Excerpts

Preface Introduction I'll bet at some point in your life you had a great idea for a new product, service, or process. All your friends agreed that it was a great idea. Well, that great idea was the beginning of the invention and innovation processes. Invention is the process of creating new products, services, or processes that are usable in accomplishing human objectives that were formerly difficult or impossible. The first club used by a caveman to kill animals to feed his family is an example of an invention. Some of the most significant inventions were created before recorded history--for example, crude tools, weapons, speech, cultivation of plants, domestication of animals, building techniques, production and control of fire, pottery, political systems, and the wheel. The period of recorded history began with the invention of cuneiform script by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia around 3000 b.c. Innovation is the process by which invention is put to use for the betterment of humanity. Thomas Edison was both an inventor (of the electric light bulb) and an innovator because he was critical to the electrification of New York City and the establishment of the General Electric Company. All inventions and innovations do not have to be generated from complex, theoretical, and radical ideas. Sometimes they come from the simplest of ideas. For example, whoever thought it was possible to create an improved corkscrew? Yet, in the last decade or two, a new corkscrew was invented. This corkscrew has wings or handles that allows the corkscrew to pull the cork out of the bottle. Another example of a product that you might not think could be improved is the teabag. Surprise! Lipton invented a teabag with two strings that allows the user to squeeze the last drops of tea out of the bag without burning his or her fingers. Ingenious! Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) is the method used by a Six Sigma project team to invent and innovate products, services, and processes. DFSS can be used to design entirely new products, services, and processes, or major new features of existing products, services, or processes that are consistently reliable and able to be manufactured, and uniformly surpass customer requirements. Additionally, DFSS creates designs that are: (1) based on stakeholder needs and wants; (2) resource efficient; (3) minimal in complexity; (4) capable of generating high yields; (5) robust to process variations; and (6) quick to generate a profit. An organization can reap many benefits from employing the DFSS methodology. The list of benefits includes: launching projects on time and on budget; reaping additional incremental revenues sooner; achieving greater market share; minimizing problems uncovered at launch; improving rolled throughput yield (RTY) significantly; ensuring quality and efficient production through data-driven scorecards; and differentiating products, services, and processes due to a customer focus. DFSS is a method that embodies several principles. The first principle is for all areas within an organization to simultaneously design the product, service, and/or process to minimize future problems. The second principle is to design the product, service, and/or process to minimize variability in critical to quality characteristics (CTQs) important to customers and maximize customer satisfaction. The third principle is to design a process capable of delivering the quantity and quality of products or services desired by customers in a timely fashion. The fourth principle is to include suppliers early in the design process. These four principles are the bedrock of the DFSS method. It is not always apparent, but more businesses in the United States today are actually engaged in providing "services" rather than products. They are providing work, information, or some other less tangible utility. In order to compete in those markets, service providers must "design" their service(s) to meet and surpass the needs and expectations of those using or consuming those services. Design principles here do not very readily tie into traditional engineering disciplines, and the DFSS tools and methods must be adapted accordingly. Finally, whether you are preparing to manufacture a new product or deliver a service, you must establish supporting business processes to produce, deliver, and support those products and/or services. In the case where you are putting in place processes that previously did not exist, then you must "design" those processes. The DMADV Model There are at least three very distinct flavors of DFSS, and no one of these can be universally applied to any design effort. To be more descriptive, it may be helpful to more precisely designate them as DFSS--Product, DFSS--Service, and DFSS--Process. Although it is helpful for organizations to have a simple, standard design methodology, the specific techniques employed and the deliverables produced will vary by DFSS flavor. DMADV is a five-phase process for progressing through a design project. Even though there may be at least three flavors of DMADV, there are some common themes across all flavors. However, variation exists at the tool level. The " D " or "Define" Phase is essentially a good conventional program management phase to set the stage for success. You can think of this phase as verifying that the project is ready to move forward with a reasonable chance of success. The key output of the Define Phase is the project charter. A good charter will contain several key elements. It will clearly articulate the purpose of the project, both specifically and how it integrates with other relevant projects. Specific and measurable project goals (both functional and administrative) will be identified. You identify the scope of the project--what will be included, and what will be excluded from consideration and delivery for the project. You identify the key players and other resources, and ensure their availability for the project. You create a formal project plan with schedule and milestones. Finally, you obtain written approval and commitments from all key players to demonstrate acceptance and support. The " M " or "Measure" Phase is primarily concerned with defining the requirements for the project by considering the perspectives of all the relevant stakeholders of the project's outcome(s)--for example, the Voice of the Customer (market segments), the Voice of the Business (employee segments), and the Voice of the Process. Each will have concerns that will differ from the others, and sometimes occur in conflict. The key Measure phase activities are to capture those voices and then translate them into measurable project requirements. At this stage, you are talking about higher-level considerations that will ultimately be distilled down to specifications for the final design. A requirement can be achieved in several different ways. Only after one design alternative has been chosen can you develop exact specifications that deliver on the requirements. The " A " or "Analyze" Phase is concerned with generating high-level design alternatives, which in the judgment of experts, are likely to be able to meet the defined requirements. In truth, all design efforts are faced with contradictory requirements and constraints that must be coordinated. Compromises are always required. The tools used in this phase are designed to sift through the requirements in a methodical manner to discover the combination(s) of compromises that offer the best overall benefit and value for the imposed constraints. The various design alternatives are then checked against these refined requirement sets to determine which design approach offers the most desired results. The " D " or "Design" phase is concerned with developing the detailed design requirements for the product, service, or process. This is where exact specifications are developed for the actual elements that will combine to make the desired result. It may be helpful to use a familiar analogy. If the project was to design a house, then you would partition the activities into two major components. The first would be the selection of the site, the foundation, and the building design. The second would be the details concerning style, colors, appearance, etc. The raw building is the "architecture," while the design details make it specifically your house. Similarly, you have a design concept completed at the end of the Analyze Phase, but it doesn't become usable and specific until you complete the (Detailed) Design Phase. The key outputs from the Design Phase include all analyses, detailed specifications (which, if achieved, will deliver the requirements), and often several prototypes or models. Frequently, what is known as Alpha-Testing is performed at the end of this stage. This testing is done to ensure that the prototype (or model) does meet the specifications. The " V " or "Verify/Validate" Phase is used to verify that the detailed design is acceptable and desirable to all of the stakeholders of the design. This is often the first opportunity for each of the stakeholder groups to see the result and evaluate its fitness for use. It is during this stage that Beta-Testing often occurs. This testing is done to ensure that the design does meet the requirements in addition to the specifications. In the field of commercial products and services, this is sometimes known as "test marketing." DMADV is not a magic bullet, and is never meant to supplant good engineering judgment. It is intended to bring some discipline to organizing design information often neglected or forgotten, as well as augment reliable, time-proven design methods. The overhead of DMADV does not always bring significant design improvements worth the time and cost, so DMADV must be used only when it can add net benefit. Complexity A discussion about design is not complete without considering complexity factors. It is one thing to go about designing the next new wooden pencil, but quite another to design a moon-bound spacecraft. As a new product, service, or process becomes more complex, you need to partition the effort into tractable elements. There is a common hierarchy employed by designers that is useful to consider with DFSS. At the highest level, there is the "system." It is the totality of all that is to be created in the final design. Systems are composed of two or more "subsystems," each of which are elements that can be designed more or less separately from each other. In order for subsystems to integrate into the complete systems, it is usually necessary to develop specifications for integration as part of the system architecture. Specifications within a subsystem are often left to more detailed design stages. Subsystems are composed of two or more "modules," and like subsystems, are relatively independent design elements. Usually you need to develop specifications for module integration as part of the subsystem design. The final level in the hierarchy is called the "component" level. This is the smallest design unit relative to the system available. In the case of product design, the component level may be a single part or an assembly of just a handful of parts. The designations "system," "subsystem," "module," and "component" are relative terms. A design unit that is called "subsystem" may still be rather complex, and to that unit's design team may still be viewed as a "system" from that perspective. For example, the Apollo moon vehicle was a system composed of three elements: the Command Module, the Service Module, and the Lunar Module. The entire system was made up of these three subsystems. However, to Grumman Aerospace, the designers of the Lunar Module, they were only concerned with this one incredibly complex unit. To them, it alone was worthy of "system" designation. On the other hand, to NASA, an Apollo spacecraft was not a "moon vehicle system." The Apollo craft cannot go anywhere by itself. To NASA, the "system" may be the assembly of an Apollo craft with a Saturn V rocket. The practical reality is that complex design projects must be dissected into tractable elements, each worthy of the formalisms of project management and DFSS. One engineer can easily design a component, but it takes teams of talented people to manage large-scale projects and complete them in reasonable periods of time. You need to have a way to logically partition large jobs into "bite-sized" pieces and spread the work around to a larger number of people. The trick is to find a portioning scheme that is sound and practical, and then manage the interfaces between pieces to make sure that the fully integrated system works as designed. DFSS principles can be applied at any level in this hierarchy. However, different levels may require different parts of the DFSS toolsets. DMADV, for example, does not necessarily apply to all design levels. Although the full DMADV process can be used at the component, and probably module levels, the A-D-V phases have less utility at the system and subsystem levels. The following chart illustrates that "DMADV" and the tools used at each phase apply differently to each level in the design hierarchy. DFSS Phases Define Measure Analyze Design Verify/Validate System A A N N A Subsystem N A O N O Module N O A A O Component N N N A N A--Always Used O--Often Used N--Not Often Used For example, if you apply DMADV to the design of a cardiovascular facility at Boca Raton Community Hospital, in Boca Raton, Florida, you can see how the hierarchy forms, and how you can employ DFSS. BRCH can view the "system" as the entire, functional facility--on site, built, staffed, equipped, and operating. The system, however, will have several key "subsystem" elements, including but not limited to parking, landscaping, and building. These subsystems may be composed of several "modules." For example, "building" may be composed of electrical system, water system, heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, space allocation, elevator system, etc. In fact, there are dozens upon dozens of functional modules for something as complex as a hospital building. Each of those modules will be composed of several (or many) components. The cardiovascular facility will be primarily providing "services," but will use tangible assets, information, skilled and semi-skilled professionals, and dozens of primary and supporting business processes. Not only will BRCH have to be judicious in where to apply DFSS in the system hierarchy, but the right flavor of DFSS must be applied to a design element that is judged to benefit from the DFSS discipline. One size of DMADV does not fit all, and designing the cardiovascular center is not a single DMADV project. It is the sincere hope of the authors that you, the reader, will find this book a valuable and practical guide in your design efforts. Good luck with your design! Unique Aspects of This Book Design for Six Sigma for Green Belts and Champions--Foundations, DMADV, Tools, Cases, and Certification has numerous features that make this book unique: Contains coverage of the foundation of management necessary for professional Design for Six Sigma Management. This includes how to deploy an organization's mission statement throughout an organization through a cascading and interlocking system of key objectives and key indicators called a dashboard , which is illustrated with many practical and relevant examples. Presents a thorough and detailed anatomy of the Design for Six Sigma Management improvement model, called the DMADV model. DMADV is an acronym for Define--Measure--Analyze--Design--Verify/Validate. The DMADV model is a well-tested vehicle for guiding a Six Sigma team through the maze of a complex design or redesign project. Integrates coverage of Design for Six Sigma Management with detailed coverage of those statistical methods that are appropriate for Champion and Green Belt certification. Each statistical method is explained and applied to an example involving actual data in a design or redesign context. Coverage of statistics assumes familiarity with those statistical methods used in Six Sigma and focuses on design of experiments, multiple regression, and simulation from an applied design or redesign perspective. Outputs from the Minitab and JMP statistical software packages and the Sigma Flow simulation software package, widely used in Design for Six Sigma Management, are illustrated. Includes chapter-ending appendixes that provide step-by-step instructions for using the latest version of Minitab and JMP for the statistical methods covered in each chapter. Includes a detailed case study in Design for Six Sigma Management that provides a "how to" examination of all the steps involved in using the Define--Measure--Analyze--Design--Verify/Validate (DMADV) Design for Six Sigma approach. The case is from a service industry (higher education). Includes information on Champion and Green Belt certification exams along with sample test questions. Contacting the Authors We have gone to great lengths to make this book both pedagogically sound and error-free. If you have any suggestions or require clarification about any of the material, or if you find any errors, please contact us at: HGITLOW@MIAMI.EDU or DAVID_LEVINE@BARUCH.CUNY.EDU Howard S. Gitlow, Ph.D. David M. Levine, Ph.D. Edward A. Popovich, Ph.D. (c) Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Excerpted from Design for Six SIGMA for Green Belts and Champions: Applications for Service Operations--Foundations, Tools, DMADV, Cases, and Certification by Howard S. Gitlow, David A. Levine All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.