Contribuições do DFMEA na integração entre desenvolvimento de produtos e engenharia da qualidade: casos em empresas de grande porte

Abstract

This research aims to examine the role of DFMEA in the context of functional integration between Product Development (PD) and Quality Engineering (QE) through case studies in Brazilian industrial companies. Data were collected through interview with professionals in the Product Development and Quality Engineering in two companies, which their main difference is the physical proximity between departments, where one PD and QE departments are co-located and the other departments are located in different cities and states. The results indicate that DFMEA is a QE key tool for PD decision making and plays an important role in integrating PD and QE. It is a group decision tool, which participation in the QE is essential, as well as enabling the team members to work together to achieve goals towards the quality of the product. This was observed in cases when linking the compensation system of employees to the indices of product failures in the market and the costs of non-quality. In one of the cases the integration is also facilitated by PD and QE activities, and the DFMEA reports are reported to the same manager. Some practices of interaction between PD and QE during the execution of a DFMEA also influence the quality of the final product, such as the use of resources such as Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and organizational structures such as co-location. Despite the improvement of ICTs, co-location has indicated that it is a relevant mechanism to improve problem solving due to detailed information and dynamism of meeting failures and solutions. This research is one of the few studies that report and discuss the role of FMEA in the integration between PD and QE in Brazil, however it is limited to the comparative study of two cases. Replication in other units of analysis is required to validate and deepen the findings reported.