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Quality function deployment (QFD) is a design management tool to enhance the quality aspect of products and services as well as to increase customer satisfaction. This paper describes the concept and technique of QFD as applied to the construction industry with special focus on a low‐cost housing scheme. The benefits of QFD on the aspects of reliability in quality, cost and time for low‐cost housing from the customers’ viewpoint are also presented.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated framework to simultaneously identify and improve healthcare processes that are important from the healthcare provider's and patient's perspectives.

A modified quality function deployment (QFD) chart is introduced to the field of healthcare quality assurance. A healthcare service example is used to demonstrate the utility of the proposed chart.

The proposed framework is versatile and can be used in a wide variety of healthcare quality improvement contexts, wherein, two different perspectives are needed to be considered for identifying and improving critical healthcare processes.

The modified QFD chart used in conjunction with the stacked Pareto chart will facilitate the identification of key performance metrics from the patient's and the hospital's perspectives. Subsequently, the chief contributory factors at different levels are identified in a very efficient manner.

Healthcare quality improvement professionals will be able to use the proposed modified QFD chart in association with stacked Pareto chart for effective quality assurance.

This study examines whether certification improves the dimensions of total quality management (TQM) and whether the impact of certification is similar across companies of different sizes and industries. The benefits of certification for companies have been widely discussed in recent years. The general debate has been partly marked by the dispute about whether companies will benefit more from certification or the implementation of TQM. This debate has led to numerous studies on the benefits of certification; however, few studies simultaneously have examined traditional TQM issues and the requirements of the new quality standard, ISO 9001: 2015, as well as the updated European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) criteria.

This study was conducted via a survey of Finnish SMEs and covered both industrial and service companies. The study comprehensively compared industrial companies with service companies and small companies with medium-sized companies.

In industrial and small enterprises, certification clearly has a positive effect on the dimensions of TQM, but a similar effect was not observed in medium-sized enterprises or in the service sector.

This is one of the first studies to examine the effect of certification on TQM in different types of SMEs while simultaneously considering EFQM and ISO 9001:2015 in Finland. The significant originality of this research lies in the formation of a comprehensive research framework for the dimensions of TQM.

There is growing evidence of a knowledge gap in the association of maintenance with production activities in bottling plants. Indeed, insights into how to jointly optimise these activities are not clear. In this paper, two optimisation models, Taguchi schemes and response surface methodology are proposed.

Borrowing from the “hard” total quality management elements in optimisation and prioritisation literature, two new models were developed based on factor, level and orthogonal array selection, signal-to-noise ratio, analysis of variance and optimal parametric settings as Taguchi–ABC and Taguchi–Pareto. An additional model of response surface methodology was created with analysis on regression, main effects, residual plots and surface plots.

The Taguchi S/N ratio table ranked planned maintenance as the highest. The Taguchi–Pareto shows the optimal parametric setting as A4B4C1 (28 h of production, 30.56 shifts and 37 h of planned maintenance). Taguchi ABC reveals that the planned maintenance and number of shifts will influence the outcome of production greatly. The surface regression table reveals that the production hours worked decrease at a value of planned maintenance with a decrease in the number of shifts.

This is the first time that joint optimisation for bottling plant will be approached using Taguchi–ABC and Taguchi–Pareto. It is also the first time that response surface will be applied to optimise a unique platform of the bottling process plant.

The electronics contract manufacturing market is growing and becoming increasingly competitive with original equipment manufacturers (OEM) expanding their use of contract manufacturers (CMs) to balance workload, lower operation costs and avoid manufacturing capital expenditures. Modern CMs are now expected to be involved in every aspect of an OEM’s product from concept design to customer delivery. This places increased pressures on the CM in terms of service to its customer and it is critical that all aspects of an OEM’s service requirements are determined in order to win business. Provides an overview of a process which may be utilised to capture and manage a customer’s main requirements and expectations from the early phase of contract negotiations to project implementation.

In this study, the effects of the different models and tools of quality management are examined. The purpose is to identify differences in the effects generated by different quality management models and tools.

A questionnaire was mailed to 500 Swedish quality professionals. The questions concerned their companies' adoption of the values of TQM, the use of the models and tools of TQM and the effects they notice. Correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were carried out.

The findings show that there is statistical correlation between the adoption of the values of TQM and successful quality management. The usefulness of the Swedish Quality Award, the European Quality Award and ISO 9000 as well as several of the quality management tools is also indicated. Regarding ISO 9000 specific effects have been found.

A limitation of the study is that the financial outcomes of the quality management practices are not measured but only the managers' perceptions of effects produced. The implication for further research is an increased knowledge of the different effects of the quality management practices and the significance of the values, particularly three values that were included in the multiple regression models.

The specific findings on the effects of ISO 9000 are useful for managers when implementing the standard. The results of the study also indicate the importance of emphasising the values for successful quality management.

This study has provided more detailed knowledge of the effects of the different quality management practices, particularly of ISO 9000.

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise and develop various phases of agile product development cycle (PDC) for a manufacturing organization.

The literature on agile manufacturing (AM) has been reviewed. Agile PDC has been conceptualised and the implementation study has been conducted in a rotary switches manufacturing organisation. The various phases of agile PDC have been performed and the inferences have been derived.

The outcome of this research indicated the power of agile PDC as an enabler of agility in contemporary manufacturing organisations.

The developed PDC has been test implemented in a single manufacturing organization. However, the model could be extended to several organisations.

The various phases of agile PDC have been systematically explored and the practical inferences have been derived.

The conceptualisation and development of various phases of agile PDC is an original contribution of the authors.

Within the framework of Total Quality Management (TQM) and the EFQM Excellence Model (EEM), the main objective of this paper is to develop a causal-predictive analysis of the relationships between soft and strategic-hard EFQM factors and the organisational results (customers, people, society and key results).

From a causal-predictive perspective, four EEM models, designed for each organisational result, are compared applying partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and using a sample with 225 Spanish organisations.

The results confirm that soft and strategic-hard EFQM factors constitute a socio-technical system in which there are multiple direct and indirect relationships, between these factors and the results. Finally, the predictive nature of the proposed models is confirmed, highlighting the predictive performance of the people results model.

The results can lead to an improvement in organisational performance, as the developed models enable managers to anticipate the effects of their management decisions on those results concerning customers, people, society and key business results.

First, a novel way of grouping TQM enabler factors has been proposed within the EEM framework. Second, four research models have been generated, which allow carrying out an in-depth study of the direct and indirect relationships, between soft and strategic-hard EFQM factors and result variables. Finally, this contribution has applied the most updated techniques in order to assess the prediction performance of the four research models posited.

Effective total quality management (TQM) practices rely on the accurate classification of critical success factors (CSFs). The impact matrix cross-reference multiplication technique for classification (MICMAC) or/and fuzzy MICMAC (FMICMAC) can be used to identify key factors in the complex set. However, TQM includes both “hard” and “soft” factors, limiting application of the traditional MICMAC/FMICMAC method.

Previous literature on TQM was reviewed, CSFs were identified, and factors were sorted into soft and hard categories. The combined fuzzy integration and dual-aspect MICMAC (fuzzy dual-aspect MICMAC approach) was then applied to identify, cluster and prioritize the CSFs of TQM.

A total of 20 factors (10 soft and 10 hard) were identified and isolated to assess the manufacturing- and service-related TQM practices of the Pearl River Delta Region of China. Seven driver factors and one linkage factor emerged as the key CSFs that managers should prioritize.

A major limitation of this study is the dependency of the results on the definitions of linguistic labels. If the linguistic definitions of TQM CSFs do not closely correspond to the expert opinion data, then the analysis results may be inaccurate. Additionally, although expert opinions are utilized in the proposed method for comprehensive assessments, these opinions may influence the final results due to their inherent subjectivity.

A novel fuzzy dual-aspect MICMAC approach was developed to identify and classify CSFs for optimal TQM practices. This approach allows clustering of CSFs so that decision-makers can prioritize factors according to their dependence and driving powers. Practitioners should concentrate on the CSFs with higher driving powers for successful TQM.

The purpose of this paper is to present an overall review of quality function deployment (QFD) in the past nearly 30 years; to clarify widespread misperceptions about QFD; to adapt its use to the product development model of contract manufacturing; and to simplify the complexity of QFD and effectively integrate its contents.

This paper adopts “action research” (AR) as its research methodology. The action research was conducted using a “research/consultant strategy” in a series of projects of collaboration with contract manufacturing companies.

The paper corrects widespread misperceptions about QFD, and adapts QFD to a specific product development model.

The paper uses a participatory and interpretive approach to develop and explain the new QFD model, but the authors are restricted by the highly confidential nature of the R&D information, and not authorized to publish actual case study data. The research value lies in the discussion of quality deployment and narrowly defined QFD, and the focus on comprehensive reorganization of the QFD structure on which there have been very few English‐language publications.

The paper makes an adaptation of QFD so that it can be effectively used in contract manufacturing in a suitable form for modern supply chain. The paper also clarifies how QFD can be implemented by a systems approach, rather than a project approach.

The paper simplifies the complexity of QFD and effectively integrates its contents through the proposition of a quality deployment system and a quality assurance system. The distinguishing features of the former reside in five main differences from the original quality deployment system. The latter is subdivided into 17 subsystems, which form the design framework for quality assurance activities.