Theory and practice of total quality function deployment

Purpose – This article seeks to propose a technique called total quality function deployment (TQFD) and to appraises its practicality by applying it to a traditional pump‐manufacturing environment.Design/methodology/approach – The deficiencies of QFD techniques were studied. The theory of the TQFD technique was developed with the objective of overcoming these deficiencies. Two pump‐manufacturing companies were involved, while examining the practicality of TQFD technique.Findings – A traditional pump‐manufacturing environment lacks knowledge of implanting techniques like QFD, which challenges the researchers to test‐implement, the techniques like TQFD. Yet the successful development of TQFD documents during the reported research project indicates the practical feasibility of TQFD implementation in pump‐manufacturing companies.Research limitations/implications – The practicality of TQFD was tested by involving two pump‐manufacturing companies located in the city of Coimbatore in India. These two companies m...