A comparative study of the prioritization matrix method and the analytic hierarchy process technique in quality function deployment

As a tool to identify customer needs and translate customer requirements into technical responses, the house of quality (HOQ) has become one of the most useful techniques in total quality management, especially in the context of quality function deployment (QFD). Recently, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) has been recommended for prioritizing the customer voice in HOQ. In this paper, we recommend that AHP be applied not only to the customer voice, but also directly to the technical responses. Since the decision-maker can select either the prioritization matrix method or the AHP method for HOQ applications, an understanding of their advantages and disadvantages becomes important. In this paper, we compare these two methods in terms of practical applications in industry leading to the general conclusion that if time, cost and difficulty are the major concerns in product improvement, the prioritization matrix method is preferred; where accuracy is the major requirement, the AHP method would be a better choice.