Extended product design defined

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a technique to translate requirements — defined by customers — into specifications for a product or service. The tool is promoted as part of total quality and Six Sigma improvement efforts. QFD captures the voice of the customer and has application for supply chain processes, including physical flow, needed flexibility, extended product features, and new product introduction. QFD forces supply chain designers to consider customer needs important in design. This lowers the risk of leaving something out. 

Different zones can also be defined in combination with distributor plates, as depicted in Fig. 7.38. Such a horizontal fluidized bed unit has an extended rectangular design of the process chamber The gas distributor usually has a transport effect, moving the solids from the inlet to the outlet in continuous operation. Segmentation is performed by subdivision of the plenum and by the placement, or not, of nozzles. Since each of the different compartments of the plenum can be equipped with a separate gas supply, it is possible to conduct various sequences of processing steps. For example, a product can be granulated in the first and second segments, dried in the third, and cooled in the final fourth section (Fig. 7.38). 

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