Multi-Attribute Balancing Process for Automotive Components

Meeting customer demands in the form of product multiattributes during the Automotive Product Development Process is the key for achieving superior product quality. Using the Voice of the customer expressed in these multi-attributes to develop Vehicle, Subsystems, and Components Technical Specifications is a necessary step during the early phases of the process. Achieving these multi and sometimes conflicting attributes, however, is the main challenge and the real measure of the process success. In this paper, a general approach to multi-attribute balancing in Automotive Product Development Process is presented. The development of vehicle technical specification based on the voice of the customer is addressed. The processes to flow vehicle level attributes to subsystems and components design targets and constraints are outlined. A resolution process for resolving conflicts between these targets during the early design phases is presented. To demonstrate the application of the resolution process and the steps for multi-attribute balancing of automotive components three different automotive examples are discussed.