Abstract: In order to provide effective method and reliable support for analyzing and forecasting customer requirements on product function, a novel approach is put forward to analyze and forecast importance of product function requirements based on subjective & objective synthetic method and combination forecasting model. Customer requirements on product function are classified into basic function, regulating function and interest function in the view of analyzing representation forms of product function in customer requirements from function design standpoint; importance weights of requirement characteristics are determined by analytic hierarchy process, entropy method and mean square difference method; importance weight variation of functional requirements is predicated by using the combination forecasting model built by regression analysis, grey theory and back-propagation neural network. Statistical data of the functional requirements of a certain numerical control milling machine as an example to show the validity and feasibility of the proposed method.

Key words: Combination forecasting model, Customer requirements, Kano model, Product Function, Subjective&objective synthetic method