The concept of QFD was introduced in Japan by Yoji Akao in 1966. By 1972 the power of the approach had been demonstrated and in 1978 the first book on the subject was published in Japanese. Results have been impressive. Between January 1977 and April 1984, Toyota Autobody introduced four new van-type vehicles. It establishes customer value using the voice of the customer and transforms that value to design, production, and manufacturing process characteristics.
Additional power derives from use within a concurrent engineering environment.
QFD, as applied under the kaizen philosophy and within total quality control , is by far the most highly developed form of integrated product and process development in existence. The American articles tell where we are. The Japanese articles tell where they were some years ago and where we need to be now, but aren't. The bibliographies below are far more extensive than the references on this page. References Akao, Y., ed.