Page 108 - Design for Six Sigma a Roadmap for Product Development

Product Development Process and Design for Six Sigma 83

Many concepts
each subsystem
Figure 3.14 Set-based concept design.

concepts are eliminated. The advantages of set-based design include
discovering better concepts early in the design process and gaining
a lot of knowledge about what works well and what does not work
well. Cross-pollination of several good concepts may create even a
better one.

Visible knowledge. Visible knowledge is a very important component
of Toyota’s product development system. Visible knowledge is a prac-
tice to capture and illustrate knowledge so that it is easy to share with
other people within the organization. Here we will show two important
visible knowledge tools, the A3 report and the planning wall.

1. A3 Report. The A3 report is a kind of report where A3 size papers
(11 in
17 in) are used. Each report will use exactly one A3 size
paper, or equivalent to a two-page report for regular 8-in
11-in
paper. Based on the objectives, there are primarily three kinds of A3
report:
■ Knowledge sharing
■ Problem solving
■ Project status report

The contents in each A3 report for a knowledge sharing objective
usually include the following:
■ Problem statement
■ Current situation
■ Prior research or work