This paper presents an application of axiomatic design principles to a Noise, Vibration, and Harshness (NVH)
problem in the automotive industry. An approach is illustrated for improving the robustness of an existing system design by means of the axiomatic design "decoupling" philosophy. First, identify the relationship between functional requirements (FRs) and design parameters (DPs) in terms of percentage contribution of each DP to each functional response; then put these contribution values into a design matrix and rearrange the matrix to be as triangular as possible. The obtained matrix will demonstrate the relationship between FRs and DPs and guide engineers in making design improvements.