Customer Reviews

Design for Six Sigma (Briefcase Books Series)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Broad overview, it mentions Six Sigma tools but does not give you details or good examples. Don't waste your money if you already know anything about Six Sigma.

Very readable and applicable to new product introduction success. I liked the use of sidebars and icons for definitions,tools, cautions, tricks of the trade, examples and smart managing tips. Management checklists at the end of each chapter were good for summarizing and action planning. Generous use of references for more detailed information on specific tools and methods allowed focus on main topic of DFSS methodology and organization/management issues of implementation. Left me with desire to get more involved with DFSS in new product development to improve a company's growth.

A nice introduction to DFSS principles. It will help if you have some background to Six Sigma before reading the book, but the book itself is easy to read, well laid out, and good for providing an overview of the DFSS principles, implementation, challenges, limitations, tools and approaches. The target for the book would be the executive or champion who needs to become more familiar with DFSS - as opposed to someone who already has a strong working knowledge of the approach.

For $10, what can you expect? The book is too high-level to be useful. It jumps around and talks about various tools and the philosophies behind DFSS. I was hoping I could give it to my students (I'm a DFSS instructor) as a reference book; but it did not give them the level of detailed they need to apply the tools I've taught them. If you're interested in learning the philosophy behind DFSS, Subir Chowdhury's book "Design For Six Sigma" is a much better read. I am someone who collects Six Sigma books; this was the only book I was happy to give away for free.

A tightly written, high-level summary of working with Six Sigma in the product development and commercialization area. The book is particularly relevant for consumer product businesses.

That said, if your firm deals with the FDA, there are a number of aspects in the book that correlate perfectly with the FDA's Quality by Design initiative to encourage pharmaceutical and medical device companies to build safety and efficacy into their products from Day One on the drawing table rather than toward the end in clinical trials. Specifically, you'll find the PIDOV (Plan, Identify, Design, Optimize, Validate) methodology helpful, as well as the CtQ (Critical to Quality) concept.

If your firm already uses Six Sigma in manufacturing and operations, this book will give you enough information to make the decision if you want to implement Six Sigma earlier in your product development cycle.

As an overview, this book is targeted at managers and senior executives, and should not be mistaken for a "how-to" manual.

J. Avellanet, Cerulean Associates LLC