Design and Development of a Rice Separator Machine from Empty Grains Using QFD (Quality Function Deployment) Approach for Farmers in Tanjung Belit Village, Bengkalis Regency

Abstract

This study develops a rice separator machine using the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) approach to support farmers in Tanjung Belit Village, Bengkalis Regency. The issue faced by farmers is the presence of empty husks mixed with harvested rice after using combine harvesters. Manual cleaning by winnowing is still common but highly inefficient. This research identifies farmers’ needs through field observations, questionnaires, and interviews, followed by QFD analysis to translate those needs into technical specifications. The results from the House of Quality (HOQ) emphasized five priorities: strong frame with vibration dampers (11%), low-carbon steel frame (10%), L-profile frame (10%), hopper thickness 1.5 mm (9.6%), and hopper capacity ≥250 cm³ (9.2%). The first design concept reached the highest score of 3.614 in concept scoring. The study concludes that the proposed machine design is simple, efficient, and affordable, thus providing a potential technology solution for local farmers to improve productivity and rice quality.