Certified Production & Operations Manager (POM) Practice Exam

Which of the following methods is used for assessing customer needs in product design?

1. Stock management

2. Quality function deployment

3. Inventory forecasting

4. Cost analysis

The correct answer is: Quality function deployment

Quality function deployment (QFD) is an essential method used for assessing customer needs in product design because it translates customer requirements into technical specifications and design features. By employing a structured approach, QFD helps teams understand what customers truly want and ensure that their needs are incorporated throughout the product development process. This method typically involves creating a "House of Quality," a visual framework that helps teams prioritize features based on customer demands, competitive products, and technical capabilities. It allows cross-functional collaboration among marketing, design, and engineering teams to ensure that customer voices influence product decisions comprehensively. While other options like stock management, inventory forecasting, and cost analysis can play important roles in overall operations management, they do not primarily focus on understanding or assessing customer needs for product design. Stock management deals with the handling and control of inventory, inventory forecasting predicts future inventory levels based on past data, and cost analysis evaluates the financial aspects of a product, rather than directly helping to define what customers want from the product.