Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a structured methodology used to translate customer requirements, often called the "Voice of the Customer," into specific, actionable technical specifications for product design and development. The primary goal of QFD is to ensure that the final product or service genuinely meets customer needs by systematically deploying customer-defined quality throughout the entire development process, from design to production. It uses a series of matrices to achieve this, with the House of Quality being the first and most critical one.

B. Quality forecast: This is not a standard term in quality management. Forecasting typically applies to demand or resources, not the development of technical specifications from customer requirements.

C. Quality Matrix: This term is too generic. While QFD uses matrices, "Quality Matrix" is not the formal name for the specific methodology that translates customer needs into technical specifications.

D. House of Quality: The House of Quality is the primary matrix and a central tool used within the broader Quality Function Deployment (QFD) process. QFD is the complete methodology, while the House of Quality is a component of it.

1. Ullman

D. G. (2010). The Mechanical Design Process. McGraw-Hill. As cited in MIT OpenCourseWare

Lecture 5 on Quality Function Deployment

which defines QFD as the overall systematic process for translating customer desires into designer specifications.

Source: MIT OpenCourseWare

Course 2.744 Product Design

Lecture 5.

URL: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/2-744-product-design-spring-2011/resources/mit2744s11lec05/ (Specifically

slides 3-5 define QFD and introduce the House of Quality as its primary tool).

2. Akao

Y. (1990). Quality Function Deployment: Integrating Customer Requirements into Product Design. Productivity Press. This foundational text establishes QFD as the comprehensive method for transforming user demands into design quality and technical specifications.

3. Hauser

J. R.

& Clausing

D. (1988). The House of Quality. Harvard Business Review. While HBR is a business publication

this seminal article

widely cited in academic literature

clearly positions the House of Quality as the primary tool within the larger QFD framework for coordinating design and production. This distinction is upheld in peer-reviewed engineering and management journals.