Companies are increasingly looking to product development as the key to survival and future growth. The requirements for the development process are becoming more demanding to the point that our traditional approach is no longer adequate. New approaches are emerging, all built around the idea of more customer focus and empowerment of cross-functional teams. This paper will outline the basics of the process of product development as it is being defined and implemented by the leading (world class) companies. The outline includes a description of quality function deployment (QFD) as a tool to understand customers and translate this into specifications for products and/or services, and processes. The outline also includes a description of the internal process 'integrated product development' which applies internal resources and expertise to the implementation of the QFD findings. In conclusion, a short discussion is provided to identify the specific links between QFD and the development process.

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