Page 79 - Design for Six Sigma a Roadmap for Product Development

54 Chapter Two

stream map is changed to a U-shaped work cell. Several supermarket
shelves’ symbols in Fig. 2.24 indicate that the push-based production is
changed into pull-based production. As a result of this process redesign,
the lead time is reduced to 4.5 days from 23.5 days as that of Fig. 2.21.

2.6.3 Process management
Process management is a body of knowledge for process improvement.
By enhancing efficiency and effectiveness, process management offers
the potential to improve customer satisfaction and ultimately to offer
increased profits, high growth, and long-term business. Most organi-
zations are motivated to manage their processes through one of sev-
eral dimensions. Fuglseth et al. (1997) proposes these dimensions as
being quality, throughput, efficiency, response speed/time, work-in-
progress and process cost. To maximize profits, an organization will
need to reduce process cost, increase throughput, and at the same time
improve quality.
Process management involves five phases: (1) process mapping,
(2) process diagnosis, (3) process design, (4) process implementation,
and (5) process maintenance. The process-mapping element of this, as
mentioned above, involves a definition of the process and captures the
issues that will drive the process design and improvement activities.
Once the documentation of the objectives and the process has been
completed, diagnosis can proceed.

Six Sigma and process management Process management shares many
common goals with Six Sigma. However, process management does
not apply a vast array of quality methods for process improvement.
Process management focuses mainly on such measures as cost, effi-
ciency, cycle time, and so on, but it does not pay enough attention to
process performance consistency or process capability. Process capabil-
ity is actually the starting point for Six Sigma. Nowadays, Six Sigma
will use the methods from both process management and quality
assurance to improve process performance and process capability.

2.7 Six Sigma Goes Upstream: Design for
Six Sigma (DFSS)
Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) is the Six Sigma strategy working on early
stages of the process life cycle. It is not a strategy to improve a current
process with no fundamental change in process structure. It will start
at the very beginning of the process life cycle and utilize the most
powerful tools and methods known today for developing optimized
designs. These tools and methods are ready to plug directly into your