Page 84 - Design for Six Sigma a Roadmap for Product Development

Product Development Process and Design for Six Sigma 59

In this chapter, we will discuss the important features of the prod-
uct development procession Sec. 3.2. Section 3.3 gives an overview of
the lean product development process. Section 3.4 describes the prac-
tical approaches of lean product development. Section 3.5 discusses
what Design for Six Sigma is. Section 3.6 discusses why DFSS is
needed. Section 3.7 gives an overview of DFSS phases. Section 3.8 dis-
cusses the relationship between design process and design vulnerabil-
ities. Section 3.9 discusses the differences between Six Sigma and
DFSS. Section 3.10 discusses what kind of problems can be dealt with
by DFSS. Section 3.11 discusses what a DFSS company is. Section 3.12
describes the features of a sound DFSS strategy.

3.2 More on the Product
Development Process
For many companies, the products they develop and produce are major
revenue generators. Every product is sold in market for a price. For
good products, the customers are willing to pay higher prices. The
prices that customers are willing to pay depend on the supply and
demand relationship. How much the customers will demand a certain
product depends on the value of the product. Based on the research of
Sherden (Sherden 1994) and Gale (Gale 1994), the value of the product
depends on
Value benefits liabilities

Based on Sherden and Gale, the benefits of a product include the
following categories:
1. Functional benefits
■ Product functions, functional performance levels.
■ Fitness of the functions to customer needs; the better these func-
tions fit the customers’ need, the more valuable the benefits are.
■ Scarcity of these product functions; the fewer producers that can
deliver these functions, the more valuable the benefits will be.
■ Reliability and durability.
2. Psychological benefits
■ Prestige and emotional factors, such as brand-name reputation.
■ Perceived dependability (for example, people prefer a known
brand product).
3. Service and convenience benefits
■ Availability (easiness to access the product or service).
■ Easiness to get correctional service in case of product problem or
failure.