PROTOTYPE OF PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT OF QFD TOOL TO CONVERT CUSTOMERS’ NEEDS INTO THE SHAPE OF A PRODUCT AUTOMATICALLY FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED CERAMIC FACTORIES
Keywords:
Program QFD tool, format to convert customer needs, convert product design shape automaticallyAbstract
The research objectives of this study were (1) to study the format to convert customers’ needs to a product’s shape, and (2) to develop a quality function development (QFD) tool program prototype to convert a product’s design shape automatically and evaluate the users’ satisfaction. The research was divided into 2 parts. The first part involved collecting data from interviews using a specific sampling of each person in 5 small and medium sized ceramic factories and using visual basic for application (VBA) language to control the application working on Microsoft’s Excel program and AutoLISP language to display a product’s shape on AutoCAD to support product design automation. The second part involved evaluating the users’ and customers’ satisfaction with the QFD tool program using a closed /open questionnaire from 3 user groups in 30 factories with a total of 90 people and a 4 customer groups in 30 factories with a total of 120 people. The research results were that the QFD tool prototype has the ability to convert customers’ needs into the shape of a ceramic coffee cup automatically, format the size of the coffee cup in the QFD tool program, and build and display the coffee cup automatically on the AutoCAD program. The designers do not need to waste time designing the product and the customer can see the shape of the ceramic product immediately. The results of the users’ and customers’ satisfaction levels using this program had an average of 3.69 and standard deviation of 0.42 with a high level of satisfaction.
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