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What is Design for Six Sigma?

Troy Holmes
Troy Holmes

In business, six sigma is a specific business management approach designed to improve the quality of a company's products. The two key aspects to this approach are managing resources and customer expectations to deliver a better product. The design for six sigma is a formal set of project management theories and techniques to apply to the company's business management. These techniques are basic guidelines for how a company should create products or services.

Customer management is an important aspect in the design for six sigma. This is accomplished by performing several verification steps in the design phase of product development to ensure the customer needs are met. This is known as quality function development (QFD) in six sigma terminology, which is a formal method of turning a business need into a usable process.

By defining, measuring, and analyzing a business's processes, the Six Sigma strategy can improve the effectiveness of a business's operations.
By defining, measuring, and analyzing a business's processes, the Six Sigma strategy can improve the effectiveness of a business's operations.

Design for six sigma is typically used in manufacturing and product development companies. This method helps companies build something as well as possible, the first time. This is accomplished by creating and verifying a formal product design that solves a specific business problem.

Six sigma is a form of product quality control that has many facets and complex processes that are designed to improve the quality and productivity of a business. This typically requires formal training and a general expertise of specific design for six sigma techniques. An organization planning to use this tool should seek the advice of trained professionals with experience in this method.

Special training classes are available that teach the design for six sigma to business professionals. These classes are taught in a compressed format, which makes them a good option for leadership training. DFSS training provides a basic overview of the tools and processes needed to successfully implement quality control.

Customer service is universal business problem for companies. Improving customer service requires attention to detail with all interactions involving customers. The design for six sigma has several business strategies that could be used for improving customer service.

A scorecard is an example of a quality control tool used by the design for six sigma strategies. This scorecard defines how well an organization is doing on specific goals. The scorecard is a basic report card that provides a quick summary on overall quality, time, and budget information for a specific task or project.

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    • By defining, measuring, and analyzing a business's processes, the Six Sigma strategy can improve the effectiveness of a business's operations.
      By: nmarques74
      By defining, measuring, and analyzing a business's processes, the Six Sigma strategy can improve the effectiveness of a business's operations.