Application of quality function deployment for designing and developing a curriculum for Industrial Engineering at Prince of Songkla University

Abstract

A Quality Function Deployment (QFD) technique is used to design a curriculum for Industrial Engineering (IE) at Prince of Songkla University (PSU). This paper shows a systematical step-by-step application of the QFD. This analysis focuses both on external evaluators of the university, companies that hire graduates and students parents, and internal evaluators of the university, the student themselves and faculty. Survey data from 232 stakeholders were used in the QFD analysis in order to identify the requirements most valued by them. Results indicate that the stakeholders are looking for the graduates abilities in the area of productivity improvement, knowledge application, production planning and control, quality management and control, and manufacturing management. Further, the QFD is used to translate the key requirements into an effective curriculum. It can be concluded that the QFD is a useful tool for designing a curriculum for higher educational institutions.