Abstract
Quality function deployment (QFD) is a product planning management instrument which has been used in a broad range of industries. However, the traditional QFD method has been criticised much for its deficiencies in acquiring experts’ opinions, weighting customer requirements (CRs) and ranking engineering characteristics (ECs). To overcome the limitations, an integrated analytical model is presented in this study for obtaining the importance ratings of ECs in QFD by integrating decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) technique and Vlsekriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method under hesitant fuzzy environment. In particular, the hesitant fuzzy DEMATEL is used to analyse the interrelationships among CRs and determine their weights, and the hesitant fuzzy VIKOR is utilised to prioritise ECs. Finally, the feasibility and practicality of the proposed method are verified by an example regarding the product development of electric vehicle.
Acknowledgments
The authors are very grateful to the respected editor and the anonymous referees for their insightful and constructive comments, which helped to improve the overall quality of the paper.
Funding
This work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 71402090 and 71671125], the NSFC Key Program [grant number 71432007], and the Program for Young of Special Appointment (Eastern Scholar) at Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning [grant number QD2015019].
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.