Designing an economic sampling plan: a QFD approach

摘要

Sampling inspection puts severe psychological pressure on producer to improve the process to avoid rejection. Even the critics on acceptance sampling agree with this feature. But this qualitative expectation is not addressed by the existing sampling systems. Although many strategic sampling procedures like economical sampling plans are available to attend these intrinsic needs, the difficulty lies in deciding which of these procedures is appropriate for the particular application. However a sampling plan can be modelled and developed as a product to meet both the extrinsic/quantifiable, intrinsic/intangible requirements. Quality function deployment (QFD) is a system for designing the product or service based on customer demands and involving all members of the producer or supplier organisation. In this paper using the QFD matrix, customer voices (qualitative) are translated into sampling plan specifications (quantitative) directed at customer satisfaction. A case analysis with numerical example is presented to highlight the use of this QFD matrix in developing an economic sampling procedure.