down more than 45 degrees to view the instrument cluster while driving (driver field of view to sight line of instrument cluster).
- The sight line of the instrument cluster should be at least 20mm below the top of the steering wheel, to prevent obstruction from the steering wheel.
- The instrument cluster should be less than 300mm away from the face of the driver.
When integrating an instrument cluster into a vehicle, there are various key factors that need to be considered:
- Is the instrument cluster obstructed by the steering wheel?
- Is the information on the instrument cluster visible to the driver regardless of the position of the sun?
- How well is the instrument cluster integrated into the rest of the instrument panel?
- Any issue installing the instrument cluster during assembly?
- Does the instrument cluster wiring harness cause any packaging issues with any other component in the instrument panel?
- How easy is the serviceability of the instrument cluster?
- How close is the instrument cluster to the steering wheel?
QFD Chart
Benchmarking
This QFD example also relies on competitive vehicle benchmarking to score how each of the three vehicles performs against the engineering requirements identified above.
Observations and Findings
The customers in the instrument cluster survey ranged in height from 5′ to 6’4″, and were 54.5% female, 45.5% male. The results of the survey show the top priority for the customer is ease of use. The next highest priority item is the location of the instrument cluster. The third-highest priority items were split between brightness adjustment, info available, and size/shape. The customer also prioritizes a digital cluster over analog, customizability (showing only info needed), and large font size/proximity to the user. The full list of customer needs gathered from the survey, with their respective weight, can be seen below. A five was assigned to the most important customer needs, while a one was assigned to the least important. (Top customer needs are highlighted.)
Discussion on Findings
The survey results show the biggest priority for the customer is overall ease of use. While driving, customers don’t want to take their eyes off the road for longer than needed. The best way to prioritize this is by optimizing screen size/location and prioritizing essential information on the cluster. Customizability is an important factor in ease of use — if the customer can modify the screen to show only the items they frequently reference, they spend less time looking at the screen while driving. That customizability works in the customer’s favor, allowing them to have the maximum amount of information accessible in the cluster. Simplicity in the screen(s) results in an easier-to-use cluster, which matters most when someone drives a car they’ve never driven before. Age also impacts customer wants: an older customer will typically need a larger font than a younger customer. Customers prefer a digital cluster over analog because of the precision digital allows — with an analog cluster, it’s much harder to determine the exact speed you’re driving, while digital gives an exact number. Another factor that improves ease of use is sightline: the further a customer has to move their head to look at the cluster, the longer their eyes are off the road.
Another comment from the survey concerned music playback. Customers preferred to see which song is playing on the instrument cluster rather than having to look at the center screen, letting the driver keep their eyes on the road longer than if they had to turn their head to change the music. Based on the QFD matrix, each vehicle was rated on how well its instrument cluster meets the needs of the target customer. For functional requirements, the Ford Explorer ranked highest of the set, largely because its screen was bigger and appeared higher quality compared to the Honda Pilot and Nissan Pathfinder. For customer requirements, it was a tie between the Ford Explorer and Honda Pilot — both vehicles are comparable and equally meet customer needs.
Future Improvements
After reviewing the customer feedback survey and benchmarking other vehicles, some clear improvements emerge for this vehicle set. Per the feedback, a digital cluster should be prioritized over analog. A digital instrument cluster provides a more accurate reading for speed, RPM, and other information that was previously analog, and lets the driver customize the screen to meet their needs — for example, one driver might prefer to see oil temp while another would rather use that screen space for RPM, and each driver could save their own cluster layout for future use. This customizability would also let customers preview their music on the screen instead of using the center screen to see what’s playing or change songs. All three vehicles in this set ranked a 3 (out of 5) for information available to display, and this customizability feature would drastically improve that rating for each vehicle.
Another improvement would be a modern screen design (see images below), versus the more traditional cockpit design. All three vehicles in this set use the cockpit design. A modern screen design integrates more smoothly into the rest of the instrument panel, would improve the functional requirement ratings for all three vehicles regarding cost, and would be easier to manufacture, assemble, and service, as well as increase screen size. None of the vehicles in this set ranked highly for a modern-looking display in the QFD, so this design change would increase screen size, resulting in larger text without compromising the quantity of information displayed. The clusters also need to improve text contrast, using different fonts and colors — the Pathfinder ranked lowest for text contrast and text size, followed by the Pilot and Explorer. Improvement in text contrast/size would impact visibility, letting drivers keep their eyes on the road longer, and would also improve each vehicle’s ranking for the functional requirement of display quality, since all three vehicles ranked a 3 or below on that measure. The final improvement is a HUD (heads-up display). In this vehicle set, the Nissan Pathfinder had the HUD feature while the Ford Explorer and Honda Pilot did not — a highly requested feature that would improve vehicle safety by keeping the driver’s eyes on the road longer.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the QFD Approach
Customer needs cannot always be directly used to design a product, since customers are not always fully familiar with any given vehicle system or feature. Customers are also not aware of any new or changing federal requirements, and do not take cost into consideration when voicing their wants.
One of the advantages of following the QFD approach is that it helps determine engineering product specifications that are critical to customer satisfaction. As a result, customer needs can be associated with a functional target. These functional targets make it easier for program management to communicate back with each engineering team on what goals or metrics must be followed to ensure a well-balanced product is delivered to the customer. Program teams that take the time to compile and follow the QFD approach tend to build a better product, leading to higher customer satisfaction. Because all this information is provided in a single chart, a QFD chart is used as a key tool for Six Sigma (DFSS).
The biggest disadvantage of the QFD approach is that it’s very time-consuming. It involves a lot of meetings and discussions for everyone to agree on how to rate and interpret the information gathered from current customers. It also requires benchmarking of competitor products, and, as a result, creating targets to rate a current vehicle against a new one.
Conclusion
This example explores the design considerations of a packaging engineer, looking specifically at the instrument cluster. It analyzed the instrument cluster design of three similar vehicles — the 2022 Nissan Pathfinder, Honda Pilot, and Ford Explorer — by collecting customer feedback and utilizing the QFD tool to understand the important features and specific requirements that needed to be considered. The top two customer requirements taken into consideration were location and ease of use. For functional requirements, those segments were cost, safety, and ergonomics. After comparing these requirements to each vehicle, the following areas of improvement were identified for all three vehicles: color/graphics quality, integration into the instrument panel, information available to display, serviceability, and screen size. The Ford Explorer ranked highest for functional requirements, while the Ford Explorer and Honda Pilot tied for customer requirements. Instrument clusters should be modern and digital, and should let customers customize their cluster based on their needs. The driver shouldn’t have to lower their eyes by more than 45 degrees to see the information displayed on the instrument cluster, the cluster shouldn’t be more than 300mm from the driver’s eyes to ensure the information is easy to read, and the steering wheel shouldn’t obscure any of the information on the instrument cluster. See below some examples of poor and preferred executions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Quality Function Deployment (QFD)?
Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a structured methodology for translating customer needs into specific, measurable engineering requirements. It’s used to prioritize what matters most to customers and turn that into concrete design and engineering targets.
What is a QFD chart?
A QFD chart, sometimes called a “house of quality,” is a matrix that maps weighted customer needs against engineering or functional requirements, letting a team see at a glance which requirements matter most and how well a design meets them.
How is QFD used in automotive engineering?
In automotive engineering, QFD is used to turn customer feedback about a vehicle or component, like an instrument cluster, into specific, measurable engineering criteria (such as sightline angles or distance-to-driver limits), and to benchmark how well competitor vehicles meet those same criteria.
What is the difference between QFD and benchmarking?
QFD is the broader process of translating customer needs into engineering requirements; benchmarking is one input into that process, used to score how well competitor vehicles or components currently meet those same requirements.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of QFD?
QFD’s main advantage is that it ties engineering specifications directly to what drives customer satisfaction, which tends to lead to a better-balanced product. Its main disadvantage is that it’s time-consuming, requiring extensive meetings, customer research, and competitor benchmarking to complete properly.
References
- “Ad Choices.” Gallery | GMC HUMMER EV | Electric Trucks & SUVs, https://www.gmc.com/electric/hummer-ev/gallery.
- https://www.nissanusa.com/vehicles/crossovers-suvs/pathfinder/features/interior-cargo.html
- https://www.edmunds.com/honda/pilot/
- https://www.caranddriver.com/honda/pilot-2022
- https://www.ford.com/suvs/explorer/
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