PRACTITIONERS OF DESIGN FOR QUALITY

Antony John Robotham

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

    Abstract

    Building in high quality continues to be the driving force of new product development activity in industry. Yet Design for Quality does not appear to attract the attention or interest of many design researchers. If research attention is not paid to Design for Quality, how can we expect to educate and train future design practitioners to master this critical dimension of product development?The purpose of this paper is to consider the current status of Design for Quality, explore the skills designers require to be effective practitioners of Design for Quality, and to identify some of the challenges the design research community needs to face.The paper argues that Design for Quality provides a robust framework, which can be used by the industrial, research, and educational communities as a platform for improving the skills and capability of the practitioners of Design for Quality.If engineering designers must have more physical contact with engineering products, learn about product quality and how it is achieved, and develop a quality mind-set. They should be challenged to create novel and innovative solutions. Industrial designers require a formal awareness and knowledge of performance qualities and the DFQ framework.Design Research needs to provide deeper insight in to the soft aspects of quality and DFQ, e.g. understanding the quality mind-set and how it is developed, understanding the perception of quality and its relationships to the product characteristics, and what mix of skills and knowledge is required to create high quality products
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationProceedings of ICED 99
    Place of PublicationMunich
    PublisherTU of Munchen
    Publication date1999
    Pages189-194
    Publication statusPublished - 1999
    Event12th International Conference on Engineering Design: Communication and Cooperation of Practice and Science - Munich, Germany
    Duration: 24 Aug 199926 Aug 1999
    Conference number: 12

    Conference

    Conference12th International Conference on Engineering Design
    Number12
    Country/TerritoryGermany
    CityMunich
    Period24/08/199926/08/1999

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