Use of Quality Function Deployment in Civil Engineering Capital Project Planning

Abstract

Capital project development is a complex process that takes many years to implement. The development of a capital project usually undergoes several rounds of design evolution, and as a result the basic and original customer’s requirements may be easily sidetracked or may deviate from the client’s objectives. Quality function deployment (QFD) is a tool that can be used to keep track of customers’ requirements. The objective of this paper is to explore the applicability of QFD in the civil engineering capital project planning process by developing a QFD model with an application template for the process. To verify and demonstrate how the QFD model works, data are obtained from two real-life projects and fed into the template for back-analysis. The findings suggest that QFD can be successfully used in the capital project planning process as a road map to keep track of the original requirements, facilitate good communication across the hierarchy, and serve as a tool for evaluating project alternatives.