Abstract: Determining the final importance ratings of engineering characteristics (ECs) is a crucial step of building house of quality (HOQ). For achieving the improvement goals of performances of ECs in an effective way, a balanced-card-based methodology for determining the final importance ratings of ECs is proposed. In this method, on the basis of the competitive evaluations of performances of ECs, a model for determining the competitive-evaluation-based importance ratings of ECs is built, and this model is resolved by using Lagrange function. Based on the integration of balanced scorecard (BSC), analytical hierarchy process and scale method, the importance rating of achieving the improvement target of performances (ITOP) of every EC is determined. Based on a combination of the initial importance rating, the competitive-evaluation-based importance rating, and the importance rating of achieving the ITOP of every EC, the final importance ratings of ECs are determined. A case study of product development of washing machine in a corporation is provided to illustrate the application of the proposed method.

Key words: Balanced scorecard, Engineering characteristics, House of quality, Importance rating