Quality Function Deployment and Six Sigma: A QFD Handbook, Second Edition

8. Substitute Quality Characteristics (Technical Response)

This chapter describes the way in which QFD deals with the development team’s technical response to the customer’s needs. Just as the Voice of the Customer (VOC) has qualitative and quantitative components (entered into the Customer Needs and Benefits Section and the Planning Matrix), so does the translation of the VOC into the Voice of the Developer. That translation, which we’ll usually call Substitute Quality Characteristics (SQCs), will be placed in qualitative form on the top of the Relationships Matrix, and in quantitative form at the bottom (as Target Values and Competitive Technical Benchmarks). It is critical that any translation into an SQC be validated before proceeding too ...