What are the best practices for applying six sigma tools and techniques to product development?

1 Define your project scope and goals

Before you start using six sigma tools and techniques, you need to define your project scope and goals clearly. This will help you align your product development with the customer needs and expectations, as well as the business objectives and strategy. You can use tools such as the project charter, the voice of the customer, the critical to quality matrix, and the SIPOC diagram to define your project scope and goals.

2 Measure your current performance and baseline

The next step is to measure your current performance and baseline, which will help you establish the gap between your current state and your desired state. You can use tools such as the data collection plan, the measurement system analysis, the process map, the cause and effect matrix, and the process capability analysis to measure your current performance and baseline.

3 Analyze the root causes of variation and defects

The third step is to analyze the root causes of variation and defects, which will help you identify the sources of waste, inefficiency, and error in your product development. You can use tools such as the fishbone diagram, the Pareto chart, the hypothesis testing, the regression analysis, and the FMEA to analyze the root causes of variation and defects.

4 Improve your product development process and solutions

The fourth step is to improve your product development process and solutions, which will help you eliminate or reduce the root causes of variation and defects, and increase the quality and value of your products. You can use tools such as the brainstorming, the affinity diagram, the matrix diagram, the design of experiments, and the prototyping to improve your product development process and solutions.

5 Control your product development process and outcomes

The final step is to control your product development process and outcomes, which will help you monitor, evaluate, and sustain the improvements you have made, and prevent the recurrence of variation and defects. You can use tools such as the control plan, the control chart, the statistical process control, the mistake proofing, and the standardization to control your product development process and outcomes.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?