Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Specific application – apparatus or process – Product assembly or manufacturing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-25
2001-10-09
Gordon, Paul P. (Department: 2121)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Specific application, apparatus or process
Product assembly or manufacturing
C700S097000, C705S007380, C705S014270
Reexamination Certificate
active
06301516
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a method for identifying critical to quality (CTQ) dependencies in quality function deployment. Quality function deployment (QFD) is a methodology for documenting and breaking down customer requirements into manageable and actionable details. The concept of “houses of quality” has been used to represent the decomposition of higher level requirements such as critical to quality characteristics or CTQ's (also referred to as Y's) into lower level characteristics such as key control parameters or KCP's (also referred to as X's).
FIG. 1
depicts a conventional house of quality hierarchy in which high level requirements such as customer requirements are decomposed into lower level characteristics such as key manufacturing processes and key process variables within the manufacturing processes.
Each house of quality corresponds to a stage or level of the process of designing a product. At the highest level, represented as house of quality #1, customer requirements are associated with functional requirements of the product. At the next level of the design process, represented as house of quality #2, the functional requirements of the product are associated with part characteristics. At the next level of the design process, represented as house of quality #3, the part characteristics are associated with manufacturing processes. At the next level of the design process, represented as house of quality #4, the manufacturing processes are associated with manufacturing process variables. While the house of quality design process is useful, it is understood that improvements to this process are needed.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An exemplary embodiment of the invention is directed to a method of generating quality matrices indicating a relationship between critical to quality characteristics and key control parameters for levels of a process. A plurality of rows of a first matrix are designated as critical to quality characteristics and a plurality of columns of the first matrix are designated as key control parameters. Each critical to quality characteristic is assigned a critical to quality weight. An interaction weight is assigned between at least one critical to quality characteristic and at least one key control parameter. A score is then generated for at least one key control parameter in response to said critical to quality weight and said interaction weight.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5278751 (1994-01-01), Adiano et al.
patent: 5732200 (1998-03-01), Becker et al.
The House of Quality, Hauser et al, Harvard Business Review, May-Jun. 1988, pp. 63-73.
Ali Mohamed Ahmed
Beachamp Philip Paul
Dorri Bijan
Idelchick Michael Solomon
Lounsberry Brian Douglas
Garland Steven R.
General Electric Company
Gordon Paul P.
Ingraham Donald S.
Stoner Douglas E.
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