Design For Six Sigma Basics

What if your business doesn’t have a particular service or product that your customers have been asking for? Completely modifying an existing product probably still won’t meet your customer’s requirements. That’s when Design For Six Sigma (DFSS) comes in very handy.

When To Use DMADV for Design For Six Sigma

• Creating a brand new product rather than fixing the existing product.
• When improving an existing process won’t meet the customer’s requirements.
• The timing to offer an entirely new product or service opens up to do so.

DMADV Template for DFSS

D (Define): Outline the customers requirements and preferences and get all the opinions of design options best suited for the product or service.
M (Measure): Establish a measure of success and research how important features will be judged.
A (Analyze): Put together a short list of concepts and designs and evaluate which is the best design for your process.
D (Design): Outline process details for your design, make your design as effective as possible and test your design several times.
V (Verify): Establish your chosen design with the process created, do pilot testing, implement and make sure you monitor the new process.

DFSS Tools

Tollgate Process: Between each phase or step, many businesses use a tollgate to control the process.
QFD (Quality Function Deployment): Developed in Japan, it helps transform VOC (voice of the customer) into characteristics for a product.
Risk Assessment: The determination of quantitative or qualitative amount of risk related to the product or situation.
Scorecards (Raws, Process, and Product): It is the scorecard that can be used to assess the product and process performance so customer requirements are met in all of the stages in the design process.
Contingency Planning: Used in risk management, it is a plan created for an outcome other than the expected plan. Used in the development of a product in case the outcome isn’t as planned.

For information on our Six Sigma training courses or services, please visit 6sigma.com.