Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) is an approach for designing and re-designing services and products for the commercial market. The goal for DFSS in these situations is to bring new services and products with an optimized sigma level for every customer requirement. A company can then offer reliability and reduce the defect level before something is even on the market.

One of the ways in which DFSS is best accomplished is using IDOV, a methodology used for designing services and products to meet these stringent Six Sigma standards. IDOV is an acronym for Identify, Design, Optimize, and Verify. These are the four phases of the process, which parallel the four phases of the traditional Six Sigma methodology known as DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control).

IDOV and DMAIC share a lot of similarities, which begin with the ‘Identify’. During this initial phase, team members begin making the connection between the design and the Voice of the Customer. The team should form a charter and gather VOC while also developing critical metrics.

The second phase of IDOV is known as the Design phase. There is a huge emphasis on critical metrics during this time and this phase consists of deploying these. During the design phase, team members should also be developing alternative concepts and evaluating those, as well as identifying functional requirements. Based on these requirements, a best-fit concept should be chosen.

Optimize is the third phase in IDOV and requires the use of process capability information and a statistical approach to tolerance. As the name of this phase suggests, it’s all about making this the best design for your service or product. Detailed design elements are added, the performance of the service or product is predicted, and the design is optimized.

The final phase in the IDOV acronym of the Six Sigma Methodology is called the validate phase, and as you might guess, it involves the testing and eventual validation of the design. Formal tools should be employed at this point for increased testing. The team wants to be sure the design meets the standards of Six Sigma before forging ahead with production. Feedback should be solicited and shared with the manufacturing departments and the sourcing for the service or product. Once actual development occurs, any future improvement suggestions made from these departments should be noted and considered for implementation.