Power of Design for Six SIGMA
- Book Review,
by Subir Chowdhury
From Publishers Weekly
Essentially a simple metaphor stretched to publishable length, this book of business strategy by automotive industry consultant Chowdhury follows the author's bestselling The Power of Six Sigma. Six Sigma is a management philosophy that strives to eliminate errors. But while Six Sigma "focuses on improving existing designs," the concept of Design for Six Sigma "concentrates its efforts on creating new and better ones." This slim book uses a dialogue between two colleagues, Joe and Larry, to dissect Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) into tasks that are easily digestible and endlessly acronymizable. These tasks include IDDOV ("Identify and Define the opportunity, Develop the concept, and Optimize the design and Verify it"), although "in some programs it's called DMADV or DMEDI... but it really doesn't matter. It's all DFSS, and it all revolves around a five-step program," Chowdhury asserts. The author's idea of designing a process right the first time (instead of going back to revamp it) is indeed appealing, and Joe and Larry's easygoing dialogue-they speak in sports metaphors and use common clich‚s-should please readers seeking straightforward, no-nonsense advice. That is, of course, if they can get past the seemingly never-ending acronyms. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
Get it Right the First Time! How Design For Six Sigma can completely transform the way companies work.
The Power of Design for Six Sigma by Subir Chowdhury is the first book to clearly and simply describe "DFSS" for everyone at every level of an organization. Six Sigma is a philosophy that focuses on eliminating mistakes, waste, and rework. The ultimate goal is to attain the near perfect level of 3.4 defects per million. The only way to attain it is through Design for Six Sigma (DFSS), which attacks a company's problems at the development stage, eliminating errors before they are introduced to market. Written as a dialogue between "Joe" and "Larry," two typical business professionals, it explains DFSS in an engaging and entertaining way.
Book Info
Explains this effective, though complex management process. Conveys the logic behind this extraordinary management process using a nonthreatening, easy to understand format. Clearly communicates the only way to achieve Six Sigma.
From the Inside Flap
DFSS—It’s Not Just for Engineers Anymore When we first met Joe Meter in Subir Chowdhury’s The Power of Six Sigma, he had been laid off from his job at American Burger. After a transformational lunch that same day with former colleague and friend Larry Hogan, Joe was converted to the power of Six Sigma, a methodology that increases customer satisfaction and dramatically cuts costs. In The Power of Design for Six Sigma, it is several years later and the tables have turned. Now it is Joe’s turn to inspire Larry, who is disillusioned at work and wants to turn in his resignation—that is, until his conversation with his old friend. Over coffee, Joe explains to Larry why Design for Six Sigma, or DFSS, is the only way to reach new heights of success. "Implementing Six Sigma can only take a company so far," Joe explains. "Organizations that want to reach the next level of efficiency need to adopt a program called Design for Six Sigma." Learn why DFSS is important across all departments, all levels, and all functions in an organization. DFSS is about creating products and services that are designed with the customer in mind—about designing things the right way, the first time.
About the Author
Hailed by The New York Times as a leading quality expert, Subir Chowdhury is the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ 2002 Gold Medal Recipient. Chowdhury is the executive vice president at American Supplier Institute (ASI), the world leader on DFSS implementation consulting and training.
Excerpted from The Power of Design for Six Sigma by Subir Chowdhury. Copyright © 2002. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
PREFACE In the summer of 2001, I introduced Joe Meter as the central character in my book, The Power of Six Sigma. At the beginning of the book, we saw Joe hit rock bottom when he was asked to pack up all his belongings in a cardboard box and leave the company he had served faithfully for years. By the end of the book, Joe had been reenergized by his lunch with Larry Hogan—but I never did reveal whether or not Joe got another job. Since then, I have received thousands of e-mails and letters from my readers all over the world—from Argentina to Australia, India to Italy, and the United Kingdom to the United States—to find out what happened to Joe. This showed me something. People really do care about people, regardless of race or religion, or whether they’re coworkers or customers. Although Six Sigma and Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) are business strategies, they still boil down to trusting basic human nature—that we really do care about each other, and that we understand we have to work together to move ahead. Both Six Sigma and DFSS depend on the combination of process power with people power, without which neither will succeed. In this book, The Power of Design for Six Sigma, I reveal the secrets of Joe’s comeback. Joe transformed himself from a stuck-in-the-mud middle manager into a highly successful and innovative business professional by understanding and caring about the customer. The book you are holding in your hands I created for the customers. Yes, the CUSTOMERS—the KING and QUEEN! I don’t necessarily expect customers to read this book, but I do expect the wisdom herein to help them get what they want out of business. Along these lines, I have emphasized the importance of understanding the true voice of the customer. Most of us note these vital voices but do not translate them into products and services that create customer excitement. The more you care about people—especially your customers—the more you win. Effective communication at all levels is the key if any major organizational initiative is going to succeed. If companies do not effectively communicate the Six Sigma or DFSS philosophies, they will not get results. I felt my mission with The Power of Six Sigma was fulfilled when I saw organizations around the world using it to communicate this philosophy to their employees. The vast majority of organizations have had great success implementing Six Sigma, but when they struggle, I have found, it’s usually because the company’s CEO or executive leaders feel that Six Sigma is the sole domain of technical people—a major misconception. Most also feel that they must implement Six Sigma before adopting DFSS—another misconception. This book seeks to dispel those myths by demonstrating that organizations can deploy both processes simultaneously. This is a book about achieving perfection. It stresses the importance of Voice of the Customer and a process called Robust Optimization—two vital methodologies that are rarely practiced correctly by most organizations. Even most so-called expert consultants do not teach these correctly. I’ve written this book to help ensure that the message is clear and easy to follow. I’ve written it to help middle managers charged with pursuing this philosophy, customers who will benefit from it, and CEOs who write huge checks to consulting firms without knowing what DFSS really is or how it works. But most of all, I’ve written it for the "rest of us"—the line workers, the engineers, the support staff, and all the others in nonmanagerial positions who fear yet another program coming down the pike and what it might mean to them and their jobs. This book will help them all and, in the process, help their companies achieve the lofty goals only DFSS can achieve. My hope is that The Power of Design for Six Sigma will simplify what can be a complicated, intimidating subject in a lively, entertaining style—the way its predecessor The Power of Six Sigma did—and make DFSS easily understandable by all. My mission will be complete with this book if it helps people around the globe focus on preventing crises and understanding the customer in everything they do. Subir Chowdhury Executive Vice President, ASI–American Supplier Institute E-mail: subir.chowdhury@asiusa.com
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