Recommended learning hours: 40

Unit aim: To be able to design and coordinate quality management activities that support the product or service through its whole life cycle from conception to disposal, supporting the various business functions involved in each part of the process.

1. Understand the stages in the service/product life cycle and their role in the achievement of competitive quality products and services
2. Understand the quality related concepts involved in the new product development process

Every successful candidate can at the end of this unit:

1. Explain the factors to be considered in defining the brief for development of new products and services
2. Determine activities that should take place in the new product development process from initial idea through market research, design, design review, product/service provision to final disposal
3. Identify quality inputs and outputs required for satisfactory completion of each activity
4. Identify risks that can result from the inefficient completion of each activity
5. Evaluate the business benefits of using of a cross-functional approach
6. Explain the purpose and application of quality tools to improve the effectiveness of each phase of new product development

Indicative content:

• The new product development process
  • The stages of the product/service development process from market research through business case, design, design review, service / product introduction to market through to final disposal
  • Industry standards and tools for new product development including rapid application development, Prince2, ISO 10006, BS 6079 – Parts 1, 2, 3
• Product life cycle management
  • Make or buy decision making criteria
  • Potential costs due to poor design and development processes
  • Sequential and concurrent design
  • Selection and use of quality tools throughout the product life cycle:
    • Seven management and planning tools
      1. Affinity diagram
      2. Interrelationship diagraph
      3. Tree diagram
      4. Prioritization matrix
      5. Matrix diagram
      6. Process decision program chart
      7. Activity network diagram
    • Quality function deployment
    • The Kano model
  • Quality and reliability prediction techniques including Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA) and FMEA
  • Reliability concepts of series and parallel systems