Supply chain design through QFD-based optimization

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a methodology to design a supply chain with a view to achieve a strategic fit between competitive and supply chain strategies.Design/methodology/approach– Quality function deployment (QFD)-based optimization methodology is employed to design a supply chain for a product through aligning the competitive and supply chain strategies. Normal boundary intersection (NBI) method is adopted to obtain optimal weights of the supply chain design objectives. Weighted additive model is developed for multi-objective optimization. Utility-based attribute function, which structure the relationship between the elements of competitive and supply chain strategies is established. The utility functions and the information contained in the House of Quality (HOQ) of QFD are used to define the supply chain performance (SCP).Findings– SCP index is computed using the set of supply chain design objectives obtained by solving the weighted additive model. On the basis of SCP index, the supply chain activities are planned accordingly. An illustrative example is presented in this paper to describe the QFD-based optimization methodology for designing a supply chain.Originality/value– QFD-based optimization is a novel approach to design a supply chain with a focus on aligning competitive and supply chain strategies.