Final answer:
Material requirements planning (MRP) is not directly affiliated with product design to support JIT/lean operations as it deals with production planning and inventory control, rather than product design principles.
Step-by-step explanation:
Among the options provided, the one not directly affiliated with product design to support JIT/lean operations is D. Material requirements planning (MRP). JIT and lean operations focus on reducing waste, streamlining production, and enhancing product design to support efficient manufacturing and assembly. Material requirements planning, while a critical aspect of supply chain management, is a system used for production planning, scheduling, and inventory control, rather than a principle of product design related to JIT/lean operations.
Conversely, Concurrent engineering, Design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA), Product quality, and Quality function deployment (QFD) are all concepts that are integrally tied to product design in JIT/lean systems. Concurrent engineering involves integrating product design and process planning into one common activity. DFMA optimizes the design for ease of manufacturing and assembly, which aligns with lean principles. Ensuring high product quality is central to lean thinking, and QFD focuses on using customer requirements to guide the design process.