Quality Function Deployment: A Method for Improving Contract Specifications inthe US Corps of Engineers

摘要

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the use of Quality Function Deployment(QFD) as a management tool to benefit US Army Corps of Engineers' project managers. The United States Army Corps of Engineers is one of the largest construction management organizations in the world, annually performing over 3.5 billion dollars worth of work. The project manager has primary responsibility within the Corps to ensure the design both fulfills user's requirements and is prepared correctly, and that quality control/assurance procedures are correctly administered. QFD was developed by the Japanese in 1972 to improve quality and lower costs in industrial and business related fields, by assuring all of a company's operational decisions are driven by customer needs. It uses a set of matrices to relate customers wants and needs with project specifications and requirements. Through this process, shortcomings, redundancies, or conflicts in specifications are identified and resolved. Critical material requirements and construction processes are identified, allowing the user to focus the project delivery system on fulfilling customer requirements. The scope of this research is limited to development of a procedure for integrating QFD into the Corps of Engineers' design/construction delivery process. The procedure was applied to a Corps' construction project to evaluate its feasibility for contributing to the delivery process. QFD assists project managers to clearly identify and prioritize customer requirements in development of the conceptual and final design. It is best suited to projects involving repetition of units or when higher-than-average quality is demanded. Managers are able to make better informed decisions made during the delivery process, resulting in a better customer satisfaction.