Page 161 - Design for Six Sigma a Roadmap for Product Development

Design for Six Sigma Project Algorithm 135

presented in Chap. 7, exhibits the relationships of dissatisfiers, satis-
fiers, and delighters to customer satisfaction and the importance of
striving for unprecedented customer delight.

5.3.1 Research customer activities
(DFSS algorithm step 2)
This is usually done by planning departments (product and process) or
market research experts who should be represented in the DFSS team.
The black belt and the DFSS team start by brainstorming all possible
customer segments of the design. Use the affinity diagram method to
group the brainstormed potential customer segments. The ultimate
result is some grouping of markets, user types, or product/process
applications types. From these groups, the DFSS team should work
toward a list of clearly defined customer groups from which individuals
can be selected.

Identify external and internal customers. External customers might be
service centers, independent sales/service organizations, regulatory
agencies, and special societies. Merchants and, most importantly, the
consumer (end user) should be included. The selection of external
customers must include existing and loyal customers and new con-
quest customers within the market segments. In the DFSS algorithm
the objective is to design around key customer segments and try to
include as many additional segments as possible. Internal customers
might be in production and/or manufacturing, assembly, design ser-
vices, display shops and other facilities, finance, employee relations,
design groups, distribution organizations, and so on. Internal research
might assist in selecting internal customer groups that would be most
instrumental in identifying wants and needs in assembly and service
operations.

5.3.2 Define the pursued (intended)
ideal design from customer data
(DFSS algorithm step 2)
The definition of “ideal” design is obtained by turning the knowledge
gained from continuous monitoring of consumer trends, competitive
benchmarking, and customer satisfiers and dissatisfiers into an initial
definition of an ideal design. This will help identify areas for further
research and allocate resources accordingly. The design should be
described from the customer perspectives and should provide the first
insight into what a good design may look like. This definition of
customer-oriented ideal design will be detailed by concept methods