An Enhanced Model Using the Kano Model, QFDE, and TRIZ with a Component-Based Approach for Sustainable and Innovative Product Design

In order to increase their competitiveness, companies need to have five important capabilities in the product development process, namely, the ability to identify important customer and environmental requirements, convert them into technical requirements, create innovative designs, and determine the best improvement alternatives. Based on a literature survey, previous studies are still inadequate in incorporating these five important capabilities simultaneously and effectively. This study proposes an enhanced model using the Kano model, Quality Function Deployment for Environment (QFDE), and the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ), with a component-based approach for systematically designing sustainable and innovative products. An example of a desk lamp design improvement is used to demonstrate the proposed model. After identifying customer and environmental requirements, they are specifically characterized and transformed into a detailed design target using a combination of the Kano model and the improved QFDE method. A thorough evaluation method is developed to determine the most prominent TRIZ solutions. This enhanced model is accomplished at the component level. The results show that the proposed model is capable of incorporating the five important capabilities while reducing process complexity, which greatly assists designers in generating sustainable and innovative designs with minimal dependence on designers’ subjectivity.