APPLICATION OF QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT FOR THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A PACKAGING SYSTEM FOR HANDICRAFTS

Abstract

Mexican handicrafts are admired and valued all around the world, some of them being as Cultural Heritage of Humanity. One of the problems that Mexican artisans have is the secondary and tertiary packaging, since they have not professionalized this fundamental process for export, because they prevent the goods from being damaged.

The handicrafts present a challenge in terms of primary, secondary or tertiary packaging, due to the figures fragility, the used materials and low profit margin, so they must be optimized in order not to increase the price.

Currently, the cultural industry or craft trade has become interesting to many people, organizations and governments, since there is a real concern that the ancestral knowledge will be lost. Being Mexico a country with a vast cultural wealth there is the government's interest in its conservation, as well as the impact it generates in the region.

The design of containers and packaging for the crafts of the Catrina in Capula, Michoacán is considered as a necessity to improve the presentation, facilitating its handling, transport, storage, manipulation and distribution.

For the developing the packaging, the QFD was used in order to propose an efficient packaging system based on the needs of the artisans.