QFD Basics

Quality Function Deployment
Business Improvement Software
User Guide
Copyright 2000 Qualsoft LLC
725 S. Adams Road, Suite 70 Birmingham MI 48009 248.433.3380 Voice 248.433.3384 Fax support@qualisoft.com
User Guide
Copyright 2000 Qualsoft LLC
725 S. Adams Road, Suite 70 Birmingham MI 48009 248.433.3380 Voice 248.433.3384 Fax support@qualisoft.com
Notice to U.S. government end users. The software and documentation are "commercial items," as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. 2.101, consisting of "commercial computer software" and "commercial computer software documentation," as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. 12.212 or 48 C.F.R. 227.7202, as applicable. Consistent with 48 C.F.R. 227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, as applicable, the commercial computer software and commercial computer software documentation are being licensed to U.S. government end users (A) only as commercial items and (B) with only those rights as are granted to all other end users pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in the Qualsoft, LLC standard commercial agreement for this software. Unpublished rights reserved under the copyright laws of the United States.
2000 Qualsoft LLC. All rights reserved
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Profit Potential. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Potential .
Market Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Leadership and Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 A Purposeful Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Problem Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 What is Your Business Improvement Problem? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Boosting Revenues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Lowering Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Business Improvement Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Identifying The Customer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Executive Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Cause and Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Quantifying Cause and Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Matrix Power - Modeling Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Matrix Power- Creating a Knowledgebase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Team Oriented Business Improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Establishing Your Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Business Improvement Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
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Chapter 2 Implementation Overview . . . . . . . . . 27

Two-Dimensional Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Rich Data Expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Boosting ROI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Simplify Redesign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Exploring What If Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Enhancing Teamwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Leverage the Paper Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Learning The Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Chart Region Building Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Data Collection and Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Business Improvement Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Quality Elements (HOWs Checklist) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Leveraging Supporting Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 QuickStart Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Chapter 3 Software Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Basics .

Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Beginning a Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Adding A Chart To The Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Entering a Chart Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

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Formatting Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Entering WHATs and HOWs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Sizing Chart Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Inserting Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Deleting Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Zooming to Scale The Chart View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Inserting a List of Text or Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Entering Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Splitting the Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Setting Chart Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Organizing and Grouping Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Drag and Drop to Quickly Move Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Cut, Copy & Paste. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Entering Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 The Symbol Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Entering Symbols in Rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Deleting Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Entering Matrix Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Marking and Displaying Reviewed Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Entering Data in Custom Rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Entering Symbol Room Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Entering Numeric Room Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Refreshing Chart Numbers with Recalc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Entering Assessment Room Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Entering Text Room Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 2000 QualSoft LLC
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Printer Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Printing with Fit to Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Print Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Printing As Displayed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Printing Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Exporting the Chart Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Chapter 4 Customizing Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Configuring Chart Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Numeric Rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Configuring Symbol Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 The Chart Legend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Replacing Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Leveraging Supporting Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Configuring AppLinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Placing An AppLink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Playing An AppLink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Weblinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Videolinks and Audiolinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Inserting Custom Chart Rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Deleting Rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Hiding and Unhiding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Entering Text in the Relations Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 2000 QualSoft LLC
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Chapter 5 Power Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Creating Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Organizing Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Sorting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 The High Priorities Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Phase Progression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 The Power of Linked Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Viewing Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Cascade Delete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Creating Subset Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Comparing Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Duplicating/Copying an Entire Chart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Showing Blanks and Fill % . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Copying Data to Another Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Clearing the Relations Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Templates. Appendix A - Templates. . . . . . . . . . 139

House of Quality I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 House of Quality II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 House of Quality III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Simple Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Market Segmentation Matrix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 2000 QualSoft LLC
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Customer Voice Table I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Customer Voice Table II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Phase I - House of Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Pugh Concept Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Phase II - Parts Deployment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Phase III - Process Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Phase IV - Production Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Hoshin Audit - Policy Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Executive Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Managing Executive Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Management Factors to Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Design Failure Mode & Effects Analysis - DFMEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Process Failure Mode & Effects Analysis - PFMEA . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Best Practices Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Quality Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Appendix B - File Conversion. . . . . . 161 Conversion.

Converting Version 3.15 Files - Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Running Convert V3 Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
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Chapter 1 Profit Potential

Market Power
"640K ought to be enough for anybody." Bill Gates, 1981
n todays rapidly evolving marketplace, needs are in a constant state of flux. They ebb and flow with the winds of the competitive environment, often changing rapidly and dramatically. Lately, the internet and sheer momentum of technological evolution have begun shifting market preferences.
? Facing the challenges of.ever evolving marketplace needs, how will your business respond . .
To assure mediocrity, simply ignore changing marketplace needs. To prevent it, seek a profound understanding of the cause and effect relationship between company actions and the achievement of business requirements. It is imprudent to ignore the benefits of understanding your market. * Without such an understanding, your company will flounder in response to inevitably evolving market needs. Indeed it is difficult to be anything but average unless you obtain this knowledge of cause and effect. Lacking such knowledge places you at a disadvantage from those companies that assemble it and synthesize it. The market share winners in your industry not only have and use this key information, they continually leverage it. They find new ways to use the data to make better business decisions and increase market share.
1 2000 QualSoft, LLC
Market leaders proactively seek market knowledge. Followers just passively react.
Mediocre businesses are seldom able to justify their product1 offerings. They often waste valuable resources as a result of a misguided strategy; lets just build it then sales can take a crack at selling it. If you wait till the competitive environment has shifted to begin on the road to gaining comprehensive market knowledge, you will be on the defensive. Your company will be treading water while your proactive competitors swim shark-like into new markets. Get on track now and establish a business improvement framework. Record critical success factors and interrelationships to form a knowledgebase that can be refined and made more accurate with time. Build such an internal knowledgebase and you will reap the benefits of improved quality, increased market share and high profits for years to come! You can generate market power. Start by cultivating good leadership through planning.
1. For brevity, the word product will be used throughout the text. It implies any market offering of your company including processes, services or other project deliverables.
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Leadership and Planning
? How can you lead in your market without planning?

No time to plan . . . are you too busy fighting fires? Has the ripple effect of poor planning caught up with you? Are problems occurring due to diving in without a plan in the past? Without a corrective plan, what makes you think those same problems wont just reoccur in the future? Perhaps you have a short-term focus. Try to focus longer-term. Sometimes, the ROI (Return on Investment) boost from planning and coordination takes a little time to materialize but it inevitably does. Planning affects the individual and collective outcome of the many internal activities necessary to complete a project. Planning brings about a reinforcement between internal activities and a subsequent positive profit impact. Conversely, uncoordinated project activities often work at cross purposes and tend to have the reverse effect, driving profits down. Profit damage results from misaligned actions that squander effort and cause schedule extensions. In addition, the lost opportunities due to missing critical market timing can incur even more injurious results.
Profit Potential
What is most insidious is that these misaligned actions chip away at the bottom line covertly and usually undetected as everyone works furiously harder not smarter.
It is an endless cycle. . . Without planning, you will never gain the efficiencies and optimizations that free resources and boost profits. But, you will never have enough time to plan if you dont start planning!
To create a plan which you can lead by, start with a purposeful mission statement.
A Purposeful Mission
? Can you lead without a clear focus of the intended results?

How can you draft a plan if you do not have a mission with a very clearly and accurately defined purpose?
An army of deer led by a lion is more to be feared than an army of lions led by a deer. Philip II of Macedon
This is a powerful quote. It refers to the impact of purposefulness. You may beat your competitors in the market with even an average team if you are a strong leader with a clear mission and keen direction. To be like the proverbial lion, you must know which way to turn. To turn correctly, you must know where you want to go. Your decisions must be swift, accurate and purposeful, not muddled and scattered. The business world is no different. To lead the way for your team or company, you will need to develop a concrete, tangible definition of the accomplishment required at the outset of your project. Create a focused project mission statement. Here are a few examples:
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We will boost sales of the xyz product 10% in the Northern U.S. sales region by year end We will increase customer satisfaction ratings 30%+ for service sector product users by year end We will satisfy our internal customers, reducing scrap rates 15% by end of quarter, without impacting current throughput levels
It is important that your statement be general but still objective enough that you can measure the attainment of success. It must capture the essence of your goal. Strive to include a completion timeframe and the definition of the target customers (internal or external) for whom you are working to increase satisfaction. Strong leaders draft comprehensive plans starting with a focused * definition of success. After creating your vision of success, you can begin outlining and defining those problems which must be overcome. Determine which ones are obstacles to your achievement of success.
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Problem Definition
? How many times have you attempted to solve a problem only to be stumped at the outset trying to define it?
Have you ever thought you solved a problem only to discover you did not fully understand it and did not get at the problems root? Was that because you were originally unclear on project requirements? You can be more effective solving a big problem by breaking it down into smaller elements to simplify it. Expressing a complex problem as a compilation of smaller subtasks can work wonders. Smaller tasks are easier to grasp and easier to act upon. A seemingly overwhelming problem can suddenly become manageable. Without solve no * problem aordetailed problem description, you will likelythe process. the wrong problem, wasting resources in Most business problems can be defined as financial performance problems whose requirements are a list of financial achievements. The next section describes how most of these problems can be reduced into their financial components. It presents some tools which can be employed to help solve them.
What is Your Business Improvement Problem?

Most business improvement problems are profit increase problems. Profit increases are sought via one of the two profit components
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Revenue Cost
The goal is usually either to boost revenues by selling more or reduce costs by improving efficiencies.
Boosting Revenues
On the revenue side, it is well accepted that high revenues accrue from high market shares. So then, how can you drive up market share? A strong link has been found between high customer satisfaction and quality (relative to competition) and higher market share. And, one factor, above all others, drives market share the strongest. It is quality. It has been shown that high quality levels and superior market share virtually guarantee profits.1 The quote below from John F. (Jack) Welch, Jr., Chairman and CEO of GE demonstrates his recognition of high quality as the only path to sustained profits.
Quality is our best assurance of customer allegiance, our strongest defense against foreign competition and the only path to sustained growth and earnings1 Jack Welch, CEO General Electric
Increasing quality to drive higher customer satisfaction is a business improvement goal of paramount importance. It has a major profit impact.
1. Robert Buzzel & Bradley Gale, The PIMS (Profit Impact of Market Strategy) Principles (The Free Press, 1987), p.103.

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Lowering Costs
On the cost reduction side, applying good planning techniques to your product or service development coordinates company activities to optimize expenditures and reduce duplicate efforts. That encourages cost reduction.
Software Implications
QFD Designer helps you develop better products and communicate more efficiently. Its use can lead higher customer satisfaction which in turn drives higher profits. It uses two major approaches to do so. To enhance the positive quality attributes of your product or service, it helps you to record, analyze, prioritize and deploy those elements which you have control over and that drive up satisfaction. It does this primarily by using QFD (Quality Function Deployment) methodology to analyze and address the positive performance drivers in your product or service.
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No other tool allows you to visually model your business problems and explore the interactions between goals and factors like QFD Designer. You can even use it to create strategic business plans then drill down into the detailed requirements necessary to make those plans actionable. You may have heard of that use of the software referred to by any of several names; Policy Deployment, Policy Management, Hoshin Kanri or sometimes Catchball. To minimize the detractors of quality, performance failures that drive satisfaction down, it allows you to perform Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). Using FMEA, you anticipate failures which might occur in your design then prioritize how risky they are. Then, you redesign as necessary to reduce the risk of those failures. Using FMEA, you can adjust your design or planning to preempt major dissatisfiers before they hit the market and affect your sales. These two disciplines (QFD and FMEA) only scratch the surface of the capabilities of the software. There are a myriad of applications for which you can use QFD Designer. You are only limited by your imagination and motivation to improve.
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Business Improvement Applications

The table below highlights some common business problems and improvement methods, which you can perform with the software, to help solve them.
? Can you spot a business problem below that you need to address?
For These Problems Profits Low Market Share Low Sales Revenue Low Satisfaction Low Profits generated by company products and/or services are lackluster. Product and Service market offerings dont satisfy customers. Try This Method To Get These Results High priority product or service design measures; those that drive satisfaction, are focused upon and improved. Products or services are redesigned.
QFD
Quality Function Deployment
A powerful systematic approach to deploy the Voice Higher satisfaction drives of the Customer throughout the design and manufacturing higher sales and market share. process. Profits increase.
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For These Problems Corporate Strategies are not actionable Company actions do not support strategies. Corporate strategies are formulated but deploying them to management roles and subsequently to tactical implementors is difficult. There is misalignment in company activities wasting time and resources, driving costs up. There is a failure to link the achievement of top management goals with TQM initiatives at operational levels. This is often a cause of loss of momentum in change management.
Try This Method
To Get These Results Link strategies to actionable tasks which can be deployed to any corporate level or functional group.
Hoshin Kanri Policy Deployment Policy Management
Form a powerful communication system Brings a strategic focus to which transmits changes in strategies to stakeholders daily work. A planning, implementation, and review within the corporation fostering alignment of system for managed internal activities. Reduces change (Akao, 1991). costs and optimizes A framework for successful business effectiveness. total quality management (TQM).
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For These Problems Product or Process failure related costs too high May include:
Try This Method
To Get These Results Resulting implementations are more reliable, safer from dangerous defects and generate higher sales.
FMEA
(Failure Mode and Effects Analysis)
Warranty Service/support Returns Litigation
Reliability Deployment
Anticipates failures and their associated risks. Drafts action plans that preempt and reduce high priority risks. Designs get changed before problems occur.
Products sales revenue lackluster due to poor satisfaction. Companys market reputation diminishes. Customer needs are misunderstood
Voice of Customer (VOC) Deployment
Product or service designs Uncovers true customer fail to satisfy consumers. Sales revenue is lackluster. needs through analysis of spoken and unspoken requirements and context of use.
Generate product and service designs that achieve high satisfaction levels and high sales volume.
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For These Problems Competitors products achieve better results than ours Competing products or services achieve higher satisfaction levels than ours. This leads to competitors winning the sales and market share contest. Need a method to analyze competitive environment along actionable dimensions. Product/Process concept is outmoded A framework is needed to compare alternative design concepts to choose which one best implements required performance.
Try This Method
To Get These Results Get a better picture of where our market offerings stand relative to competition. Explore opportunities to imitate key techniques of our competitors (those which have netted high market and/or performance ratings).
Competitive Benchmarking
Identify high priority customer needs which require strong competitive positioning. Benchmark our performance versus our competitors along market dimensions and along our internal product/process performance dimensions.
Pugh Concept Selection

Allows comparison of alternative design concepts to a datum/benchmark. Tallies better and worse entries for each alternative rated against design criteria.
Choose and implement the best choice of the alternative design concepts.
Product development is not coordinated well with manufacturing There is no mechanism for developer to transmit the manufacturing implications of their design decisions.
Manufacturing Deployment
Developers specify components of design, facility requirements and vendor selection criteria for manufacturing planners.
Optimize manufacturing procedures including adherence to product specifications.
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For These Problems Production Costs are too high, yields are too low
Try This Method
To Get These Results Costs are reduced and production yields improved.
Production Deployment
Resources are being allocated to processes that Critical production process requirements are determined are not crucial to along with quality procedures, production. standard operating procedures, start-up settings etc. Tasks are taking too long Task Deployment to accomplish and are inefficient Breaks down service and business processes (including Action plans need to be job descriptions) and created to get product standardizations. developed or service launched. Design and development gains from planning are implemented to increase efficiencies.
Software templates for the methods in the table above will be described in further detail later in this document.
The formulation of a problem is far more often essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. Albert Einstein
What is important to know now is that in general, each method above is matrix based and has as its input, an itemized statement of goals. These goals are typically derived from customers requirements and/or other internal business needs. So, to begin using most of those methods, you begin by identifying the customers of your business, be they external or internal, and set out to assemble the list of their needs. These assembled requirements become the inputs to your analysis and the formulation of your problem is really to deliver on the itemized list of requirements.
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Chapter 1
Identifying The Customer

Any person or company that receives the outputs or results of your labor is a customer. There is no business without them, they are everywhere if you look close. Try to envision the deliverables or outputs which need to be provided upon your projects completion. Whomever receives these deliverables is a customer. Indeed, there may be more than one type or group of customers that you serve. Identify as many as possible for they may all have differing needs. You should be able to envision these deliverables even if you are in a service business. Even businesses with a non-physical product like ...compiled information on an internet website can think about their deliverables in this way. Their customers are the browsers of their delivered information on the internet. Their customers satisfaction is directly tied to the perceived quality attributes of that information (e.g. is it timely, accurate, comprehensive etc.). Suppose you are a doctor, lawyer or a governmental agency employee. This need to identify the customer and deliverables still applies. As you can see, regardless of your business or organization type, there are customers on the receiving end somewhere in the process. If you are creating a product for the external market or end-user, you will need to define who the targeted customers are for your product or service and solicit their requirements. Often, these requirements are obtained and prioritized via marketing surveys or focus groups. Most people * their productimmediately think of their customer as the end-user of or service. Do not use too narrow a definition of customer. Remember, customers may be either internal or external. If you forget the internal ones, you risk missing important opportunities to improve an intra-company project.
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If you are working on an internal project, survey the needs of company personnel to obtain a clear list of the desired outcomes. These internal applications are often untapped sources of potential profit improvement. Dont lose sight of the fact that fixing internal problems adds to the bottom line just like fixing projects with marketplace deliverables. When you are faced with an internal project, clearly define who the key internal consumers of your deliverable product or service will be. Round them up and survey them for their needs. For example, engineering may be customers of marketing since marketing may have to deliver to them a report or analysis. Or, accounting may have as its customer a manager who makes decisions based upon compiled accounting information. You may benefit from creating a process map detailing the inputs and outputs of the development process at the point you want to improve it. This will help define those input factors that directly affect success and help you see the big picture; how your project fits into the overall process. Generating a solution can hinder It * is often imperative thatin a process vacuumsolution willsuccess.or you know how your interact integrate with existing business functions and processes.
Executive Planning
Are you an executive or strategic planner? If so, you are an internal customer with some very important requirements. You seek to satisfy your plans for the company or entity. You have become a proxy or substitute for your organizations internal needs and the executive level or strategic
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Chapter 1
goals which you are advancing should represent them. This assumes you have solicited and synthesized stakeholders needs. If you have not, theres no better time to start than now!
? Isnt the management and satisfying of stakeholder requirements your executive deliverable?
If you represent several constituencies or stakeholders, record their requirements and, dont forget stockholders as important customers in the planning process. Increasing shareholder value is a key business improvement driver. While this section has set out to get you to begin thinking about these issues, we have left the implementation details for later. The framework described later, actually an incarnation of QFD called Hoshin or Policy Deployment will assist you greatly. It allows you to arrange stakeholders into groups and categorize their issues. Add them together with your organizations internal issues and you have the group of requirements which will be used as inputs to drive your improvement process. If you have identified the customers, you will need to assemble their requirements or needs. Those are the desired effects that you want to accomplish. You need to understand what will cause those results and to what degree.
Cause and Effect

To succeed in your business improvement projects, you need to identify the desired effects1 and causes2. In the model used by the software, the marketplace demands, project goals or customer requirements (sometimes known as WHATs) are the desired effects. They are your project inputs.
1. Effects are Goals - WHAT the external market or our company wants to accomplish. 2. Causes are Measures - HOW we can get the desired outcome through controllables.

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You may need to take a broad view of the effects in order to understand how to gather them. For example, consider the case of an attorney for a moment. She may record desired effects to begin framing a successful outcome. A lawyer arguing in front of a jury has to deal with cause and effect. To succeed, she must convince the jury. That may mean causing cognitive effects in each juror like the following: believes lawyer is credible understands lawyers presentation of the law perceives lawyer as fair The list of causes may include: a clear coherent argument using understandable vocabulary appealing to jurors emotions addressing each element of the law
The degree to which those causes are satisfied dictates who wins in the courtroom.
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Chapter 1
Start with the end in mind. Record customers needs then you can generate a list of controllable causes which affect the delivery of those needs. you identify which causes play the achieving ? Candesired effects? How can you insuregreatest role in of the the they get most allocated resources? How can you make sure that you identify causes for each need without overlooking anything? How can you visually show the interactions between causes and effects? Business problems can be very complex as they are brimming with so many interactions between causes and effects. Business improvement would be simple if a company could do A, and B would result all the time.
Material
In the example, only Damaged Material causes the problem. Business problems are rarely that simple.
Damaged Material
Problem
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To solve such a problem in the real world, you will probably need to fix the material and a whole host of other causes, all to varying degrees at different times and possibly even for different customer groups or profiles.
A more realistic view with multiple causes
Measurement Method Material Stored too long
Wrong Specification Incorrect Sequence Poor Planning Damaged Material Bad Material
Problem
Poor visibility Worn Cutter Excessive Wear Poor Training Insufficient Light
Machine
Personnel
Environment
In some cases, after determining the WHATs of your project, you may be able to quickly generate a list of measures or HOWs which will affect their outcomes. But, stopping there and taking action could lead to misappropriation of resources.
Quantifying Cause and Effect

Undoubtedly, the graphic above is helpful in identifying the measures or causes and effects. What is missing is information about the strengths of their relationships to one another. To be able to prioritize, you need to go further to find out how those measures stack up against one another, to determine which ones play the stronger roles in driving your projects successful outcome. Knowing the relationships between causes and * to problem solving and assessing the strengthseffects is essential of these relationships is the key to prioritized solutions. Using a matrix with special weighting calculations is a perfect model!
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Chapter 1
Matrix Power - Modeling Interactions

The matrix format provides a framework whereby you can not only record cause and effect relationships, you can assess the strengths of those relationships. It can visually express interactions and by applying weighting calculations, it will illuminate and prioritize those key factors which more strongly affect the outcome of your goals. It highlights those measures you should concentrate on first. can door, the ? Whatwhenyou do about talent walking out the knowledgerisk you face key employees and their specialized become unavailable? Consult your matrix library filled with a treasure of specialized design information.
Matrix Power- Creating a Knowledgebase

As you create matrices to define and study your problems and design challenges, you are generating a great base of knowledge which can be consulted in the future. The matrices express and quantify the cause and effect relationships critical to your design. They are a repository of useful information.

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They can often represent rich formulations of the problems facing your company and the solutions used to tackle those problems. They are your knowledgebase. Employees can consult these repositories of knowledge to find out how your company has addressed market challenges in the past. A library of matrices becomes a powerful resource and can help you avoid recreating the wheel. Some companies even use them to educate new employees. When you set out to create a new product, service, or strategic plan, or redesign an existing one, use your knowledgebase to dramatically increase your productivity. You can start from a more informed position and then adjust from there if market preferences or requirements have changed.
Team Oriented Business Improvement

Now, you have a good overview of a customer-driven problem solving framework. Let us delve into more specific implementation tasks. The Business Improvement Steps which are coming up outline actions which you can take to improve your business and become a more proactive customer-driven company. And, the steps are representative of a thinking style which can be applied to solve most any size problem or issue. You may be setting corporate strategies, designing a product or subsystem, or designing a better process. The basic procedure is the same. As you will soon learn, QFD Designer software helps you manage and accomplish all the Improvement steps we are about to discuss. The benefits which you can achieve are enhanced by doing your improvement analysis in a team setting. So, before you begin taking the steps in the next section, make sure you have a good team in place.
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Chapter 1
Establishing Your Team

good workable idea only by ? Ever develop athat would not support or to be foiled the people in your company implement solution? You may have underestimated the importance of participation and consensus building. The steps below are very powerful. Doing them alone is valuable but if you work in a team, problem analysis will likely be more accurate and generate better results. In addition, members that participate gain broader understanding and are often more willing to implement solutions which they helped generate. Generating * buy-in fromsolutions in a people vacuum, without participation and key stakeholders, can backfire. It can lead to outright rejection of good ideas. Or something worse known as lip service, agreeing to implement but never taking action. And, you can tap the collective intelligence of your organization. Some of the best solutions generated often come from sources which were unanticipated. It is suggested that you form a cross-functional team especially if you are trying to improve a product or process with cross-functional implications. For example, in product design, you will probably benefit greatly by including diverse members on your team like Finance, Process Engineering, Product Engineering, Manufacturing and Marketing. Please keep in mind that the steps below should be performed as a team if at all possible.
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Business Improvement Steps

Step Description
Gather WHATs These are the desired effects you are trying to bring about. Usually these are obtained and summarized from a survey of customers needs.
If a project for external customers, this takes the form of target market customer requirements analysis. If a project for internal customers, it still works. They become your target customers, analyze their requirements.
Quantify WHAT Importances
2
The importance of each summary need is ranked or rated by customers Gather Competitive Ratings
You need to obtain external (customer) ratings of your product or services current performance and that of competitors offerings for each need. Determine Required Improvement
Armed with customer importances and market competitive ratings, you can add company goals into the mix to arrive at a final aggregate importance rating for each need. Brainstorm HOWs (causes)
Ideally, these are controllable, measurable, objective factors that cause or influence the desired effect. These should be global in nature, not solutions but measures.
Determine relationships (HOWs vs. WHATs)
6
Rate how strongly each factor leads to each goal. Make Internal Competitive Ratings
7
Rate performance of your product vs. competitors for each measurable factor or HOW Establish Performance Targets
Performance targets are usually established by considering competitive performance positioning and company performance goals.
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Step
Description
Enter Correlations between HOWs (factors)
Evaluate intersections between each HOW pair to determine if the HOWs are correlated positively (they are supportive) or negatively (they are contradictory). Sort HOWs by Importance
10
Locate and focus on the top tier factors, those which most strongly drive customer needs and requirements. Allocate resources on those highest priority measures first and lower priority measures later. Refine your design. Focus on high priorities.
As time and resources permit, enter the high priority measures from the step above as the inputs into a new matrix and repeat the analysis. In this way, you establish a more detailed comprehensive improvement plan with a new breakdown of more specific downstream causes that lead to the measures.
Do as much of the above planning as possible to optimize your plan on paper before committing resources and investing in hard assets.
Follow the steps above and you MUST improve your business results! Successful businesses do. They implement these steps in one form or another, offering products and services geared towards satisfying marketplace requirements. They work up-front to develop an accurate understanding of their customers requirements and relative importances of each. Some forward thinking companies even try to anticipate latent or unspoken market needs. Those are things that customers want even though they are unable to verbalize them as needs. They survey the market to obtain external benchmark data (obtained from customers). This benchmarking, or measuring of customer perceptions, helps determine how customers view the companys performance versus its competitors. It helps uncover successful competitive practices so that they may be emulated. In addition, sales points may be uncovered where the company is doing far better than competitors. In that case, a louder marketing message should be sent about how the companys products or services shine over those of its competitors. Internal benchmarking and testing is employed to uncover performance gaps for each measure or factor. All this data gets recorded on the matrix.
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The successful business will benefit by timing and optimizing its expenditures. It can expend its resources on the high priority factors first, saving the less important elements for later. It can allocate more resources on those factors which will yield the biggest bang for the buck. Some creative individuals use this method of problem solving for their own personal goals. After all, in your life, you are the most important customer. And hey, getting your importance ratings is quite straightforward!
Implementation
While the benefits you can obtain by taking these structured steps should be obvious, you may be wondering about how to actually record, analyze and use data generated at each step.
? What framework can be used to implement these steps?

How should a business begin? Can the information be recorded in a meaningful format? How should the information be analyzed so that it is actionable? The unique matrix problem solving capabilities of QFD Designer is the answer. It is the software that will help you do it! The next chapter explores the method and implementation in more detail.
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2 Implementation Overview

Two-Dimensional Thinking
QFD Designer visually models business problems in two dimensions, Goals vs. Factors. The ability to express and quantify the interactions between goals and factors makes the software unique. No other software allows you to create information packed diagrams in such a concise form. Only your imagination limits how you model your business problem.
Rich Data Expression

Real world problems need to be expressed with real world data. The software provides a unique set of tools to let you do that. With it, you can record and interrelate an incredibly rich catalog of data: Video Audio Weblinks (internet/intranet) AppLinks (applications) Numbers Calculations Bar Charts/Histograms Symbol Graphics (including custom) Text Competitive Assessments
Use the rich data set to make your problem formulation more concrete. You now have a way to express and model virtually any business improvement challenge. The software will help you achieve higher investment returns from your business projects.
Boosting ROI
Not only can you create comprehensive matrix charts, you can link them together. With this linkage, the diagrams become much more than prioritization tools, they are communication conduits that increase design decision coordination. Change data in an upstream matrix and see the downstream effects on your design. Use these linked matrices to help align company actions more coherently with strategies resulting in higher project Return on Investment (ROI). The ROI boost stems from enhanced coordination and market satisfaction. This is most evident when the software is deployed over a corporate intranet where design decisions and priorities are disseminated to the project team members dynamically in real time. They are thus immediately actionable by all regardless of their geographic location.
Simplify Redesign
The software is an especially great time and money saver when you are charged with redesigning. In that case, leverage your knowledgebase of previous designs. You may begin with your previous analysis, perhaps last models design charts. They should already embody the basic cause and effect relationship of your problem. Then, you can restructure the charts as needed with new market data and design data to make them state of the art. Once current, you can begin exploring what if scenarios.
Exploring What If Scenarios

When you adjust the requirements list and/or the importance values of market demands, the effects will ripple through to the downstream linked charts. There, you may note some rank reversals of the priorities of your controllable factors. In this way, you can quickly explore the changes in business strategy or design priorities which are necessitated by these shifts in market needs.
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Chapter 2
Wastefully misapplying resources is a thing of the past. Now, you can eliminate the noise that clouds decision making and execution. Spotlight key issues and optimize your resources.
Enhancing Teamwork
Usually, best results are obtained through a high degree of people involvement. By creating your analyses with your development team, you will improve communication and the coherence of team actions. You can leverage the graphical interactive interface to do so. Many users employ the software in a team meeting setting while using a computer display projecter. That allows you to complete studies dynamically with your business team, fostering communication and consensus in the process. The result is a deeper, more profound understanding of market requirements by all and usually a much greater commitment by those involved. In addition, the objective presentation of problems and improvement opportunities helps remove personality conflicts from the mix. It reduces subjectivism and clearly identifies the highest priority work that needs to be done.
Leverage the Paper Effect

QFD Designer leverages the paper effect. This notion of learn while you plan has you making many of your improvement and design activities on paper where they can be improved and optimized at little or no cost. The paper effect minimizes the expensive proposition of learning while doing, avoiding wasteful hard asset investments made out of intuition or poor planning rather than facts. If you have to scrap anything, make it an inexpensive business improvement diagram, not tooling, equipment or an improperly deployed workforce. Let us now delve into the specific concepts you need to understand to use the software most effectively.
Implementation Overview
29
Learning The Software

To get the greatest benefit from the software, you should understand the following concepts: Chart Region Building Blocks Data Collection and Recording Leveraging Supporting Data QuickStart Templates
To use the software most effectively, you will need to know how to insert custom regions like Numeric, Symbol, Text and Assessment to hold the data specific to your problem. It is easy to arrange these regions on your charts. They are the chart building blocks. Understanding when and how to add these regions to your charts will enable you to easily customize any chart you create. It also enables you to more effectively use the template charts provided with the software. Opening a template is a great way to begin your analysis quickly since you can probably find a template that relates to your particular business problem. If you can customize charts, you can then make the template even more effective by modifying it for your purpose. Additionally, you can get further benefit from customized charts by saving them as templates for future reuse. To do this, you simply use the menu choices Save As Template to save it and Organize Templates to categorize it. This helps greatly to standardize improvement methods within your organization. When you develop and validate a chart layout that works well for your organization, you can publish its template to team members for reuse. This will allow teams to assess new problems using the framework generated and validated in previous analyses. Such templates can even be grouped and structured to embody your companys Best Practices.
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Chapter 2
Chart Region Building Blocks

Lets explore how charts are composed. The various regions which comprise charts and the types of data each region can express will be described. A basic chart or matrix is often referred to as the House Of Quality(HOQ) because it looks like a house with its triangular roof region at the top of the diagram. Expanding upon that analogy of building a house, the various regions of these charts are referred to as rooms. A basic House of Quality chart is shown on the next page. The various room types that make up the chart are labeled.
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Typical House of Quality (HOQ) Chart with Rooms Labeled

Top Roof
W S R R W S
HOWs
SYMBOL
Direction of Improvement
K K K I
Customer Importance
K I K K K I
Data Mgt.
Copy Chart Capability
Technical Attributes Chart Tools

Rapid Drop Symbols Continuous Zoom
Links
AppLink Hyperlinks Multimedia capable
Customer Assessment
Relational Database
Work on chart
Linked charts
Drag & Drop
WHATs
House of Quality (HOQ) Software Analysis
32-Bit Architecture
N O Q
Competitor A Competitor B QS/FF Services
Relevant
Allows us to model our business problems 8.00 Provides relevant templates Helps us deploy business goals 7.00 9.00 7.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 7.00 7.00 8.00
C A D E D D C E B D E E E E D E E D D C C E B D E B C D E E D E O O O
N O Q N Q O N O Q N N Q N N O N Q O O N O N Q Q Q Q Q Q
Side Roof
Flexible
R V R V R S R W W R V R R
Powerful
Can link to web data Integrates with other software Can coordinate changes projectwide Easy to learn Easy to customize layouts Can export results
D E C E C C B B
A C A A C C D B D D B
Advancing
Can allow web collaboration
Created with a "state of the art" architecture 9.00 Is supported by a forward thinking company 9.00
A A D C C C
Microsoft Compatible To any Windows App
C B BN O D E E N
Audio, Video, Web
30% to unlimited
WHATs & HOWs
Any region
Performance Targets
Any .EXE file 458.00
Ass't Rooms
TEXT
Links Deletions
Win 95, 98, NT
Relations Matrix
Organizational Difficulty N O Q
Competitor A Competitor B QS/FF Services 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
ASSESSMENT
Technical Assessment
Q Q Q Q Q O O Q N O Q O Q Q O O O N O Q N O N N
185.00 72.00
N N
484.00 322.00 342.00
O N N
426.00
116.00
135.00
NUMERIC
Weighted Importance Relative Importance
Your chart will always have WHAT and HOW rooms though either can be hidden from view. WHATs, which are usually expressed hierarchically, are the row entries on the left where your goals are listed. HOWs, also expressed hierarchically, are the column entries on the top where the factors or measures are normally listed.
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Chapter 2
459.00
In addition, you may use a Side Roof left of the WHATs and a Top Roof above the HOWs. These roof regions allow you to explore interactions between items of the same type like (WHATs vs. WHATs) or (HOWs vs. HOWs) to find positive and negative effects. Most users employ the Top Roof more often than the Side Roof so, on many templates, the Side Roof is hidden. Every chart, no matter how basic, has a Relations Matrix between WHATs and HOWs. The table below provides more details about these rooms which are at the core of all charts. Mandatory Chart Rooms
ROOM DESCRIPTION There is always a WHAT room on each chart. It is mandatory though it can be hidden if desired. WHATs In this region you enter WHAT you want to accomplish. WHATs are the goals of your improvement effort, usually needs voiced by customers. They are the effects you want to obtain. This optional triangular region allows you to compare the WHATs to each other to see if they reinforce or hinder one another. Normally you will look for either positive (reinforcing) or negative (contradictory) correlations. WHATs that are positively related may be reflecting the same requirement. In addition, if you are able to provide a WHAT to a high satisfaction level, check for other positively correlated WHATs as you may get a performance bonus.
Side Roof
33
ROOM
DESCRIPTION There is always a HOW room on each chart. It is mandatory though it can be hidden if desired.
HOWs
Here, you enter HOW you will accomplish the WHATs. It is a list of the factors or causes which will lead to your goals. HOWs should be measurable objective design or technical factors that affect the outcome of the WHATs. This optional triangular region allows you to compare the HOWs to each other to see if they reinforce or hinder one another. Sometimes, improving one HOW improves other ones. In the roof, this would be expressed with a positive correlation symbol. If improving one HOW negatively affects another HOW, this would be noted as having a negative relationship and the corresponding symbol would be entered in the roof. Consult the top roof if the HOWs are modified. Especially check negatively correlated items. These are factors which may be at odds with your design objectives. As such, negative symbols are a sort of red flag to the designer to encourage a thorough assessment of the implications of design changes. An example of a negative relationship may be between Fuel Economy and Horsepower. As one goes up, the other goes down. If you change Horsepower in your design, you had better doublecheck that you can still meet Fuel Economy performance. Negative relationships can suggest the need for innovation or invention. You may wish to desensitize your design to eliminate or at least reduce the effect of negative relationships.
Top Roof
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Chapter 2
ROOM
DESCRIPTION Since every chart has a WHATs region (formed of row entries) and a HOWs region (formed of column entries), there is always a Relations Matrix. It is the intersection region where every WHAT and HOW intersect. This region records the relationships between all the WHAT and HOW pairs. Usually, the WHATs and HOWs are compared to find the strengths of their relationship to one another. That strength is entered symbolically. To determine the strength of the relationship, consider If the design requirement (HOW) is met at the right target value, how strong will the effect be on the customers perception that the WHAT (at the intersection) has been accomplished? Usually, one of three classic relationship symbols is inserted at the intersection of the WHAT and HOW or, it is left blank.
Relations Matrix
Additionally, text can be entered into the matrix or any number can be typed in. This is the classic use for the matrix though you may define and enter custom symbols to use it for most any analysis of WHAT vs. HOW interactions.
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You now know the core chart rooms. Sometimes, this basic matrix with just the core rooms, WHATs vs. HOWs and the Relations Matrix and roofs may suffice but most likely, you will need more. No problem, just insert one or more custom rooms. Custom or user-defined rooms add the specific types of data that you need to help you solve your problem. You need to understand the types of rooms you can insert to customize. Chart customization is key to getting the most meaningful results. It is very easy to insert any of the following custom rooms on your charts. Custom Rooms
Room Type NUMERIC TEXT SYMBOL Data Expressed
User-entered numbers or calculated numbers. User-entered, free format text. User-entered symbols which can have any user-defined meaning including numeric User entered symbols for benchmarking either marketplace (external) perceived performance or testable (internal) performance.
ASSESSMENT
All charts are just the basic core rooms combined with one or many of the room types above. For example, a basic House of Quality (shown on a previous page), is comprised of the core rooms and some custom rooms which are described below. You will see the rooms below, or similar ones, on many charts and templates.
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Chapter 2
Typical Custom Rooms (from HOQ)

ROOM Customer Importance Organizational Difficulty DESCRIPTION A User Entry NUMERIC room that records the importance of each WHAT. A User Entry NUMERIC room that usually records an evaluation of concerns within the organization. Usually, the difficulty level of the organization to achieve a new or difficult design objective (HOW). A calculated NUMERIC room that multiplies Customer Importance by each symbol weight and sums vertically. It is a measure of how strongly each HOW relates to satisfying the WHATs or chart objectives.
Weighted Importance
A calculated NUMERIC room that shows percent Relative Technical contribution of each HOWs Technical Importance to Importance the overall Technical Importance. A TEXT room that shows the target or amount of each HOW necessary to achieve customer satisfaction. Should include objective units which can be tested (i.e. volts, lbs., market penetration rate, market share % etc.) A SYMBOL room which displays graphics that represent if more is better, less is better or nominal is best for each HOW. An ASSESSMENT room listing a survey or benchmark of performance for each WHAT as stated from the customer or market perspective. An ASSESSMENT room listing a benchmark of performance for each HOW obtained from in-house testing or other objective measurement methods.
HOW MUCH
Direction of Improvement Customer Assessment Technical Assessment
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Now that you understand the various regions that comprise charts, you can begin building them yourself. You can follow the steps below to collect and record the data for your charts.
Data Collection and Recording

Now that you have covered basic chart organization, let us focus on the steps of data acquisition and recording. We will focus on the Business Improvement Steps described in an earlier chapter and show how each step can be accomplished with the software.
Business Improvement Steps

Step Description
Gather WHATs These are the desired effects you are trying to bring about. Usually these are obtained and summarized from a survey of customers needs.
If a project for external customers, this takes the form of target market customer requirements analysis. If a project for internal customers, it still works. They become your target customers, analyze their requirements.
Quantify WHAT Importances
2
The importance of each summary need is ranked or rated by customers Gather Competitive Ratings
You need to obtain external (customer) ratings of your product or services current performance and that of competitors offerings for each need. Determine Required Improvement
Armed with customer importances and market competitive ratings, you can add company goals into the mix to arrive at a final aggregate importance rating for each need.
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Chapter 2
Step
Description
Brainstorm HOWs (causes)
Ideally, these are controllable, measurable, objective factors that cause or influence the desired effect. These should be global in nature, not solutions but measures.
Determine relationships (HOWs vs. WHATs)
6
Rate how strongly each factor leads to each goal. Make Internal Competitive Ratings
7
Rate performance of your product vs. competitors for each measurable factor or HOW Establish Performance Targets
Performance targets are usually established by considering competitive performance positioning and company performance goals. Enter Correlations in Roof
Evaluate intersections between each HOW pair to determine if the HOWs are correlated positively (they are supportive) or negatively (they are contradictory). Sort HOWs by Importance
10
Locate and focus on the top tier factors, those which most strongly drive customer needs and requirements. Allocate resources on those highest priority measures first and lower priority measures later. Refine your design. Focus on high priorities.
As time permits, enter the high priority measures from step above as the inputs into a new matrix and repeat the analysis. In this way, you establish a more detailed comprehensive improvement plan with a new breakdown of more specific downstream causes that lead to the measures.
Gather WHATs WHATs is a broad term. The WHATs are really just the goals or effects you are trying to obtain. But, the method you take to go about assembling them is critical. You not only need to assemble an accurate list of them, you need to quantify their importances.

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As they are usually driven by customers needs (either internal or external), to gather them, you will need to first identify who your customer or market segment is. Then most likely, you will survey potential and/or actual customers in that segment to obtain their detailed requirements. This is usually called obtaining the Voice of the Customer or VOC. In determining the market segment, you can employ a Market Segmentation Matrix. This matrix helps you analyze the market segments you will pursue. One is shown below.
Market Segmentation Matrix
Segment 1
Segment 2
Segment 3
Segment 4
Demographics (Age, Sex, Education Level, Marital Status, Family Composition)
Want are there key wants?
What products or services do they currently buy?
Market Factors
Which companies compete for their business?
If they are current customers already, what do they like in our company?
If they are current customers already, what do they dislike in our company?
Percent of total customers (should add to 100% across)
Percent of total Sales Volume (should add to 100% across)
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Chapter 2
Once youve decided upon the key segment or segments of customers for which you want to increase satisfaction, you will need to obtain the Voice of the Customer (VOC) for that segment. Often, observational techniques are employed to obtain the VOC. It is critical to see firsthand, the actual use cases of your product or service. You need to determine exactly what it is about your product or service that is most valued by the customer. A technique that will help you gain a broad understanding of these use cases is to observe customers using your product or service firsthand and record what you see. The compiled info is qualitative in nature. It is usually entered into a Voice of the Customer matrix. Templates for this are included with the software. Essentially, the Voice of Customer analysis is done by collecting and recording answers to the five Ws and the H. Voice of Customer Analysis
Five Ws and one H
WHY? WHAT? WHO? WHEN? WHERE? HOW?
Described
Why do you need or want this product? What will it be used for? Who uses it now and who will use it in future? When does the customer use it or when will the customer use it? Where will it be used? How is or will the product be used?
41
A Voice of the Customer template is shown below.

Voice of Customer I Template
Internal/External Socio-Economic Group WHEN? WHY? WHAT? WHO? Who uses it now? Who will use it? When does the customer use it? When will the customer use it? WHERE? Where will it be used? HOW? How is or will the product be used?
Customer Voice Table
Reference #
Why do you need or What will it be used for? want this product?
1.00
2.00
3.00 Customer Verbatims
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
8.00
9.00
Try to record verbatims, the word-for-word statements made by customers during interviews or focus groups. Then, for each verbatim, you can address the five Ws and one H in the template. You may consider the following methods of helping obtain and refine VOC data: Focus Groups Interviews (telephone, one-on-one, mail, e-mail etc.) Product Clinics Customer Contact Database Direct Observation Primary and Secondary Market Research Once you have completed the Voice of Customer I table, you can transfer verbatims into the Voice of Customer II table. There, you can reword customer verbatims to summarize the root wants that have
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been uncovered. From the reworded data, you will try to consolidate the root wants into Demanded Quality items. These are a transformation of the VOC into statements that you and your company understand enough that they can be designed against. Another Voice of Customer Table is show below.
Voice of Customer Table II
Reference #
Voice of Customer Table II
Product/Process Customer's Customer's Product/Process Customer's Reworded Problem Need Company Data Addressed Function or Task Measure
Design Cost
Design Reliability
Design
Design Project Social

Organizational
Technologies Failure Modes
1 2 3 Customer Verbatims 4 5 6 7 8 9
Using VOC Table II, you can further analyze the reworded summarized customer needs. Quantify WHAT Importances When you are finished and you have a summarized list of needs, go back to your customer group and ask them to prioritize those requirements. You may use any of the following methods to prioritize: Rank each need Rate each customer need on a scale (1-10, 1-5 etc.) Percentage allocate needs Use the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to pairwise compare needs. Gather Competitive Ratings Rate your product vs. competitors products for each customer need on a scale (1-10, 1-5 etc.)
Implementation Overview 43
Determine Required Improvement Then, once youve assembled these ratings, you can enter these into a Pre-Planning Matrix. A template for this is provided with the software and is shown below. This template includes pre-defined calculations which derive an Improvement Ratio. That is, how much you need to improve your performance for each marketplace need. It then applies a rating of the sales and marketing benefit of higher performance and calculates a final Absolute Weight for each marketplace need.
Pre-Planning Matrix
Competitor Y Performance
Competitor X Performance
Our Performance NOW
Our Performance Goal
Customer Importance
Improvement Ratio
Pre-Planning Matrix
1 2
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Customer Need
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Once you have finished your pre-planning analysis, you have actually reached an important milestone. You have converted the VOC into summarized needs and applied competitive judgements
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Absolute Weight
Sales Point
Item #
and company improvement goals. It is suggested that you then sort the needs in descending order based upon the resulting Absolute Weight Numeric room from the Pre-planning chart. Then, to optimize your resources, you may want to focus on only a subset of all listed needs. This is essential!
You are about to perform your first prioritization by only transferring the most important needs into your House of Quality chart. Keeping the needs list short will reduce downstream analysis. The number of relationships you will have to eventually consider is reduced. In addition, it keeps your analysis focused on delivering those needs most critical to success.
Once sorted, transfer the subset needs list into the House of Quality chart. Make sure to also enter the Absolute Weightings from the PrePlanning analysis into the Customer Importance room. Brainstorm HOWs (causes) Now, you can begin to brainstorm a list of controllable factors or causes which will provide the WHATs. You can enter them into the HOWs region of the chart. You can group them into meaningful categories as you enter them. Its easy to regroup them anytime, just drag and drop them into the desired categories. A very helpful list of potential HOWs is shown below for your review. These are guidelines that you can use when drafting HOWs to stimulate thought and discussion.
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Quality Elements (HOWs Checklist)

Category Elements

Physical Property
Exterior characteristics (size, length, weight, thickness) Dynamic characteristics (speed, pulling force, strength, brittleness) Physical properties (air permeability, heat retentiveness, thermal stability, elasticity) Optical properties (transparency, opaqueness, luminosity) Acoustic properties (tone, sound-blocking capability, audio output, signal-to-noise ratio) Information-related properties (redundancy, quantity of information, accuracy) Chemical properties (corrosion resistance, nonflammability, explosion resistance) Electrical properties (insulation properties, conductivity, induction) Efficiency (energy efficiency, ease of handling, automation) Safety (freedom from harmful effects, foolproof design) Versatility of function (multi-functionality, diversification through combining functions) Portability (portable, fixed) Experience of users (amateur level, professional level) Image (high quality, name brand) Uniqueness (custom-made, imported, natural) Familiarity (traditional, newfangled) Sensory qualities (finish, feel, taste) Sense of fulfillment (intellectual fulfillment, emotional fulfillment) Trend toward super quality (service, features not found in other products)
Mechanical
Human
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Category
Elements

Time

Economic
Resistance to the elements (resistance to cold, humidity, dust) Effects of time (continuity of effect, immediate effect) Durability and maintenance (useful product life, failure rate, repairability) Disposability Advantages (low price, low maintenance cost) Premiums, extras Operation factors (man-hours minimized, rework minimized, no special skills required, flexibility of operating standards) Raw materials (flexible quality tolerance, storability, inspectability, adaptability to process) Yield (high yield, ease of reworking, convertibility to other products) Timeliness (fashion, seasonality) Product variety (wide selection) Trust Reason for purchase decision (personal criteria, opinion leaders, third-party evaluations) Life cycle (long life cycle, short life cycle but utilitarian)
Production
Market
Source: Mizuno & Akao, QFD: The Customer-Driven Approach to Quality Planning & Deployment , APO 1994.
While you are developing the HOWs, keep these things in mind:
1 2
Use the type of language that your company uses. Do not enter solutions! Enter controllable, measurable factors that can be worked on to satisfy the customer need. Enter factors that are global in nature (do not imply any specific design intent). You do not have to enter too many HOWs for each WHAT, try to keep the ratio of HOWs to WHATs in the range of 1 to 1.5. Try to draft HOWs that can be measured by calculation or simulation. That eliminates the need to create prototypes or samples.
3 4
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You can use the default room called HOW MUCHs to record the units of measurement for each HOW. This is done in preparation for the Internal Assessment. For example, if you entered a HOW like Temperature Loss Over Time, then record something like the following in the HOW MUCHs Degrees/Minute as a measurement unit. This will be the criteria for measurement of your performance versus competitors in your internal assessment. Determine relationships (HOWs vs. WHATs) Next, you can rate how strongly each factor leads to each goal. This is done by entering a numerically weighted symbol which expresses the relationship strength at each intersect between a HOW and WHAT entry. Symbols available by default are shown below.
For more choices, you may consider configuring the Relation Matrix to customize the group of valid symbols to those below.
You can decide which entry to make by considering this question

If we achieve our performance target for the HOW (column entry), how strongly will that create customer satisfaction for the WHAT (row entry)?
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The strong symbol in this example is worth 9 points. It means that the HOW item strongly causes the WHAT to occur.
Of course, if there is no relationship, leave the intersection blank. Make Internal Competitive Ratings In this next step, you will make internal performance ratings. You will need to use objective testing methods. The tests must be capable of analyzing the performance of your companys product or service against competitors performance for each factor. Remember that you must test performance along the dimension of the measurable UNITS. Using the example shown earlier, If you analyze the HOW below Temperature Loss Over Time then you will create a test to measure the Units below Degrees/Minute Degrees/Minute is the performance measure. Establish Performance Targets Performance targets are usually established by considering competitive performance positioning and company performance goals. Enter your performance targets into the HOW MUCHs room.
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Enter Correlations between HOWs (factors) Evaluate intersections between each HOW pair to determine if the HOWs are correlated positively (they are supportive) or negatively (they are contradictory). Normally, you will use the symbol set below to establish these correlationships.
Working to improve some HOWs will automatically improve others that are positively correlated. If they are negatively correlated, an improvement in one will harm the other ones performance. The recording of these relationship is done in the chart Roof.
There is a strong negative correlation expressed in this roof intersection. That means that improving HOW1 may actually harm performance of HOW4.
The data in the roof can be particularly important in the case where performance levels have to be adjusted. If your team needs to adjust a performance target for a HOW, you should consider the effect it will have on other HOWs with which it is correlated.
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Sort HOWs by Importance Locate and focus on the top tier, most important factors. The high importance items are those which most strongly drive customer needs and requirements. This can be seen easily by the Relative Importance Histogram. Additionally, you can employ a numeric room using the Rank function to rank the HOWs by their technical importance ratings. Allocate resources on those highest priority measures first and lower priority measures later.
Charts before and after Sorting HOWs by Technical Importance
W S R R W S
Technical Attributes
Customer Importance
Customer Importance AppLink Hyperlinks
R W S R W S
AppLink Hyperlinks
Multimedia capable
Multimedia capable
Customer Assessment
Chart Tools
Data Mgt.
Links
Customer Assessment Work on chart Drag & Drop
Work on chart
Linked charts
Drag & Drop
HOW 1
HOW 3
HOW 4
HOW2
Software Analysis
N O Q
HOW 3
HOW 4
(Sorted)
HOW 1
HOW2
Software Analysis
Linked charts
N Competitor A O Competitor B Q QS/FF Services
Direction of Improvement Relevant Allows us to model our business problems 8.00 Provides relevant templates Helps us deploy business goals Can link to web data Integrates with other software Can coordinate changes projectwide Flexible Easy to learn Easy to customize layouts Can export results Advancing Can allow web collaboration 7.00 9.00 7.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 7.00 7.00 8.00
K K K K K K K K K K
Relevant
K K K K K K K K K K C E D D D A C B E E C B D D D E E E E B O D O N N O N Q O O N N O AO N N
To any Windows App
C A D E D D C E B D E E E E D E E D D C C E B D E B C D E E D E O O O
N O Q N Q O N N O Q N Q N N O N Q O O N N O Q Q Q Q Q Q
Allows us to model our business problems 8.00 Provides relevant templates Helps us deploy business goals Can link to web data Integrates with other software Can coordinate changes projectwide Easy to learn Easy to customize layouts Can export results 7.00 9.00 7.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 7.00 7.00 8.00
N O Q O N Q O N N O Q N Q Q
Flexible
Powerful
Powerful
E D E E
D E C E C C B B
E E E C D
B B C C C D E D A A C C A E C
Q Q Q Q
Advancing
C D B D B D C C B B C D E E
Microsoft Compatible Audio, Video, Web
A A D C C C
N C B BO D E EN
Audio, Video, Web
C D A
30% to unlimited
WHATs & HOWs
Links Deletions
Win 95, 98, NT
Any .EXE file
Ass't Rooms
Any region
Performance Targets
Organizational Difficulty N O Q
Competitor A Competitor B QS/FF Services 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Organizational Difficulty
Q Q Q Q Q O Q N O Q O Q Q O O O O N O Q N O N N
185.00 72.00
N N
484.00 322.00 342.00
O N N
426.00 458.00
N O Q
6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Q Q Q Q Q N Q O O Q O Q Q O O O N Q O O N N
484.00 459.00 458.00
O N
426.00 342.00
Any region 116.00 9
Performance Targets
O N
72.00 10
322.00
185.00
116.00
135.00
459.00
Absolute Importance Relative Importance
10
Rank
Refine your design. Focus on high priorities. To drill-down and continue with your business improvement at a more detailed level, use the Phase Progression capability of the software. This allows you to carry the high priority factors from one chart to the goals region of a new chart. There, you can refine your design, adding new factors at a more detailed level. When you use Phase Progression, a data linkage is created such that changes in the upstream chart will be linked to downstream charts.
Rank
135.00
30% to unlimited
WHATs & HOWs
Links Deletions
Win 95, 98, NT
Any .EXE file
Ass't Rooms
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Leveraging Supporting Data

As you perform the steps above, entering data into your chart, you will undoubtedly want to be as clear and concrete as possible. You are studying real world problems and especially if you are working with a team, you want all the information on the chart to be supported with as much background information as possible. Your real world problems must be modeled with real world data. The software supports you very well towards that end. Never before have you been able to bring so many different types of interrelated information together in one place. You have the flexibility to enter many interrelated data types on one chart to gain a rich understanding of real world strategy, development and deployment issues. For example, on one chart, you may enter WHATs and HOWs (i.e. goals and factors that affect the outcome of those goals) into the matrix. Then, you may annotate these WHAT and HOW entries with background or supporting data. This data may be in any of several formats (e.g. video, audio, weblinks etc.). Suddenly, the inclusion of the supporting data on the matrix has made it a much more dynamic recording and analysis tool. The table below describes each of the many types of data which you can represent on your charts:
Data Type Example Defect Rate
TEXT
Usage Text is used all over your charts to enter WHATs, HOWs, Performance Targets etc. and any number of custom data entries.
Material Stays Pliable Easy to Hold
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Data Type
Example
Usage There is a built-in symbol library with lots of useful symbols. They can represent anything meaningful that you define. The software lets you attach numeric weight values to any symbols so they can be used in calculations.
SYMBOLS
Alternatively, symbols can be defined as AppLinks so that they can launch other software. You can even design your own bitmap symbols, import them in and establish definitions for them. All symbols (including custom ones) are automatically added to the chart legend and can be used in subsequent calculations. Directly key-in numeric data in User Entered numeric rooms.
NUMBERS
Use any such rooms as arguments in custom calculations.
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Data Type
Example
Usage Choose from over 20 built-in calculations. Several calculations are provided which operate on symbol data in the matrix (e.g. Abs.Tech.Imp. can automatically multiply relationship data to derive factor importance ratings). Calculated values can be depicted with a bar chart to enhance visual presentation and understanding. Drop links to video almost anywhere on the chart. This allows you to provide visual descriptions to enhance understanding and concreteness. The uses of this are limitless.
CALCD VALUES
VIDEO
Examples: Enter video of a customer using your product or service in a real world setting to foster greater understanding of latent needs. Or, enter video of your focus groups to allow review of actual customer verbatims.
linked to: C:\winnt\clock.avi
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Data Type
Example
Usage Drop links to audio almost anywhere on the chart to provide aural descriptions that increase understanding of the concept. The uses of this are limitless.
AUDIO
Example: Enter audio from a management presentation expressing key internal needs or project goals. Or, enter a link to audio from a customer focus group session.
WebLinks Links to Internet/ Intranet Sites
Link to any of the millions of useful internet sites with data relevant to your improvement project. Example: Link to your companys corporate intranet site to show detailed specification data or project requirements.
Weblink Symbol
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Data Type AppLinks Links to other applications (and associated data files)
Example
Usage Setup an AppLink (a symbol associated with another software application) then a simple doubleclick launches that application and loads any data file you define.
Project
Example: Use an AppLink to bring up your project management software and track schedule progress. Or, setup an AppLink to a spreadsheet to help your team understand the cost data associated with certain project requirements.
AHP
Excel Access
Now that you are aware of the many possible ways of creating charts, lets explore how you can use template charts to begin your analyses very rapidly.
QuickStart Templates
To start your improvement project quickly, you can use any of the predefined templates included. QFD - House of Quality Matrices Corporate Strategy Development and Deployment Product Development (from Voice of Customer to Shop Floor) Production Planning Process Controls Pugh Concept Selection Customer Voice Analyses and Market Surveying FMEA (Failure Mode Prevention Analysis)
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Why not use one of the above built-in templates as the basis of your analysis? Then, you can easily add new regions or remove existing regions to tailor the chart to your specific improvement task. When you open a new chart, the template dialog box from the software appears. It is shown below. It allows you to select a predefined chart format designed for a specific purpose.
As you create charts to model your problem, you arrange them together into a comprehensive project. Build a knowledgebase not only with completed charts but by reusing effective chart layouts on new projects. You can create and organize your own templates since you can save any chart as a template, even if it has data in it. Once you establish an effective format, pass the chart layout and calculations on to other team members or teams for reuse on future projects. Your projects can include the summary charts (that express a high level birds eye view of the issues). And, they can include linked downstream charts, created via phase progression. These linked charts show how you have drilled-down into finer detail in analysis of your problem. They show prioritized factors leading to your goals and how you have zeroed-in on an effective solution.

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Included templates and examples are described below.

Application Description Template/Example Included House of Quality I QFD Standard Quality Function Deployment Templates included in the General Tab House of Quality II House of Quality III Simple Matrix Failure Analysis Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) templates included These tables allow you to enter and analyze verbatims or actual customer statements. Eventually, these verbatims are summarized and entered into a pre-planning chart so they can be prioritized before becoming inputs into the business improvement process. A richer understanding of customer needs can be generated and the primary source of customer data is available to the team. Design FMEA Process FMEA
Customer Voice Tables
Customer Voice I Customer Voice II
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Application
Description
Template/Example Included Phase I - House of Quality
Product or Service Devt
The classic model used to perform QFD which can deploy the voice of the customer all the way to the manufacturing shop floor.
Phase II - Parts Deployment Phase III - Process Planning Phase IV - Production Controls Executive Strategies
Business Planning
Also known as Hoshin Kanri or Policy Deployment. Templates can be based on data files included.
Managing Executive Strategies Mgt. Factors to Operations Hoshin Audit - Policy Deployment
Shows an example comparing a benchmark concept to Pugh Concept alternatives. Includes embedded Selection bitmap graphics showing concepts visually. Six Sigma Quality Improvement - Defect Prevention Strategies
Pugh Concept Selection Example.BIP
Best Practices Matrix Quality Matrix
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Chapter 3 Software Basics

Installation
Install the software like any other Microsoft Windows application. After you Insert your CD-ROM, it should automatically run the install procedure. If it does not, just navigate to it using your Windows Explorer and execute the SETUP.EXE program. Make sure you have your serial number handy and just follow the prompts to complete the installation.
Beginning a Project
When you first start the software, you are prompted with the dialog box below. You may start a new blank project or open an existing one.
If you want to view one of the sample projects that come with the software, choose Open an Existing Project and press .
To create your own new project, choose Blank Project then At the prompt, enter a filename for the new BIP (Business Improvement Project) file then The new blank project opens. No charts are contained in the project yet so, the software prompts you to choose a template on which to base your first chart. This is done via the dialog box shown below.
(your dialog box may vary)
Continue to next section for details on adding a chart to the project.
Adding A Chart To The Project

You add new charts through the template dialog box (as shown above). It allows you to choose from available templates to specify the desired chart layout. If the template dialog box is not visible, just press the button or choose the menu item below:
From Menu File > New Chart
From Toolbar
Note, there are several tabs with different template styles to choose from. Later, you will learn how to create your own tab groups and templates.
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Click through the tab groups and note the available templates. When you find one you like, click it and press to open it as a new chart. You are first prompted to enter the name of the new chart. Then, the blank chart appears in a new window. Now that the chart is open on screen, you can begin entering data. You may wish to start by adding or altering the existing chart title.
Entering a Chart Title

The title region for a chart is the rectangular region in the upper left corner of the chart just above the WHATs room. To enter or edit the title for the chart, just click in this region once then type the new title text. You may enter multiple lines in the title and you can format the title text using the font settings on the toolbar.
Each charts thumbnail image is titled according to the chart title region text. To differentiate between different chart thumbnails on the project view, just make sure each chart has different title block text.
You may wish to change to format of the title text. It is easy to do, just follow the directions below.
Formatting Text
Formatting chart text is easy. There are several methods you can use. The fastest way is with the formatting toolbar.
Text Formatting Tools
Font
Font Size
Color Bold, Italic, Underline Rotate Text Orientation
*Bullets Left, Center, Right
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You can change the following text settings using the tools above Font Font Size Bold, Italic, Underline Font Color Text Orientation (toggles horizontal or vertical) Text alignment (left, center, right) *Bullets - can only be added when actually editing text (i.e. after single-clicking text twice)
Just click any text item then press the desired formatting button. You may also choose FORMAT>FONT from the menu to change many of the same attributes. Changing the Format For Multiple Items Any font settings you make are applied to the currently selected item(s). Sometimes, you may want to format several entries all at one time. To do this, you need to select the entries first. Do this by any method below.
To Select These Items . . .
Use This Technique . . .
Click the first item. Then, hold down the B key and click To select a continuous group of the last item to select the list. WHATs/HOWs. Click the first item then hold down the C key while you To select a discontinuous group click the other items individually. Release C key when of WHATs/HOWs or custom done. room data.
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Use This Technique . . . Right-click the rooms title and choose Select All Data from the popup menu.
To select all data cells in a room. A dotted line appears around all the data cells to denote that they are selected. There is a menu choice that does the same thing; Edit > Select All Room Data
Setting the Font When you are entering text, you may want to change the font of your entries. You can do this easily with the setting choices on the toolbar for Font, Size, Bold, Italic etc.
You can set the default font attributes for new items from any existing text. If there is one text entry in the chart that has the desired format, you can use it to set the default attributes. Follow the directions below.
Just click on any text item that has the formatting you like and choose
From Menu Format> Set Default Font from Selected
From Toolbar
The format of the currently selected item is transferred automatically to the default settings. Now, any new text assumes the formatting of the selected item.
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Setting Text Alignment To format text justification either left, center or right, use the toolbar buttons below.
Left Justify
Center Justify
Right Justify
To format text alignment to the cell top, middle or bottom, use the buttons below.
Align Top
Align Middle
Align Bottom
There are corresponding menu choices under Format>Text Alignment> . . . to do the same things.
Entering WHATs and HOWs

Most users start with the row entries along the left edge, usually known as the Customers Needs or WHATs area of the chart.
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The region is shown below:
The region to the far left (or top for HOWs) is the title. There is a default title already entered. To change it, click in the region, type the new text then press <Enter>.
You can also use your right mouse button to edit text.
You may continue entering text into the WHATs region.

You may quickly insert and/or delete items using the Insert and Delete keys on your keyboard. Two single-clicks (pause between clicks) on an item with text will allow you to edit it.
Sizing Chart Regions

You can size almost any chart region in two dimensions. To size a chart region, first, turn on the sizing tool using either method below:
From Menu Options> Size Regions
From Toolbar
When you turn on the sizing tool, your cursor changes to the following
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Then, as you move the cursor over a region which is sizeable, it will change again to show you in which dimension you can size the region. An example is shown below: This region is sizeable horizontally.
This region is sizeable vertically.
To size the region, just click its border line and keep your mouse button down while you drag the border to its new position.
You can even size individual rows and columns of WHATs and HOWs.
Sizing WHATs and HOWs consistently with Match Size Sometimes, you may want to format all WHATs and HOWs with the same dimension to achieve a consistent look on your chart.
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For example if you have sized an individual WHAT or HOW to fit in some text or a symbol, it will obviously not match the size of the other WHATs and/or HOWs. In order to make them all the same size, there is a simple feature which allows you to match them all to any one item.
Using Match Size Click on the WHAT or HOW item that has the desired size. Choose Options>Match Size.
Auto-fitting Text in WHATs/HOWs Sometimes there is text in the lowest level of the WHATs or HOWs that is too long for the current regions size. You can always manually size the region using the Sizing tool. However, a faster way is to fit the region to the text.
Auto-fitting WHAT/HOW Text Click any WHAT or HOW item in the lowest (most detailed level) Choose Options>Auto-Fit Text
Inserting Levels
Most templates charts have two levels of hierarchy available within the WHATs and the HOWs.
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The region title is at the extreme left or top for the WHATs and HOWs respectively.
Primary Level Secondary Level
Title
Organization of Title and Levels in the WHATs region
Should you desire more detail at any time, you can add more levels anywhere within the WHATs or HOWs.
Insert a New WHAT/HOW Level Action

1. Click an item in either the WHATs or HOWs.
Comment
Your new level will be inserted next to the currently selected item.
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Insert a New WHAT/HOW Level Action

2. Choose: EDIT>LEVEL>INSERT> (above or below) for WHATs or (left or right) for HOWs
Comment
The new level will now appear in the chart. You may wish to reorganize the items in either the WHATs or HOWs now to take advantage of the new level. The easiest way to do that is to use Drag & Drop to quickly reposition items in the WHATs or HOWs.
Deleting Levels
You may delete a level within the WHAT or HOW room by clicking any item in the desired level then choosing: EDIT>LEVEL>DELETE from the menu. Deleting a level removes all WHAT or HOW items in that level.
Use care when deleting levels. If you delete the lowest (most detailed) level, not only the items but all related data including symbols and room data will be removed. To reverse a level deletion, immediately choose EDIT>UNDO.
Instead of deleting levels, you can size the region down to hide it from view using OPTIONS>SIZE REGIONS from the menu. This does not remove any data from the chart, only from view. To bring back a hidden level, choose OPTIONS>UNHIDE>LEVEL OR ITEM> (WHAT or HOW).
Zooming to Scale The Chart View

The software allows you to continuously zoom the chart image on screen and still work on the chart. The default zoom factor is 100% but you can adjust it to any value you want. When you press the drop down list box on the toolbar, you will see some preset values.
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You can use one of them or, just click in the edit box and enter your own zoom factor.
Chart Zoom Factor Setting
Adjusting this setting actually affects the scale factor used in Print Preview. If you need to adjust how the chart is printing on your printers page, simply adjust the zoom factor setting the print-preview till you get the desired result.
Inserting a List of Text or Numbers

You can easily enter a list of text entries or numbers from another application like a word processor or spreadsheet. Text or numbers can be pasted into either WHATs or HOWs. In addition, you may paste a list of text into any Text room or a list of numbers into any Numeric room. To insert a list, follow instructions below. Inserting a List (Text or Numbers) Action
1. Copy the text or number list onto your clipboard
Comment
Open the application where the text or numeric list appears then select and copy the list using Edit>Copy from that application (i.e. word processor or spreadsheet).
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Inserting a List (Text or Numbers) Action

2. Click an insertion point on the chart.
Comment
You can click any WHAT or HOW. You can also click a cell in a Text room if pasting a text list or a Numeric room if pasting a numeric list. The list will be inserted either to the right of or below the insertion point.
3.
Choose Edit>Paste... >Items In One Cell (or) >Multi-Cell Across >Multi-Cell Down
The entire list can be pasted in one cell or in multiple cells going across or down. The menu choice enabled depends on the orientation of the room into which you are inserting the text.
Entering Notes
You can enter notes or annotations to any chart data. To enter a note behind existing chart data, just select the data with a single click then press the note button on the floating symbol bar.
Splitting the Chart

Have you ever wanted to split the chart on screen to make it easier to enter data?
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Split Bars
Split Bars Its easy. Just choose WINDOW>SPLIT AT CURSOR or, WINDOW>SPLIT WHATs and HOWs The first choice will split your chart at the position of the currently selected item. The second choice will split the chart so that the entire width of the WHATs region is visible and the entire height of the HOWs is visible. This makes it easy to enter symbol data and see where you are in the Relations matrix. If you want to remove the split, either double-click the split bar(s) or just reselect the menu choice to toggle the split off.
Setting Chart Position

The entire chart can be repositioned or shifted on the screen and printed page. To shift the chart, click inside the chart title region and hold your mouse button down while you drag the chart to a new position.
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You may shift the chart position in order to make room for the chart legend or, to allow various chart regions to be resized more effectively. If you have shifted the chart but want to reset its position into the upper left corner of the view, choose Options > Reset Chart Position This feature simply resets the chart position to the upper left corner of the screen.
Organizing and Grouping Entries

Now that you know how to enter data into the chart, let us spend some time on techniques which you can use to arrange your data into meaningful groups. Let us begin with Drag and Drop.
Drag and Drop to Quickly Move Items

If you want to move a WHATs or HOWs item in the region to reposition or regroup it, use the simple Drag & Drop technique. Just click the item you want to move and keep your mouse button down while you move it to the new position then release the mouse button. The dark bar signals where the item being dragged will be placed upon release of the mouse button (e.g. above Item 22 in this example).
Any data related to the WHAT/HOW item (e.g. matrix or roof symbols) will reposition automatically.

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Use this simple drag & drop technique to rearrange items easily into their logical groupings. This organizing and grouping of like items is often referred to as the Affinity Process.
You may also use the standard Cut or Copy and Paste to move items or rooms.
Cut, Copy & Paste

Steps to Cut, Copy & Paste are described below.
Cut, Copy & Paste Action

1. 2. Edit>Copy Edit>Cut 3. 4. Click where you want to reposition the item. Choose Edit>Paste or press button below Paste Paste location is always next to some selected item. or Copy leaves original, Cut does not. Both place item on the Windows clipboard. Click the item you wish to Copy or Cut
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Valid selections are WHATs, HOWs or rooms.
The data is repositioned.
You may have a list of WHATs, HOWs or other text or numbers in another program. Quickly inserting the list into your chart is described below.
Entering Symbols
To enter symbols into your chart, you will be using the floating, dockable Symbol Bar.
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The Symbol Bar

Symbols are dropped into the chart from the Symbol bar. For example, try this. Bring up the Symbol Bar for the Relations Matrix by clicking anywhere in the matrix then choosing either option below:
To View The Symbol Bar From Toolbar From Menu View > Toolbars > Symbol Bar
The Symbol Bar appears (sample shown below).

Symbol Bar Diagram Add multimedia event Add note Add weblink
Add or edit text
Erase data
User-defined symbols for this region Intersect items
Symbol Bar Button Descriptions
Button Add or edit text Add note
Description Allows entry or edit of cell text Enter note (annotations) into cell
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Symbol Bar Button Descriptions
Button Add multimedia event Add weblink User-defined symbols
Description Play audio or video from cell Launch web browser and connect to a URL (web address) Lists all symbols currently defined for this chart region.
user-defined buttons correspond to those symbols configured for region.

Intersect items Lists the row & column items at the selected intersection. Parent items are shown via drop-down list.
The first five buttons on the symbol bar are always present. After those, any user-defined symbols assigned to the region are shown. In this example, three classic QFD symbols have been added to denote Strong, Medium and Weak relationships. On most charts, these symbols are pre-defined and appear by default on the Symbol bar for the Relations Matrix. You can add or delete assigned symbols easily by configuring any chart region. To enter a symbol, just press it. It drops into the chart at your cursors current location.
You can drag the symbol bar to a new position to simplify data entry Entering a symbol will automatically advance your cursor to the next cell either across or down the matrix. Advance across, down or toggle off using the menu choice OPTIONS>AUTO MATRIX ADVANCE.
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Entering Symbols in Rooms

Just like the Relation matrix room described above, most other rooms are also preconfigured with basic settings and symbols to help you enter data quickly. For example, if you create a new chart from a basic template, bring up the symbol bar then click around in different regions which can hold symbols, you will notice that the symbol bar button choices automatically adjust to reflect the symbols defined in that region. EXAMPLE: With a Relation matrix cell selected on a basic template chart, you should see the symbol bar with the following choices.
Then, select a roof cell and note that the symbol choices change to those shown below.
Click another region and the symbol bar updates again with the applicable symbol choices. If you only see the first five system buttons on the symbol bar, that simply means no user-defined symbols have been assigned to that region.
The first five system buttons are always present.

You can modify those symbol options easily by configuring. See Configuring Chart Regions on page 91
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Assessment Rooms, used to express marketplace (external) or technical (internal) performance datum, have no default symbols assigned. You will need to assign symbols for your company, your competitors and your target the first time you use those rooms.
Deleting Symbols
It is easy to delete a symbol from the chart. Use any method below.
Deleting Symbols
Click it then press
<Delete>. on Symbol bar
Click it then press Erase data button
Right-click it and choose Symbol>Delete from the popup menu
Entering Matrix Symbols

Once you have WHATs and HOWs entered, you may wish to enter matrix symbols. The chart region between the WHATs and HOWs is known as the Relations Matrix. It is shown graphically below.
Relations Matrix region
You can place a symbol at any intersection between a WHAT and HOW by dropping it from the Symbol Bar.
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Marking and Displaying Reviewed Items

Sometimes, you will analyze a relationship or data value in your chart and decide that NO relationship exists, that no data entry is applicable. When this happens, it makes it hard to keep your place in the analysis, you can get lost confusing items you havent considered yet with those you have and that are intentionally blank. To avoid this problem, there is a built-in facility to handle just such an occurrence. Once you select a cell in a room or in the Relations matrix, if you then press E without placing data in the cell, the software notes this and tags it internally as a Reviewed Item. However, if you use the arrow key to navigate to another cell, the item will not be tagged as reviewed. So, to summarize: Pressing E will mark the item as Reviewed.
Pressing it in any way.
Z R Y will simply navigate past the cell without marking
Then, whenever you want to see the cells which you have already reviewed, just choose OPTIONS>SHOW REVIEWED ITEMS from the menu.
Entering Data in Custom Rooms Entering Symbol Room Data

Entering data into an existing symbol room on the chart is done via the symbol bar. Just click any data cell in a chart symbol room (e.g. Direction of Improvement) and access the symbol bar (choose View>Toolbars>Symbol Bar). Another way to bring up the symbol bar is to double-click on the data region of any numeric room. That will cause the symbol bar to appear.

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On the symbol bar, you will see the choices of all valid symbols for the room. To enter data, simply press the button corresponding to the symbol you want to enter.
Entering Numeric Room Data

Entering data in a Numeric room on the chart is done by just typing in the value from the keyboard. Just click any data cell in a chart Numeric room (e.g. Customer Importance) and type in the desired value then press <enter>.
If a numeric room is calculated, you will not be able to enter values, the software will beep and any typing is disregarded. If this happens, you can configure the room to see how it is calculated. See Numeric Rooms on page 93. To insure that calculated values in your chart are accurate, you can either enable Options>Auto Recalc (default is enabled) or disable auto-recalc and choose Options>Recalc Now to manually refresh calculated values.
Refreshing Chart Numbers with Recalc

When you modify values in a Numeric room or Relations matrix, any calculated numeric rooms which are affected recalc automatically (assuming Auto-Recalc is on). This insures that they are reset and updated with new values. For example, lets say you enter new values in the Customer Importance room and it is an argument used in the Weighted Importance function from another room. As soon as you enter the new values, a recalc occurs automatically so that the Weighted Importance room values update. On really large charts, this can take enough time that data entry and edits slow a bit. If this happens, you can eliminate any recalc delays by turning off the auto-recalc function. The Auto-Recalc menu choice appears on the menu as shown below Options>Auto-Recalc
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It toggles on and off. When its on, it is displayed with a checkmark. Just choose it again to toggle it off. If you turn off Auto-Recalc, you will need to perform a recalculation using Options>Recalc Now
If Auto-Recalc is off, before you consider chart data, make sure you perform a Recalc Now to insure that values are correct.
Changing values on an upstream linked chart will not automatically cause a recalc in downstream linked charts. In order to refresh data linked between charts, the target chart (usually downstream) needs to be closed and reopened in order to refresh it from the project database.
Entering Assessment Room Data

To enter data in an assessment type room, you must first configuring it. That establishes the valid symbols which can be expressed in it. For example, each assessment room symbol will need to be associated with a competitor before you can drop that competitors data values (represented by symbols) into the chart. Please see Configuring Assessment Rooms on page 102. Once you have configured the valid symbols for the room, you can drop the data into the chart via the symbol bar for the room. Launch the rooms symbol bar by double clicking in any data cell for a chart assessment type room (e.g. Customer Rating). Or, choosing either method below will also launch the symbol bar:
To Launch The Symbol Bar From Toolbar From Menu View > Toolbars > Symbol Bar
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Entering Text Room Data

Entering text room data is easy, just click the any data cell in a chart text room (e.g. How Much) and type in the text.
Printing
Getting a printed hardcopy of your charts is simple, just follow the directions in this section.
Printer Setup
Before printing, you may want to make printer settings (i.e. portrait vs. landscape, paper size, printer etc) To do so, just choose File>Print Setup The Print Setup dialog box below appears.
In the dialog box, you can make settings for the printer like paper size, paper tray, orientation, properties etc. Once you have setup your printer, you can print your charts.
Printers can also be setup via the Windows Control Panel.
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Printing with Fit to Page

Printing is fast and easy if you elect to fit to page. You dont even need to preview, you can let the software automatically scale the chart to fit entirely on the printers page. Just choose File>Print>Fit to Page The chart is scaled up or down accordingly so that it covers the maxiumum page area on your printer.
The page size is determined by the default printer and its page size setting. To change this, you can use the Windows Control Panel.
If you would rather preview before printing, keep reading.
Print Preview
Previewing your chart before printing is easy. Start the preview with either method below.
Print Preview From Toolbar From Menu File > Print Preview
The preview window allows you to see how your chart will fit on paper when printed. If the chart doesnt appear as you want, close preview, modify the chart and preview again. Repeat till you get the results you want. You can scale the charts dimensions on the paper using the screen zoom setting.
The previewed and printed image actually adjusts based upon the screen zoom factor setting. Thus, if you want the chart to appear smaller on the page, you can just set the zoom factor down from say 100% to 90%. Then preview again to verify. Repeat till you like the results.
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To fit different page sizes, enlarge or shrink the image accordingly. As you change the screen zoom setting, the previewed image adjusts to show you how the new image will print.
The page size used in preview mode depends on the current default printer and its settings (i.e. page size, orientation etc.). Change defaults with the Windows Control Panel or with File > Print Setup.
Printing As Displayed
The amount of print scaling applied is controllable by your screen zoom factor. If you choose
Printing As Displayed From Toolbar From Menu Print > As Displayed
your chart is sent to the printer scaled exactly as shown on screen (i.e. using the current screen zoom factor like 100%, 125%, 50% etc.) This can be useful. This connection means that if you change the screen zoom setting and preview, you will see a corresponding adjustment of the previewed image.
If you Print Preview and the chart is not scaled as desired, adjust the zoom setting for the screen display and preview again. Repeat until the preview is acceptable then print.
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Printing Notes
Printing chart notes is described below.
How to Print Chart Notes 1
Choose File>Notes>Send to Wordpad
The Save As dialog box appears. The notes will be saved into a standard text file (default extension *.not) for which you provide the name. 2
The file created above is opened in the Wordpad application, the simple word processor that comes pre-installed with Microsoft Windows. Once in Wordpad, you may choose to format the notes (e.g. you may want to add a custom title or change the font used for note text etc.). To print the hardcopy, just issue the Print command in Wordpad.
Once the notes are in Wordpad, you can then copy them into another word processor if you choose by just selecting them and using the copy and paste functions.
Exporting the Chart Image

Once you have created a chart, you may want to export it into another software program for reporting or distribution to others. Doing this is easy, you can just use a simple Copy & Paste technique. Just follow the steps below: To Export the Chart Image Action
1. 2. 3. Open the desired chart Choose Edit>Copy Chart Open the other application where you want to paste the chart This places the chart on the clipboard
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To Export the Chart Image Action

4. Choose Edit>Paste Special and choose the Picture format.
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The chart image will paste best as a picture.
It is important that you Paste as a picture to insure that the chart is rendered correctly in the other program.
Being able to embed chart images into other software is very helpful. Once the chart is visible in another program like Word for Windows, you can save the Word (.doc) file and share it with others. However, they will not be able to edit the chart, they may only view the image.
If you want to send the file you create to someone else, be sure to make the required setting in the other program to embed fonts. This insures that the chart displays properly when viewed on another computer that doesnt have the software installed. *It is especially important if you e-mail the file to someone. WORD FOR WINDOWS Choose Format>Options then access the Save tab and select Embed TrueType Fonts. MICROSOFT POWERPOINT In the File Save dialog box, make sure you select Embed TrueType. NOTE: If you find that this doesnt work on your system, you may have to type in any character from the Dingur font directly in your target document (if desired, you may then hide the character). This insures that the font is actually embedded in the document and may prove a more reliable method of insuring the next user can see all the symbols properly. For example, paste the chart into Word then click somewhere in the Word document and type a character from the Dingur font.
You can embed the chart into other software to
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Create a presentation which shows the chart (e.g. PowerPoint) Increase clarity in a management report (e.g. Word for Windows document). Post the chart on internet/intranet web pages for team members.
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Chapter 4 Customizing Charts

Configuring Chart Regions
Knowing how to Configure regions is integral to customizing the software. Each chart room can be configured to establish its settings. Depending on the rooms type, different options will appear when you configure it. Use configure to Make General settings Valid data symbols Calculations Scale ranges Bar charting Other display options Define AppLinks Symbols that launch other programs
If you want to modify a regions symbols, Just configure it. To configure any region, you must select it first. Select a room by clicking its title. Select a Roof or the Relations Matrix by clicking any cell in it.
Then, choose either

Configure Selected Region From Toolbar Options > Configure Selected Region or, Right-Click and Configure From Menu
The configuration dialog box for the selected region appears. Some specific examples are described below.
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Numeric Rooms
Numeric rooms are among the most powerful features of the software. You can directly enter numbers or have the software calculate values for you by defining your own calculation in a Numeric room. When you insert a Numeric Room, the Configure dialog box appears as shown below.
Configuring a Numeric Room
By default, there is no formula assigned. If you enter a title only and accept the default settings for the Function (NONE-User Entry) you will insert a room that allows you to type in numbers directly into cells. Inserting Rooms That Calculate To define a room which calculates values, follow the steps below:
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Configuring a Calculating Numeric Room Action

1. 2. Enter the rooms title. Press the down arrow in the Functions list box to review the catalog of calculations available. Click the desired calculation to select it. In the edit regions that appear on the dialog box, establish the arguments which will be used in the calculation. Different calculations require different arguments. For example, if you choose SUM then, you will need to select the rooms which you want to SUM from the argument controls which appear below the Function. Each time you choose a room to be included in the calculation, its name appears in the Formula box above the Functions list. A list of Functions available and their arguments are shown below. 5. 6. Choose the number of decimals to display. Choose to display values as numbers or as a bar chart/histogram. The Bar Chart setting displays a histogram of each cells contribution to the total. It is a visual indicator of the relative strength of each total. When you click on this setting, you can establish the bar chart color.
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Type in any text in the Title region of the dialog box.
3. 4.
If you want to change the bar chart color after it has been inserted, just toggle this setting off then on again to trigger the color dialog box to appear.
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Configuring a Calculating Numeric Room Action

7. Select Percentage if you want to see the values expressed in percentage terms.
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This is a display formatting options that expresses the value in each cell as a percentage. For example:
.04 would appear as 4% etc. .4 would appear as 40% 4.0 would appear as 400%
You cannot bracket arguments to affect their order of calculation. In addition, you cannot define more than one function for any room.
If you need to perform calculations that require several functions, you may configure separate intermediate rooms, used to build more complex compound calculations. If you build such intermediate rooms, you may consider hiding them from view once you have verified that final calculation is working as desired.
Calculation Descriptions The table below lists each available function and its description.
Function Average Description Averages all column or row entries in specified Arguments (rooms), Argument Description Any Numeric rooms in the chart.
Sums matrix entries down Column Sum each column in the Relations Matrix. Difference (Rooms) Difference (Rooms Const)
No Argument.
Starts with the value in the 1st Any Numeric rooms in the Arg Room then subtracts all chart. values in subsequent Args. Subtracts the constant entered in 2nd Arg from entries in 1st Arg room. Any Numeric room and any constant. Type the constant in directly.
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Function Division
Description Divides the 1st Arg room values by the 2nd Arg room values.
Argument Description Any two Numeric rooms in the chart.
Adds a simple index by numbering each row or Matrix Index column chart entry. Automatically adjusts to insertions and deletions. Finds the largest value in the Matrix Max in Relations Matrix in each Column column. Matrix Max in Finds the largest value in the Row Relations Matrix in each row. Finds the smallest value in Matrix Min in the Relations Matrix in each Col column. Finds the smallest value in Matrix Min in the Relations Matrix in each Row row. Evaluates all row/column entries in the specified Arg Rooms and enters the MAXIMUM value. Evaluates all row/column entries in the specified Arg Rooms and enters the MINIMUM value. No calculation. User enters values directly.
No Argument.
No Argument.
No Argument.
No Argument.
No Argument.
Maximum
Any Numeric rooms in the chart.
Minimum
Any Numeric rooms in the chart.
NONE-User Entry
No Argument.
Percentage
Adds all room entries to get a total, then divides each by Any Numeric room in the that total to arrive at its chart. percentage (%) contribution.
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Function Product (Rooms) Product (Rooms * Const)
Description Multiplies values in the Arg Rooms specified. Multiplies entries in the 1st. Arg Room with the constant entered in the 2nd arg Ranks all entries in the Arg Room in descending order (highest value is ranked 1st, lowest value ranked last). Sums matrix entries across each row in the Relations matrix. Adds entries from all Arg rooms specified.
Argument Description Any Numeric rooms in the chart. Any Numeric room and any constant. Type the constant in directly. Any Numeric room in the chart.
Rank
RowSum
No Argument. Any Numeric rooms in the chart. Any Numeric room and any constant. Type the constant in directly. A chart matrix region (either Relations Matrix or one of the Roofs) and any symbol which has been assigned to that region. Any Numeric room to be the multiplier or weighting value and a number which you must enter directly corresponding to the scale maximum used in the Relations Matrix.
Sum (Rooms)
Sums entries in the 1st. Arg Sum (Rooms with the constant entered in + Const) the 2nd arg Counts the number of occurrences of the specified symbol in either the Relations Matrix or Roof. Sums weighted matrix cells across or down. The Arg is the weight factor. SUM(argWgt. x (cell value/scale max))
Tally
Weighted Importance (Ideal)
The multiplier (or argument) must have the opposite orientation

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Function
Description
Argument Description
Weighted Importance This is a classic QFD function (Independent) for obtaining the priorities of column entries (HOWs) weighted by customer importance.
Sums "weighted" matrix cells across or down. The Arg is Any Numeric room in the chart to be the the weight factor. multiplier(weighting value). SUM(argWgt. x cell value).
The multiplier (or argument) must have the opposite orientation.
Weighted Importance (Proportional)
Sums "weighted" matrix cells Any Numeric room in the across or down. The Arg is chart to be the multiplier or the weight factor. weighting value. SUM(argWgt. x (cell The multiplier (or value/row or col total))
argument) must have the opposite orientation
Configuring Symbol Regions

Its easy to configure regions that hold symbols, just click in the regions title (if its a room) or in the matrix or roof then press the button or use the menu as shown above. An example is shown below. If you configure the Relations Matrix, the dialog box below is launched.
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Configuring the Relations Matrix
Assigning, removing or modifying symbols is easily done from this dialog box. Click the General tab to access symbols that express data. Or, click the AppLink tab (not shown above, only present when configuring custom rooms), to access symbols that launch other software. If you remove symbols assigned to the region, the symbol bar choices will shrink accordingly. Add them and it expands. Symbols which may be assigned appear in the project-wide Symbol Library visible on the left side. You click a symbol on the left side, set its attributes in the center, then add a description and weight value to make it valid in the selected region.
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Step by step instructions are shown below: Configuring a Regions Symbols Action
1. Select the desired room by clicking its title (or a roof or matrix cell) and to bring up the press Configure dialog box. Symbols must be assigned individually. Click the desired symbol in the Symbol Library list. Accept or edit the Description field
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The configure dialog box is displayed. The options may differ depending on which room is being configured.
2.
These symbols include those that come with the software and any custom ones added by the user (i.e. bitmap graphics).
3.
If you edit the description, it will change in all regions where the symbol is used. This keeps the meaning of each symbol consistent throughout the chart.
Symbols already in use in other regions will already have descriptions entered.
4.
Enter any specific settings for the symbol.
You can specify the numeric weight value you want the symbol to have.
You may have to change the Valid Number Range if the weight value you want to enter is outside of the current rooms range.
The numeric value you enter may be used in calculations like the Absolute Technical Importance matrix calculation. Depending on the room, you may have different setting options (i.e. in Assessment regions, you can select symbols to draw with a connecting line).
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Configuring a Regions Symbols Action

5. Press to add the symbol to the assigned list, making it valid for use in the selected region.
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The symbol should now appear in the list box on the right side of the dialog box to denote it is now assigned for use in the current region.
To remove symbols, just reverse the process described above; Click the symbol in the assigned list (right side) and press to de-assign it. Configuring Custom Symbols You can even add custom symbols to the symbol library for display in chart regions. Just create and save a Windows Bitmap file using any application that can export in the bitmap format. Windows Paint (included with Windows) can be used for this purpose.
Setting the bitmap size to 32 pixels wide X 32 pixels tall should provide the most readable results.
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Then, in the configuration dialog box, just press the <Add to Library> button under Custom Symbols.
Use these buttons to add your own custom symbols
Navigate to the bitmap file which you previously created and insert it. Now, it is in the library and can be assigned like any other symbol.
The legend shows the definition of all chart symbols. To print it with your chart and/or display it on screen, just choose VIEW>LEGEND>WEIGHT or, VIEW>LEGEND>ASSESSMENT from the menu. The legend appears at the bottom of the chart but can be dragged to another position.
Any symbols you configure will appear on the chart legend. Configuring Assessment Rooms To configure an assessment room, just click its title area and press the configure button or right click the title and choose configure. The dialog box below will appear:
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The assessment room is configured by clicking an unused symbol in the Symbol Library box (left side of dialog box) and then defining the symbol by entering the following: A company name or description The attribute (Chart owner, competitor or target)* A line and color if you want data points connected A valid scale range The font size to use to display symbol descriptions The owner, competitor, target settings are only implicated in the assessment consistency check report. See Comparing Assessments on page 131. Once you have configured an assessment room, just double click its data area and you can drop a symbol value into the chart. As soon as you choose a symbol from the symbol bar, the Rapid Drop dialog box will appear as shown below:
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In this dialog box, you can drag the slider bar to set the value or type it in directly. You should note that after you press enter to drop the value into the chart, rapid drop automatically advances to the next competitor defined in the assessment room. Then, when you have entered data for the last competitor, your cursor automatically jumps to the next WHAT or HOW item allowing you to continue rapid data entry. This feature allows you to very quickly enter data points for your assessment room.
If you code or order your data values to match that of the defined assessment entries, you can enter this entire rooms data very fast. Just start at the 1st WHAT or HOW and enter the data point for the first company then press enter. Continue with the 2nd and 3rd ...in same sequence till you have sequenced through all data points in all the WHATs or HOWs. Rapid Drop makes it a breeze.
Any symbols you configure will appear on the chart legend. Configuring the Relations Matrix or Roof(s) Configuring the relationship matrix or the top or side roof establishes the valid symbols which may be expressed in it and any numeric values associated with those symbols.
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To configure it, just click a cell in it and launch the configuration dialog box by any method below:
Configure Selected Region From Toolbar Options > Configure Selected Region or, Right-Click and Configure From Menu
See Configuring Symbol Regions on page 98 for further instructions.
Though typically used for symbols, you can also enter text into the relationship matrix.
Configuring the WHAT or HOW Rooms To configure the WHATs or HOWs, like any other room, you will have to first click in the room title region to select it. The title region for the WHATs is the left most block in the WHATs region. The title region for the HOWs is the topmost block in the region. Then, press the configure button. The configure dialog box will appear. As you will see, there is only one type of configuration possible for the WHATs or HOWs, that is to configure AppLink symbols. These are symbols that launch other programs. A few ways to use these AppLinks are suggested below: Run project manager software and load a Gantt chart to show task information. Run spreadsheet software and load a financial data for a design. Run CAD/CAM software and load a detailed design drawing. Run a word processor and show more detailed annotations or supporting data.

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To get more information about AppLinks, see Placing An AppLink on page 110
The Chart Legend

Every symbol that you assign in your chart is automatically added to one of the various chart legends.An example of the Weights legend is shown below. The rest of the chart legends look the same but just present symbols defined for different regions. There is a legend for the various chart Assessment room symbols and one that is a key to any AppLinks defined on the chart (symbols that run other software).
You cannot size the legend but you can drag it to any location on the chart before printing. The legends location is not saved, it resets when you reopen the chart.
Replacing Symbols
Suppose you begin working on a chart and add lots of symbols in the Relationship matrix. Then, you decide that you dont like a symbol as much as another one in the symbol library. No problem, just replace it. To replace a symbol, choose Tools>Replace Symbol When you do, the following dialog box appears.
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Click any used symbol and it moves to the Replace this box. Then, choose any Unused symbol and it moves to the With box. Press Accept and you are done. Each chart symbol is replaced and all data is intact.
The legend is also updated automatically.
Leveraging Supporting Data

Consider adding the following supporting data links to your charts to make powerful presentations and richly express your business problem. By placing these links in your charts your problems become more understandable and easier to solve. Applying supporting data in the right context to frame a problem not only helps you create a rich knowledgebase, it can even turn your charts into powerful briefing tools. You can work directly off your charts to provide active demonstrations of your business problem and solutions! Show the CEO giving that rousing call to battle or a customers expressions and nuances during a taped focus group session. Or, show a video of a product in use and note opportunities to improve it right there during your team meetings. Leveraging supporting data links makes it much easier to depict the big picture.
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Link Type
Applink Weblink
Benefit
Launch other software and load related data file. Launch web browser and load URL content or launch any application which can be run from your browser. Launch your video player and play a .AVI video file (sound capable). Launch your audio player and play a .WAV sound file.
Videolink Audiolink
Configuring AppLinks
Symbols entered into your charts can also trigger any supporting application to run and load an associated data file. Symbols used in this fashion are known as AppLinks. You may configure and place AppLinks in any WHAT or HOW item or the title of any custom rooms (i.e. Numeric, Symbol, Text or Assessment). To setup an AppLink, you must Configure the room where you intend to place it. In the configure dialog, just click the AppLinks tab.
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The options that appear under AppLinks are shown below.

AppLinks Options
Setup a Symbol as an AppLink Action

1. Click in the region and . press Configure Click the AppLinks tab if necessary. Click the desired symbol in the Symbol Library
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2. 3.
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Setup a Symbol as an AppLink Action

4. In Which Application, enter the full path and name of the executable file to associate with the symbol. In Enter Applications Data File Extension, enter the three letter extension which is associated with the application. Press .
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For example, to run WordPad enter Wordpad.exe. If the path to the application is not defined, you must enter it. For example, C:\Windows\Wordpad.exe. For example, Word for Windows uses .doc files so enter DOC for Word. Excel uses .XLS files so enter XLS for Excel.
You will specify the actual data file name later when you drop the symbol. Just enter its extension now.
5.
6.
It should now appear on the right side in the Assigned list.
Placing An AppLink
Once you have configured an AppLink (described above), you can place it on your chart. This is done like any other symbol. It appears on the symbol bar and when you click it, it drops into the chart at the selected location. Through Configuring, you associate the symbol with the supporting application (e.g. Word, Excel etc.). Now, when you drop it in place, you simply need to define the data file that you want the supporting application to load (i.e. the specific .xls file for Excel or the specific .doc file for Word). You are prompted for this data file name automatically whenever you drop an AppLink symbol.
AppLinks are powerful as each time you drop one into your chart, you can define a different data file. This allows you to create very comprehensive linkages from your charts to existing supporting data.
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Playing An AppLink
AppLinks are easy to run, simply double-click them. Their supporting application will start and the data file you designated will be loaded.
Just Right-Click an AppLink to modify it or delete it.
Weblinks
Weblinks are symbols that can be defined to launch your web browser and automatically display the content available at the URL address you enter.
Weblinks are actually one of the most versatile data links you can use. They can be used to view most any data type on your system which can be accessed via your web browser. If the other data link types dont fit your bill, make sure you try a Weblink. For example; if you want to display a .MPG video file you can use a weblink and it will likely launch and run properly.
Suppose you have entered some customer rating data on one of your competitors products. Why not drop a weblink into the assessment region of the chart and display the page on your competitors website that details the actual product you are analyzing? Or, there may be detailed specifications relating to your analysis posted on your company intranet. Why not use a Weblink on your chart? Drop it into a summary WHAT or HOW and show the details with the speed of a double-click during a team meeting. To enter a weblink into the chart, just bring up the symbol bar and press the weblink button.
Weblink button Weblink button
Once dropped in the chart, just double-click the weblink to run it. Right-click it to modify or delete it.

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Videolinks and Audiolinks

Entered and run the same as weblinks. Specify the desired .avi or .wav file when entering a videolink or audiolink respectively. These are entered via the symbol bar button shown below.
Multimedia button on symbol bar Add videolink or audiolink
Inserting Custom Chart Rooms

The ability to customize your charts by inserting rooms is one of the most powerful features of the software. With experience, you will be able to insert your own custom rooms to record whatever types of data you deem relevant to your improvement studies. Pick the type of room to insert by the data you wish to record. Room Type Data Description Display user-entered numbers or numbers calculated by the software. Numeric
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Room Type
Data Description The data region of these rooms just displays any free-format text which the user enters.
Text
Symbol
The data region of these rooms must be configured to include symbols which will represent whatever the user desires. Each symbol has a shape, numeric value (optional) and a description. The symbols with numeric values assigned to them can be utilized in calculations with other numeric rooms.
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Room Type
Data Description The data region of these rooms must be configured to include symbols which typically represent your company, your competitors and your performance targets.
Assessment
Inserting Custom Rooms Action

1. Click on any existing room title to select it.
Comment
Room insertions are always made relative to an existing room. You must click somewhere to start.
You can click the title region of the WHAT or HOW to insert relative to either of those rooms.
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Inserting Custom Rooms Action

2. Choose EDIT>INSERT>ROOM> (position)>(type) from the menu.
Comment
The position is either Above, Below, Left or Right of the selected room. The type is either
Numeric Text Symbol Assessment
depending on what type of information you want to add. 3. Fill out the Configure dialog box which appears Depending on the room type you are inserting, you will need to configure the room settings for the information you want to display (i.e. rooms title, formula if numeric, symbol list if symbol etc.).
Deleting Rooms
To delete a room, just click its title and press Delete = or, choose Edit>Delete>Room.
Hiding and Unhiding

Suppose you are reviewing an improvement matrix and want your team to focus on a few chart regions and exclude others. Or, what if you wish to keep some internal proprietary data (e.g. performance targets, alternative concepts) from view? You can just Hide those regions you wish to exclude. It makes any temporarily unneeded regions invisible. You will not lose data, the regions simply disappear from view and from any printouts until you Unhide them to bring them back into view. You can hide the following regions Rooms (including the Entire WHATs or HOWs) The Top and Side Roof

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Individual WHATs or HOWs
Hiding and Unhiding Rooms Action

1. To HIDE select it by clicking its title region then choose OPTIONS>HIDE>ROOM 2. To UNHIDE Choose OPTIONS> SHOW HIDDEN ROOMS (hidden rooms appear in green). Just click any hidden rooms title and choose OPTIONS> UNHIDE ROOM
Hiding and Unhiding Roofs (top or side) Action

1. To HIDE Choose OPTIONS>HIDE>(Side Roof or Top Roof) 2. To UNHIDE Choose OPTIONS>UNHIDE>Side Roof or Top Roof
Hiding and Unhiding Individual WHATs or HOWs Action

1. To HIDE Choose OPTIONS>SIZE REGIONS 2. Click on the bottom or right border of the WHAT or HOW respectively then Click-Drag the border all the way to the other side to close the item from view. Then release the mouse button.
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Hiding and Unhiding Individual WHATs or HOWs Action

3. To UNHIDE Choose OPTIONS>UNHIDE>LEVEL OR ITEM>(WHAT or HOW)
Entering Text in the Relations Matrix

You can enter text into matrix cells between the WHATs and HOWs. This capability allows you to create very comprehensive analyses. You can document issues with as much or as little text detail as you desire. Just size the chart row and/or column accordingly to hold more text in the matrix region. You can use the match item sizes feature to make chart row and column sizes consistent after sizing. See Sizing Chart Regions on page 67 for more details.
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Chapter 5 Power Tools

Templates
The ability to create and organize templates is one of the most powerful features in the software. Templates allow you to reuse chart formats that have worked well. They make it easier to create a tailored improvement process. You can delineate not only which templates are to be used but when (i.e. what order) in the process to employ them.
Creating Templates
It is easy to create a template from any open chart. Choose File>Save As and the following dialog box appears
In this box, click Save as Template. When you do so, the box changes as shown below.
Here, you can enter a title for the template and a description. You can also select to include the WHATs and/or HOWs in the template chart. When youre done, press OK and the template will be created. Youre not completely done yet. The template has now been created but it wont appear as a choice until you assign it into a tabbed group.
Organizing Templates
In order to do so, choose Tools > Template Organizer
You can run the Template Organizer with a chart open or from the project view.
The following dialog box appears
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In this dialog box, templates that have not yet been assigned into tab groups appear on the left side of the dialog box. On the right, you can manage the tabbed categories. To enter a new category, just type its name and press the Add button. You will see a new tab appear. Then, you can click that tab to select it and assign templates into it. Just click the template and press the >> button to assign it or press << the remove it from a group and send it back to the unassigned group. If you need to delete a tab group, unassign all templates in that group by clicking each and pressing the << button. When the group is empty, you can press the Delete button to remove it. Once you have created and assigned templates, they will appear as options whenever you create a new chart. The dialog box below appears allowing you to specify which template to use when creating a new chart. The description of the template you click on is shown in the box on the right.
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The description you entered during creation of the template appear in this section.
Sorting
You can reorder WHATs or HOWs and all their associated data by sorting them. They can be sorted in descending or ascending order by the values in any Numeric room on the chart. To Sort WHATs or HOWs Action
1. Select the Numeric room by which you want to sort the WHATs or HOWs. Do this by clicking its title. Choose Tools > Sort > Descending or Tools > Sort > Ascending
Comment
If you want to sort the HOWs, you must click a Numeric room oriented as a row (horizontally). To sort the WHATs, it is just the converse. A new chart is created. The word (sorted) is added to its title and it is automatically saved. In the new chart, you will notice that the hierarchy of the WHATs or HOWs is gone. This will always occur when you sort as groupings must be removed to reorder the items.
2.
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A Numeric room formatted to display a bar chart provides a helpful visual to show the results of a chart resort. Or, a numeric room which uses the Rank formula may also be helpful.
The High Priorities Report

This report provides you with a fast easy way to summarize numeric room entries. It works similar in principle to Sorting but results in a text report. This report may help foster discussion in a meeting setting with people that arent familiar with how to interpret the matrix representation. Or, for those that do understand the matrix, this report can be a useful complement to it. It allows you to get a quick summary of high priority items. These high priority items can be either a list of WHATs or HOWs that meet your reporting criteria. The reporting criteria is a simple percentile ranking of the WHATs or HOWs based upon corresponding values listed for the WHAT or HOW items in the selected numeric room.
EXAMPLE: Lets assume your chart had a numeric room in it called Number of Complaints. In each cell in the room, you entered a numeric value corresponding to how many complaints were received for each WHAT. You could quickly get a high priorities report which would designate the WHATs with the largest number of complaints according to your reporting threshold (e.g. Top 20% of items).
You enter your reporting threshold into the message box which appears. It is shown below:
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To generate a High Priorities Report, follow the directions in the table below:
To Generate a High Priorities Report Action

1. Single-click the title of any numeric room in the chart. Choose Tools > High Priorities Report 3. Enter the reporting threshold in the message box that appears. Enter a file name and location for the report. This is essentially a percentile calculation. For example, if you enter the top 20%, the software will list in the report, those WHAT or HOW items in the 80th Percentile for the selected room. After finishing this step, the report will appear in Microsoft Wordpad.
Comment
Select the room with the numeric values by which you want to rank the WHATs or HOWs.
2.
4.
The text report is generated in .DOC (Microsoft Word) format and it opens up automatically in the Microsoft Windows Wordpad program. There, you can format it further before printing.
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Phase Progression
When you want to refine your analysis or design, you can perform a Phase Progression. This is a simple transfer and link of the column items in one chart into the row items of another chart. As noted previously, the column items are typically factors and the rows are goals. Thus, this progression is used to further analyze the key or high priority factors evidenced in the original chart. Once they are progressed or cascaded to a new chart, they appear in the goals area. Thus, you can determine the issues that drive the successful accomplishment of the key factors. When the factors are transferred to the next phase chart, related data (e.g. targets, weighted importance, assessment data etc.) can also be transferred. The phase progression concept is depicted below
HOWs
HOW 1
HOW 2
HOW 3
HOW 4
Phase I Example
WHAT 1
2 3 4 5
WHATs
WHAT 2
New factors can then be entered in the blank HOWs region.

s AT WH to
Customer Importance
x ws Ho r -fe
WHAT 3 WHAT 4
H F G H G H G G
42 UNITS 5 UNITS 12 FT.LBS.
44
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Enter New Factors Below Phase 2
26
rg ets
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To perform a Phase Progression, follow the steps below.
HOWs
Ta
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Performing a Phase Progression Action

1. (OPTIONAL) Click a Numeric room to sort by and choose Tools > Sort > Descending
Comment
Sorting creates a new chart with reordered entries. Sorting makes spotting HOWs with high importance easier. Alternatively, you can use the Rank function in a Numeric room to help you identify the most important factors based on their Rankings.
2.
Select the HOW room items that you want to carry to the next phase.
You can Click the first item, then hold down the Shift key and Click the last item to select a continuous group of items. Or Click (1st item) then hold down the CTRL key while you Click additional discontinuous items to select discontinuous items.
3.
Choose Tools > Phase Progression
The Build Next Chart dialog box appears.
4.
(OPTIONAL) Select Related Info to carry.
Click on any additional related rooms in the chart that you want to be transferred to the next chart. If you dont choose a template, the HOWs and any related data displays in a new chart with a generic layout. If you choose a template, the HOWs are entered into that template and related data is added to the right side of the template.
5.
(OPTIONAL) Choose a template.
6.
Press OK
The new downstream chart appears.
Once you are done with the phase progression, the newly created chart will be visible on screen in a separate window.
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At this point, the charts are linked. Changes in linked charts are not represented immediately. Links update only upon chart opening.
You must close and reopen linked charts in order to see changes update.
If you close and reopen that chart, you will notice one or more link symbols (shown below) appearing in the transferred items. The Linked Data symbol Linked text (HOW items transferred to WHATs and Room titles) can be modified in either chart. Changes will be visible in either linked chart upon its re-opening. Data that is shown in linked rooms is not editable on downstream charts. If you try to edit linked data, you will see the following dialog box appear
You must make your changes on the upstream chart.
The Power of Linked Charts

Linked charts are created automatically whenever you perform a Phase Progression. They provide powerful benefits by keeping system level data synchronized with subsystem data. EXAMPLE Assume you are developing a product and you create a top level House of Quality chart. You perform a Phase Progression to create a downstream Parts Deployment chart where you analyze the relative importance of product parts.
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Together, these charts allow you to use marketplace importance ratings, which were derived from the Voice of the Customer, to help you determine which parts are most critical to your design. Now, assume some time goes by and you are redesigning your product to meet changing market needs. First, you will query the market to reveal changes in their importance ratings for each WHAT. Then, you can simply plug these new values into the top level (upstream) chart which you previously completed. Voila, you can easily view the effects on any downstream charts. Review any indicated changes in the importance rankings of the downstream Parts Deployment chart and adjust your design accordingly. Its quite possible that with the newly entered marketplace needs, a different array of parts in your design now take on the highest importance. You have leveraged your existing design knowledgebase. The same methodology works for Strategic Planning, Process Design and other linked chart groups.
Viewing Links
Sometimes, you may want to know the other charts where linked HOWs appear. To find this out, just choose View > Linked HOW Details... The dialog box below appears
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Here, you can click any HOW item that shows the link symbol to get the link details. The grid below the HOWs region shows you on which other charts the linked items appear. The chart name is shown as well as the room name and item text.
If the item is linked to several charts, each link will be listed on a separate line in the grid.
Cascade Delete
If you attempt to delete a linked item, you will get the following message
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Pressing View Links, shows the dialog box described in the Viewing Links section above. Pressing Break Link breaks the links and only deletes the items on the active chart. Pressing Cascade Delete deletes not only the items on the active chart but those on all linked charts.
Creating Subset Charts

would like ? Are there times when you which onlyto extract a smaller version of a chart shows interactions between a few regions?
R R W S
S
Chart Tools
WHATs & HOWs
3 2 1 0
O N
N N
185.00 484.00
O N
426.00
Subset charts are a way to work in your * team. They help yougreat a large divideinto smaller turn chart ones having fewer issues to address. They are very helpful for creating focused management reports. They are easy to create, just follow the steps below.
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Any region
Performance Targets
Ass't Rooms
N O Q
6 5 4
Q O
Q O
N Q O
Q O
30% to unlimited
Subset charts make it easy to go from this...
Technical Attributes
Customer Importance
Linked charts
Drag & Drop
QS/FF Service 248-357-4300

Direction of Improvement Relevant
N O Q
New SUBSET Chart

4 5
K K K K
K K K K K K C A D E D D C E B D E B C D E E D E O N O N O Q O N N O N N O Q N Q Q O Q Q
Allows us to model our business problems 8.00 Provides relevant templates Helps us deploy business goals Can link to web data Integrates with other software Can coordinate changes projectwide Easy to learn Easy to customize layouts Can export results 7.00 9.00 7.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 E 7.00 C 7.00 8.00
D D D C E
D E C E C C B B
Powerful
Flexible
R V R V R S R W R W R V R
Powerful
D E E E E
N Q O O N N O Q Q Q Q
To This...
Direction of Improvement Can link to web data Integrates with other software Can coordinate changes projectwide Easy to learn Easy to customize layouts Can export results
K K K K B
Continuous Zoom
Rapid Drop Symbols
Relational Database
AppLink Hyperlinks
Multimedia capable
Continuous Zoom
32-Bit Architecture
Work on chart
Drag & Drop
Work on chart
QFD Designer Software Analysis
Chart Tools
Data Mgt.
Links
Customer Assessment
D E D D C C E
Advancing
A A D
C C C
N C B B O D E E N
Audio, Video, Web
30% to unlimited
WHATs & HOWs
Links Deletions
Win 95, 98, NT
Q O N Q O Q O Q Q O
116.00
Any region
Performance Targets
135.00
322.00
342.00
459.00
458.00
72.00
Any .EXE file
Ass't Rooms
Flexible
Rapid Drop Symbols
Creating a Subset Chart Action

1. Start by clicking a WHAT or HOW item or room on the chart which you want to extract. Hold down the CTRL key and click any additional items which you wish to extract. Choose EDIT>COPY SELECTED ITEMS 4. Choose EDIT>PASTE>AS NEW CHART A new chart is created with the items you selected.
Comment
You can click a WHAT, HOW or room but not an individual data value or matrix value.
2.
When complete, you must have clicked at least one HOW and one WHAT item. You cannot continue unless you have done so. The items are now on the clipboard.
3.
Comparing Assessments
Once you have invested the time necessary to create a matrix, it is helpful to analyze the data to potential improvement opportunities. A case where you can apply some analysis towards that end is in the cross-checking of data in Assessment rooms. The characteristics that are helpful to spot are those situations where the data reflects an inconsistency between market perceptions (shown on a column oriented assessment) and internal or measured performance benchmarking data (shown on a row oriented assessment). The software will perform this analysis for you and highlight problem areas visually. To perform an Assessment Check, choose Tools>Compare Assessments
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When you choose this menu item, the following dialog box appears
In this dialog box, you will first specify which two assessments in the current chart you wish to analyze. You may pick any one market (external assessment) and any one company (internal) assessment. Then, establish the reporting thresholds. You may check only ratings of your own companys performance if you wish. Or, you may elect to check the competitors ratings in the surveys. The reporting thresholds are in terms of the maximum scale INCONSISTENCY. For example, if the scale in the external assessment is from (1 to 10) and the scale in the internal assessment is from (1-5) then the maximum inconsistency would occur when data points are at opposite ends of the scale in each survey.
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This is shown graphically below.
In this example, the market rates the company represented by the square poorly (at 1 point of 10) while the internal survey rates the same company well (at 5 points of 5). There is a 100% inconsistency. The dialog box below appears to report the assessment analysis.
It reports that the Chart Owner (using the square symbol) had a rating of 1 in the market data assessment and 5 in the internal data assessment with a 100% scale variance or inconsistency. In this example, the market thinks the chart owner performs poor for the WHAT (effect) in question. But, when considering a HOW (cause) which is related to the WHAT in question, the owners performance ranks very well in internal (in-house) tests. This may express one of several problems:
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1 2
You may not fully understand the customer need and competitive assessment. The strong relationship doesnt really exist between the WHAT and HOW. There may be a factor or HOW that has a stronger bearing on customer satisfaction. Revise your matrix to denote such discoveries if they can be uncovered. The internal assessment is misunderstood. It may not accurately reflect customers needs and wants. The customer may use the product differently than expected. If this is true, there may be a need for additional internal requirements and performance measuring tests.
The software only reports on pairs of survey data points which have a symbol in the relationship matrix to link them together. Though the software reports on any inconsistencies that meet your reporting criteria, regardless of the symbol in the intersect, it is recommended that you focus first on problems which are linked by strong symbols in the matrix.
Duplicating/Copying an Entire Chart

Its easy to duplicate charts or copy them to other projects. Heres how
Duplicating/Copying an Entire Chart Action

1. Go to the Project View where chart thumbnail images are viewable. Click the thumbnail image of the chart you want to copy or duplicate. Copy it to the clipboard by choosing EDIT>COPY CHART Just click once to select the chart. Youll see it redraw with a border and handles around it to designate that it is selected.
Comment
2.
3.
You may also press CTRL-C to copy it.
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Duplicating/Copying an Entire Chart Action

4. To duplicate it, use EDIT>PASTE CHART To copy it to a new project, just paste it in that new project instead of the current project. To do that, open the new project and click inside its Project view before the paste. You may also press CTRL-V to paste it.
Comment
Thumbnail images may overlap each other. This will could occur when you copy and paste a chart into the same project. After performing the paste, click the thumbnail image to select it and drag it to a new position.
Showing Blanks and Fill %

Once you have entered data into the Relations matrix, you may want to check a few issues. Normally, you will want to insure that no empty rows exist. If they do, that could mean you have some goals entered (in a row) for which there are no factors defined to help you achieve success. To Find Empty Rows, choose Tools>Show Blank Rows Conversely, a blank column may denote resources which are ostensibly being wasted. That is, a factor or HOW (design measure) which you may be tracking, measuring and expending capital on, which has no bearing to your goals (WHATs). To Find Empty Columns, choose Tools>Show Blank Columns Lastly, putting too many symbols in the Relations matrix may signify that many items are really cost, reliability or safety items. Those should be removed from the House of Quality for placement on a Reliability Deployment, Cost Deployment or Safety Deployment chart.

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One measure may be the Fill % of the matrix. It is just a value that shows how many matrix cells (out of 100%) have an entry. To check Fill %, choose Tools>Show Matrix Fill %
Copying Data to Another Application

You can copy chart data to another application by using the Windows Clipboard. First, you need to select the data to copy. You can select a list of items or one item.
Use This Technique . . .
Click the first item then hold down the B key and click the To select a continuous group of last item to select the list. WHATs/HOWs. Click the first item then hold down the F key and click the To select a discontinuous group other items individually. of WHATs/HOWs or custom room data. Right-click the rooms title and choose > Select All Data from the popup menu. This is especially useful when you want to copy a row or column of numbers present in a chart Numeric room. A dotted line appears around all the data cells to denote that they are selected. There is a menu choice that does the same thing; Edit > Select All Room Data
To select all data cells in a custom room.
Once you have selected the items, you can choose
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Edit > Copy > Selected Text
You must choose Selected Text if you plan to copy the items to another application. This choice insures that the selection is stored on your clipboard in text format which is necessary to paste into most other applications (including spreadsheets). The menu choice
Edit > Copy > Selected Item(s)
is only for copying when you intend to paste within QFD Designer.
Then, you can open the other application (e.g. Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel etc.) and paste into those applications.
Clearing the Relations Matrix

another persons or teams ? Do you ever want to getmatrix symbol ratings? opinion of the Relation Sometimes, you may want to take an existing chart and distribute it to a new team member for his or her review of the Relations matrix even though the existing chart already has symbols in the matrix. You may be interested in another person or teams rating of the relationships to compare to your own. Or, you may want to reuse a chart from a previous development effort and enter new ratings for a new analysis. In this case, you may clear the Relations matrix of the existing symbols and distribute the chart to someone else so that they may enter their rankings. To clear the Relations Matrix, choose Edit > Delete > All Relation Matrix Data
You may want to duplicate or copy your chart first before clearing existing symbols to insure you retain your original work. See Duplicating/Copying an Entire Chart for details.
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Templates
...................................
With the software, you can create and save your own templates. In addition, you may wish to use one of the many built-in pre-packaged templates. Each is described below. Templates are accessed through the dialog box that appears when you add a new chart to your projects. If you find a template you like, note the tab group in which it appears. You will need to access that tab group upon opening a new file. Just press the tab indicated in the description to find the template.
.....
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House of Quality I
In Tab Group: General Multi-purpose interaction matrix. Includes both top and side roofs. Includes basic matrix symbol calculations.
HOWs (Title) Customer Importance
Customer Assessment
House of Quality
WHATs (Title)
How Much
Organizational Difficulty Technical Assessment Weighted Importance Relative Importance
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House of Quality II
In Tab Group: General Multi-purpose interaction matrix. Includes only the top roof, the side roof is hidden. Includes basic matrix symbol calculations.
New Chart
WHATs (Title)
How Much
Organizational Difficulty Technical Assessment
Customer Importance
HOWs (Title)
Customer Assessment
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House of Quality III

In Tab Group: Genera Multi-purpose interacton matrix. No roofs. Both top and side roofs are hidden. Includes basic matrix symbol calculations.
Customer Importance HOWs (Title) Customer Assessment
New Chart
WHATs (Title)
How Much
Organizational Difficulty Technical Assessment Weighted Importance Relative Importance
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Simple Matrix
In Tab Group: General Simple L-matrix. Only WHATs vs. HOWs and top roof are included. No calculations included.
HOWs (Title)
New Chart
WHATs (Title)
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TE M P L A T E S

In Tab Group: Voice of the Customer This template simplifies market segment analysis. It includes demographics, wants, current commerce, competition and other segmentation dimensions.
Segment 1
Segment 2
Segment 3
Segment 4
Demographics (Age, Sex, Education Level, Marital Status, Family Composition)
Want are their key wants?
What products or services do they currently buy?
Market Factors
144
Which companies compete for their business?
If they are current customers already, what do they like in our company?
If they are current customers already, what do they dislike in our company?
Percent of total customers (should add to 100% across)
Percent of total Sales Volume (should add to 100% across)
TE M P L A T E S
Customer Voice Table I

In Tab Group: Voice of the Customer Used to analyze and record verbatims, demographics and customer use cases. Includes Why, What, Who, When, Where and How.
Internal/External
Socio-Economic Group
Reference #
WHEN? WHY? WHAT? WHO? Who uses it now? Who will use it? When does the customer use it? When will the customer use it? WHERE? Where will it be used? HOW? How is or will the product be used?
Customer Voice Table
Why do you need or What will it be used want this product? for?
1.00
2.00
3.00 Customer Verbatims
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
8.00
9.00
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Customer Voice Table II

In Tab Group: Voice of the Customer Used to analyze and record verbatims, demographics and customer use cases. Includes Functions, Measures, Cost, Reliability, Technologies, Failure Modes, Social && Organizational issues.
Reference #
Customer Voice Table II
Customer's Reworded Data
Customer's Need
Customer's Product/Process Problem Addressed Function or Task
Product/Process Company Measure
Design Cost
Design Reliability
Design Technologies
Design Failure Modes Project Social Organizational
Customer Verbatims
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Phase I - House of Quality

In Tab Group: Product or Service Devt The classic QFD chart. Used broadly for many improvement analyses.
HOWs (Title) Customer Importance
Customer Assessment
Phase I House of Quality
WHATs (Title)
How Much
Organizational Difficulty Technical Assessment
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
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In Tab Group: Product or Service Devt Compares alternative design concepts to a datum/benchmark. Tallies "better" and "worse" entries each alternative rated against design criteria. Enhance by importing concept "graphics" into Symbol Library.
Design Concepts
Concept # 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 0 0 0.0 7 0.0 0 0 0
Design Criteria
0 0 0 0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
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0.0
Concept Rating (weighted by Importance)
Concept Rating (+'s and -'s)
- (minus) Pugh Sums
+ (plus) Pugh Sums
Importance
TE M P L A T E S
Phase II - Parts Deployment

In Tab Group: Product or Service Devt Classic Parts Deployment chart. Analyzes HOWs from the previous phase against parts and their characteristics. Used to determine which parts in the product design most strongly drive prioritized design measures.
Part Characteristics (HOWs) Importance Customer Satisfaction Targets
Phase II Parts Deployment
Design Requirements (WHATs)
Part Characteristic Values
Part Capability
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00
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Phase III - Process Planning

In Tab Group: Product or Service Devt Classic Process Planning Chart. Its inputs are the critical parts and their characteristics from previous chart. Explores interactions between parts and shop floor manufacturing processes.
Process Parameters (HOWs) Part Characteristic Values Importance

0.00
Phase III Process Planning
Part Characteristics (WHATs) Process Parameter Values Process Capability

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
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0.00
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Phase IV - Production Planning

In Tab Group: Product or Service Devt Classic QFD Chart. Inputs are high priority Processes from upstream. It is used to study process capability and measures which can be take to insure successful outcome of each process. Includes Quality Control, Maintenance, SPC, Checklists etc.
Planning Requirements Process Capability
0.00
Process Parameters (WHATs)
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Total Points
Importance
Frequency
Phase IV Production Planning
Difficulty
Process Parameter Values
Ability To Detect
Severity
151
.....
TE M P L A T E S
Hoshin Audit - Policy Deployment

In Tab Group: Business Planning Use this chart to enter information about current policy deployment status, intended action plans and responsible parties.
Current Performance
Performance Target
Percent Complete
Status (symbolically)
Status
Hoshin Audit(Policy Deployment)
Measures of Objectives (Targets)
Quarterly, Monthly, (Problem) Weekly etc.
Issue or Concern
Responsibility Who will take the actions? Due Date
Done Yet?
Next Actions
Actions Taken
Primary Objective
Secondary Objective
Tertiary Objectives
Reduce European SG&A Reduce Sales Cost
Objectives
Reduce Costs
152
TE M P L A T E S
Executive Strategies
In Tab Group: Business Planning Record executive future visions versus high-level strategic factors which will impact achievement. Shows importance of visions, current performance and goals, required ratio of improvement, market assessment and internal benchmark rooms.
Our Current Performance
Strategy Factors Improvement Ratio Performance Goal
Corporate Importance
Market Assessment
Executive Strategies
N P Q O
Target Competitor A Competitor B Our Company
Strategic Goals
Business Targets
Organizational Difficulty Internal Benchmark
N P Q O
Target Competitor A Competitor B Our Company
5 4 3 2 1 0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
Weighted Importance Relative Importance Strategy Factor Rank
0.0
153
.....
TE M P L A T E S
Managing Executive Strategies

In Tab Group: Business Planning This chart has as its inputs, the prioritized strategy factors from the executive strategies matrix. In the HOWs region, Managerial factors are recorded. This is an excellent chart for establishing managerial steps needed to enact strategic factors.
Managerial Factors
Business Targets
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.00
Management of Executive Strategies
Strateg
Managerial Factor Importance Relative Managerial Importance

Mgr. Factor Rank
154
Absolute Importance
TE M P L A T E S
Management Factors to Operations

In Tab Group: Business Planning Inputs are prioritized management factors. Used to establish operations and tactics necessary to carry out management objectives. Records the very detailed steps which may be taken by functional specialists.
Operational/Tactical Factors
Managerial Factor Importance
Operationalizing Management Factors
Managerial Factors
1 1 1 1 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Operational Importance Relative Operational Importance 0.00
Mgr. Factor Rank
155
.....
TE M P L A T E S
Design Failure Mode & Effects Analysis - DFMEA

In Tab Group: Failure Analysis Design FMEA - For Design Failure Mode and Effects (DFMEA) analyses. Anticipate potential failures, estimate their criticality then alter designs to prevent them before actual development; saving time and money..
Occurence - (After Action Plan)
Risk Priority Number (R.P.N.)
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA

(Replace this title block, enter info similar to below)
Subsystem: Component: Model Year(s): Core Team: Design Responsibility: Key Date: FMEA Number: Prepared By: Creation Date: Revision Date: Item Potential Failure Mode Function Potential Effect(s) of Failure Potential Cause(s)/Mechanism(s) of Failure
Detection - (After Action Plan)
Severity - (After Action Plan)
Occurence
Detection
Severity
Current Design Controls
Recommended Action(s)
Responsibility & Target Completion Date
Class
Actions Taken
Risk Priority Number (R.P.N.) (After Action)
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Failure Data
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
156
TE M P L A T E S
Process Failure Mode & Effects Analysis - PFMEA

In Tab Group: Failure Analysis Process FMEA - For Process Failure Mode and Effects (PFMEA) analyses. Anticipate potential failures, estimate their criticality then alter the manufacturing process to prevent them; saving time and money.
Occurence - (After Action Plan)
Risk Priority Number (R.P.N.)
Detection - (After Action Plan)
Severity - (After Action Plan)
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA (Replace this title block, enter info similar to below) Item: Component: Model Year(s): Core Team: Process Responsibility: Key Date: FMEA Number: Prepared By:
Process Function Potential Failure Mode Requirements Failure Data Potential Effect(s) of Failure Potential Cause(s)/Mechanism(s) of Failure Occurence Detection Severity
Current Process Controls
Recommended Action(s)
Responsibility & Target Completion Date
Class
Actions Taken
Risk Priority Number (R.P.N.) (After Action)
0.00
0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
157
.....
TE M P L A T E S
Best Practices Matrix

In Tab Group: Six Sigma This Best Practices Matrix can be used to assess areas within your company against various best practice judging criteria.
Best Practice - Judging Criteria Continuous Improvement Training Relative Area Performance Schedule Attainment Quality Kanban with Visual Signals Late Point Identification Cycle Reduction Teams Workforce 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Preventive Maintenance
Set-up Time Reduction
Point-of-Use Concepts
(substitute your areas for sample text)
Plant A Plant B Department C Plant D Section F Station 23 Plant I
Assessment Areas
Flexible Suppliers
Best Practices Matrix

Continuous Flow Material Control Pull Systems
Standardized Product
sample symbols 0
enter your areas... 0
Criteria Performance Target
Criteria Score Relative Criteria Score
158
Area Score (row sum)
TE M P L A T E S
Quality Matrix
In Tab Group: Six Sigma This Quality Matrix can be used to assess the level of performance of your company's business units for each of several quality initiaties (e.g. Customer Satisfaction, Commitment, New Technology etc.)
List of Company Business Units

Relative Area Performance Area Score (row sum)
Quality Matrix
Quality Leadership
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Quality Performance Initiatives
Supplier Management Process Operation Control & Improvement Quality Information Management Problem Solving Techniques People Commitment Customer Satisfaction New Product/Technology/Service Introduction Chance Capability
sample 0symbols
Criteria Performance Target
Criteria Score Relative Criteria Score
159
.....
TE M P L A T E S
160
File Conversion
...................................
.....
Converting Version 3.15 Files - Overview

If you have created data in QFD Designer Version 3.15, you may convert those files individually for use with the new software. V3.15 data files were organized such that for each data file, there were four sub-files. These files have the extensions .QF1, .QF2, .QF3 and .QF4.
Though users only see the .QF1 file, all four files must be present to convert the entire data file properly.
In the new software, all the data is combined in one file, a .BIP (Business Improvement Project) file. The included conversion routine is designed to convert from the .QF1 through .QF4 files into a single .BIP file. There are a few pointers which you should bear in mind to simplify your file conversions. If possible, please open the file in V3.15 and take the following steps before running the convert routine:
1 Choose Options>Show Hidden Rooms to make sure there are no hidden rooms. If any rooms are hidden, click to select then choose Options>Unhide Room for each, then save the file. If the chart has no side roof, and you want a side roof available in the new software, you MUST insert one in V3.15 before converting. Choose Options>Add Side Roof to do so. There is no facility in the new software to add a side roof to files converted without one. Copy the data file (all four sub files .QF1 through .QF4) to the directory where the new software is installed before converting.
Running Convert V3 Data

Follow the directions below to run the convert routine. Access the new softwares program group off the Start button. Find and choose the icon titled:
161
FILE CONVERSION
Convert V3 Data After an informational message, the following dialog box will appear
1 2 3
Press the <1. Locate V3 File> to browse to the .QF1 file. Press the <2. Set Destination> button to establish where to save the converted file. Press the <Convert> button.
After converting, a new .BIP file will be created. You may open that file like any other .BIP file formatted for the new version.
Some formatting may be necessary after converting. For example, symbols may appear small. To fix that, size one row and one column till the intersecting symbol look large enough then, use the Match Size feature to make the chart consistent. The conversion routine does not convert chart title or WHAT/HOW titles from the V3 file and doesnt transfer font settings. You may wish to insert a new title in the converted file and format text font settings according to your preference.
2One to two more conversion messages may appear after you open the file in the new version. This is normal. The application performs some final cleanup as part of the conversion process before finally opening the file.
162
INDEX
A
B
Beginning a Project 61 Benchmarking 13 Boosting Revenues 7 business improvement applications 10 framework 2 intra-company projects 15 steps 24 team oriented 22 Business Improvement Steps Brainstorm HOWs 45 Determine relationships (HOWs vs. WHATs) 48 Determine Required Improvement 44 Enter Correlations between HOWs (factors) 50 Establish Performance Targets 49 Gather Competitive Ratings 43 Gather WHATs 39 Make Internal Competitive Ratings 49 Quantify WHAT Importances 43 Refine your designs 51 Sort HOWs by Importance 51 table of 38 business problems "lip service" 23 and financial performance 6 company actions misaligned 11 competitive struggles 13 considering internal processes 16 corporate strategy issues 11 costs too high production 14 service/support 12 warranty 12 customer needs misunderstood 12 internal improvement projects 16
163
IN DE X
Adding A Chart To The Project 62 aligning text 66 applinks configuring 108 dialog box 109 entering 91 expressing real world problems with 27 launching programs with 108 placing in WHATs or HOWs 98 placing into chart 110 playing 111 setting up step by step 109 assessment analyses consistency checks 131 dialog box 131 internal vs. external (market) 131 interpreting consistency checks 134 report threshholds 132 custom room type 36 room data description 114 defining valid symbols in an 80 assessment room setting up by configuring 98 assessment rooms entering data 83 Audio expressing real world problems with 27 Auto-fitting Text in WHATs/HOWs 69 Auto-Recalc vs. Recalc Now 82 Average 95
INDEX
litigation 12 many causes of 20 market share low 10 misunderstanding customer perceptions 131 misunderstanding market perceptions 131 modeling 27 modeling interactions 19 new concepts needed 13 product development uncoordinated with manufacturing 13 product or process failure 12 production yields low 14 profits low 10 reliability 12 resource allocation 19 returns too high 12 sales revenue low 10 satisfaction low 10 strategic planning 16 taking actions to solve 26 task management 14 clearing the relations matrix 137 Column Sum 95 communicating linked matrices help in 28 via intranet 28 Comparing Assessments 131 competitive analysis 131 Competitive Benchmarking 13 competitive ratings 24 configure button 92, 105 dialog box example 98 configuring 91 applinks 108 symbol library 99 to establish valid symbols 91 WHATs or HOWs 98 Configuring Chart Regions 91 Configuring Custom Symbols 101 configuring regions how to 91 Configuring Symbols 98 Configuring the Relationship Matrix 98 Configuring the WHAT or HOW Rooms 98 copying an entire chart 134 Copying Data to Another Application 136 Correlations HOW vs. HOW 25 costs lowering 8 planning helps reduce 8 Creating a Subset Chart step by step 131 custom rooms inserting 112 custom symbols adding by configuring 99 guidelines for creating 101 customer identifying 15 Customer Assessment custom room 37 Customer Importance
C
calculations compound intermediate rooms needed 95 performing in Numeric rooms 91 setting up 94 Cascade Delete 129 Catchball 9 cause and effect 17 courtroom example 18 importance of quantifying 20 visually 19 causes 19 Chart Legend 106 chart legend depicts custom symbols 102 moving 106 chart regions 30, 31 charts decomposing into subsystems 117, 130
164
INDEX
numeric room 37 customers internal and external 15 recording verbatims 42 segmenting 41 via "use case" observation 41 Cut, Copy & Paste 76 steps 76 Drag & Drop to reposition WHATs or HOWs 75 Duplicating/Copying an Entire Chart 134
E
e-mail sharing the chart image via 87 employees educating new hires 22 recording their specialized knowledge 21 Enter key to "mark" a reviewed item 81 Entering a Chart Title 63 Entering Assessment Room Data 83 Entering Data in Custom Rooms 81 Entering Matrix Symbols 80 Entering Numeric Room Data 82 Entering Symbol Room Data 81 Entering Symbols in Rooms 79 entering text in the Relations Matrix 117 Entering Text Room Data 84 entering weblinks 111 Entering WHATs and HOWs 66 Executive Planning 16 Exporting 136 chart numerics 136 WHATs HOWs 136 Exporting the Chart Image 87
D
Data Collection and Recording 30 data types applinks 56 audio 55 calculations 54 numbers 53 symbols 53 text 52 videos 54 weblinks 55 decimals shown changing setting for in Numeric rooms 94 delayed response due to auto-recalc 82 Deleting Levels 71 recovering using EDIT>UNDO. 71 deleting linked data 129 Deleting Rooms 115 Deleting Symbols 80 deployment manufacturing 13 production 14 reliability 12 task 14 Voice of Customer (VOC) 12 designing drilling down into details 125 leveraging previous analyses 28 Difference (Rooms - Const) 95 Difference (Rooms) 95 Direction of Improvement Symbol room 37 Division 96
F
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis. See FMEA fighting fires 3 FMEA 9, 12 focus short-term vs. long-term 3 focus groups 15, 42 formatting multiple items at once 64 text in a rooms data region 64 Formatting Text 63
165
INDEX
G
graphics windows bitmaps importing into symbol library 101 green shaded rooms are set to hidden 116 64 sort chart data 122 HOWs as causes 20, 24 as design measures 20 as economic properties 47 as human properties 46 as market properties 47 as mechanical properties 46 as physical properties 46 as production properties 47 as time properties 47 brainstorming for 24 chart room description 34 checklist 46 developing keys to 47 sorting 122
H
hiding and unhiding levels 71 roofs (top or side) 116 rooms 116 High Priorities Report 123 use of Percentile calculation in 123 HOQ. See House of Quality Hoshin 17 Hoshin Kanri 9, 11 House of Quality 31 basic diagram 31 HOW sorting by importance 25 How Much Text room 37 how to add a chart to the project 62 change the number of decimals displayed 94 configure a regions symbols 100 configure regions 91 convert V3.15 data files 161 create a subset chart 131 cut, copy & paste 76 delete symbols 80 develop resulting design priorities 125 duplicate or copy an entire chart 134 enter matrix symbols 80 export the chart image 87 insert custom rooms 114 perform a "phase progression" 126 print notes 87 select multiple WHATs or HOWs
166
I
Identifying The Customer 15 importing bitmaps to use as symbols 101 from other programs 72 improvement goals 24 Inserting a List of Text or Numbers 72 Inserting a New WHAT/HOW Level 70 Inserting Custom Chart Rooms 112 Inserting Levels 69 Inserting Rooms That Calculate 93 Installation 61 Interviews to obtain Voice of the Customer 42 items sorting 122
L
Leadership and Planning 3 Learning The Software 30 legend 102 moving to a new position 106 levels hiding with size regions 71 inserting in WHATs/HOWs 70
INDEX
Leveraging Supporting Data 52 Linked Charts 127 linked charts 83 and viewing downstream effects 127 reopening to recalc 83 upstream and downstream effects 28 linked data 83 breaking links 130 deleting 129 symbol denoting 127 linking internet sites 111 Lowering Costs 8 Matrix Min in Col 96 Matrix Min in Row 96 matrix power knowledgebase creation 21 to model interactions 21 matrix symbols entering 80 Maximum 96 Minimum 96 mission statement examples 4
N
NONE-User Entry 96 numeric formulas described 95 numeric rooms 36, 9398 data description 112 entering data 82
M
management reports simplifying with subset charts 130 Manufacturing Deployment 13 manufacturing yield 14 market understanding 1 market needs unspoken 25 Market Research 42 Market Segmentation Matrix 40 market share satisfaction and quality effects on 7 winning 1 marketing sales points 25 surveys 15 Marking and Displaying Reviewed Items 81 match item sizes 117 Match Size to match all item sizes 68 matching item sizes 68 matrices holding design knowledge 21 in knowledge libraries 22 used in employee education 22 Matrix Index 96 Matrix Max in Column 96 Matrix Max in Row 96
O
Organizational Difficulty Numeric room 37 organizational intelligence tapping 23 orientation setting printer 84 setting text 64
P
paper effect refining designs/planning on paper 29 saving tooling/eqp. cost 29 paper size 84 pasting a list of text or numbers from clipboard 72 chart image symbol display issue 88 data from other programs 72 multi-cell across 73 multi-cell down 73 Percentage 96 percentile
167
INDEX
used in High Priorities Report 123 performance gaps 25 performance targets establishing 24 Performing a Phase Progression 126 Phase Progression 125 and linking between charts 127 diagram 125 into a template 126 planning lack of time for 4 profit impact 3 Policy Deployment 9, 11, 17 Policy Management 9, 11 pre-planning importance of 45 Pre-Planning Matrix template chart 44 Print Preview 85 print preview affected by screen zoom setting 85 affected by zoom setting 72 and fitting charts to paper 85 scaling chart on page 85 tip 86 zoom settings effect on 85 Print Setup dialog box 84 Printer Setup 84 Printing 84, 86 As Displayed 86 Fit to Page 85 Printing Notes 87 Priorities refining designs 25 prioritizing based on cause and effect 20 problem definition 6 and project requirements 6 problem formulation data types used in 27 problem reoccurence 3 process map 16 Product (Rooms * Const) 97 Product (Rooms) 97 Product Clinics 42
168
product development leveraging "lessons learned" 22 Production Deployment 14 profit damage 3 Profit Potential 1 project view duplicating entire charts 134 Pugh Concept Selection 13
Q
QF1 QF2 QF3 and QF4 files from Version 3.15 161 QFD 8, 10 Relationship symbols 35 quality perceived 15 quote bill gates 1 einstein 14 jack welch 7 phillip II of macedon 4
R
Rank 97 rank reversals of factors 28 Recalc Now 82 recalculating linked values 83 Refresh calculated values use of Recalc to 82 refreshing linked data 83 Relations Matrix 35 picture of 80 Relationships WHATs vs. HOWs 24 RelativeTechnical Importance Numeric room 37 Reliability Deployment 12 Replacing Symbols 106 resource allocation 19 reusing design analyses linked chart implications 127 reviewed items enter key vs. arrow key 81 keeping your place on the chart 81
INDEX
ROI 3 boosting 28 roofs hiding 116 unhiding 116 rooms custom 36 deleting 115 entering symbols in 79 hiding 116 on the House of Quality 31 unhiding 116 RowSum 97 Running Convert V3 Data 161 running weblinks 111 needs of 17 strategic planning 9, 16 for shareholders 17 strategy misguided 2 subset charts 117, 130 Sum (Rooms + Const) 97 Sum (Rooms) 97 Supporting Data leveraging 30 Symbol Bar described 77 symbol bar adjusts to show valid symbols 79 button descriptions 77 diagram 77, 111, 112 launching 81 Symbol entry mark reviewed item to note no relationship exists 81 symbol library 99 symbol room 36 data description 113 symbol rooms entering data 81 symbols insuring they display correctly 88
S
Select All Data 65 selecting WHATs or HOWs 64 services considering customer deliverables of 15 Setting Text Alignment 66 setting the default font 65 Showing Blanks and Fill % 135 Side Roof 33 size regions remove levels from view with 71 Sizing Chart Regions 67 sizing WHATs or HOWs to match one item 68 software as an improvement analysis framework 26 how it can help boost quality 8 how it can help prioritize personal goals 26 how it helps prioritize 8 learning the 30 Sorting 122 complements to High Priorities Report 123 speeding up data entry 82 Splitting the Chart 73 stakeholders 11
T
Tally 97 Task Deployment 14 team meetings display projector facilitates 29 keeping your place on the chart mark reviewed items 81 teams avoiding "not invented here" syndrome 23 benefits of 22 building 22 consensus building 23 dividing work using subset charts 130 enhancing results of 29
169
INDEX
establishing 23 importance of "buy-in" 23 participation in 23 Technical Assessment custom room Assessment type 37 template open from dialog box 121 template Organizer dialog box 120 templates 14, 119 benefits of custom 30 Best Practices Matrix 158 catalog of 58 Creating 119 Customer Voice Table I 145 Customer Voice Table II 146 Customer VoiceTables 58 Design FMEA 156 Executive Strategies 153 failure analysis (FMEA) 58 for quickly starting 30 help record "best practices" 30 Hoshin Audit - Policy Deployment 152 House of Quality I 140 House of Quality II 141 House of Quality III 142 Listed in Appendix 139 Management Factors to Operations 155 Managing Executive Strategies 154 Market Segmentation Matrix 40, 144 opening from dialog box 57 organizing 120 dialog box 62 Phase I - House of Quality 147 Phase II - Parts Deployment 149 Phase III - Process Planning 150 Phase IV - Production Planning 151
170
phase progression into 126 Pre-Planning Matrix 44 Process FMEA 157 Pugh Concept Selection 59, 148 QFD 58 Quality Matrix 159 Simple Matrix 143 starting quickly with 56 use in standardizing internal methods 30 Voice of Customer 4243 text aligning 66 entering in Relations Matrix 117 Text room data description 113 Text rooms 36 text rooms entering data 84 thumbnail images titling 63 titling charts 63 thumbnails 63 top roof description 34 Total Quality Management (TQM) 11 transferring HOWs to WHATs via Phase Progression 125 Two-Dimensional Thinking 27
U
unhiding 116 roofs 116
V
Version 3.15 data files converting 161 Video expressing real world problems with 27 viewing data links between charts 128 VOC (Voice of Customer) analysis five Ws and H method 41 Voice of Customer
INDEX
templates 42 Voice of the Customer 40
W
waste avoiding to reduce cost 29 Weblinks expressing real world problems with 27 weblinks 111 Weighted Importance custom Numeric type room 37 Weighted Importance (Ideal) 97 Weighted Importance (Independent) 98 Weighted Importance (Proportional) 98 WHAT HOW text auto-fitting 69 what-if scenarios 28 exploring 28
WHATs as desired effects 17 as goals 17 as project inputs 17 chart room 33 gathering 24 Importance Ratings for each of the 24 sorting 122 WHATs and HOWs entering 66 hiding and unhiding 116 inserting/deleting with keyboard 67
Z
zoom factor effect on print preview 72 shrink or expand chart image on screen 72 Zooming to Scale The Chart View 71
171
INDEX
172

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QFD Basics

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Quality Function Deployment

Business Improvement Software

Copyright 2000 Qualsoft LLC

Business Improvement Software

Copyright 2000 Qualsoft LLC

2000 Qualsoft LLC. All rights reserved

2000 QualSoft LLC 248.433.3380

Chapter 2 Implementation Overview . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter 3 Software Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Basics .

2000 QualSoft LLC

Chapter 4 Customizing Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Chapter 5 Power Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Templates. Appendix A - Templates. . . . . . . . . . 139

Appendix B - File Conversion. . . . . . 161 Conversion.

2000 QualSoft LLC

Chapter 1 Profit Potential

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." Bill Gates, 1981

1 2000 QualSoft, LLC

Leadership and Planning

? How can you lead in your market without planning?

? Can you lead without a clear focus of the intended results?

What is Your Business Improvement Problem?

Business Improvement Applications

Try This Method

Hoshin Kanri Policy Deployment Policy Management

Try This Method

Warranty Service/support Returns Litigation

Voice of Customer (VOC) Deployment

Try This Method

Pugh Concept Selection

Optimize manufacturing procedures including adherence to product specifications.

Try This Method

Identifying The Customer

Cause and Effect

Quantifying Cause and Effect

Matrix Power - Modeling Interactions

Matrix Power- Creating a Knowledgebase

Team Oriented Business Improvement

Establishing Your Team

Business Improvement Steps

Quantify WHAT Importances

Determine relationships (HOWs vs. WHATs)

? What framework can be used to implement these steps?

Chapter 2 Implementation Overview

Rich Data Expression

27 2000 QualSoft, LLC

Exploring What If Scenarios

Leverage the Paper Effect

Learning The Software

Chart Region Building Blocks

Typical House of Quality (HOQ) Chart with Rooms Labeled

Technical Attributes Chart Tools

Drag & Drop

House of Quality (HOQ) Software Analysis

Competitor A Competitor B QS/FF Services

Business Improvement Software

Can allow web collaboration

WHATs & HOWs

Any .EXE file 458.00

Win 95, 98, NT

Weighted Importance Relative Importance

Typical Custom Rooms (from HOQ)

Direction of Improvement Customer Assessment Technical Assessment