Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) is used by businesses to design a quality product from the ground up.  Once a six sigma system has been in place for awhile, a company can see where they are improving and where they need to improve.  One popular component of this Methodology is the Define, Measure, Analyze, Design and Verify Method or (DMADV).

There are several steps in the DMADV Method within the Six Sigma Methodology.  The first being the define phase.  Defining the product is crucial, as it has to be something the customer wants or needs.  Let’s take a silly example such as toilet paper.  It is easy to measure the need for toilet paper as everyone uses it on a daily basis.  Analyzing its use could be handled by using Six Sigma tools such as; pie charts of particular brands, flow charts of use, and so on.  The entire design must be of the customer’s satisfaction, is it soft enough? Does it hold moisture? These are the questions consumers would have in analyzing their use of your product.  This method as a whole is very much customer-centered.  Knowing your customer is the key to success within any company. 

Verifying your toilet paper’s validity to customers would take the most time as it has to be advertised, marketed, researched, and then verified.  Profit margins would be a great verifiable number to use because when the product sells, and customers buy the merchandise, profit margins generally increase.  This is the goal for any company or business

The Six Sigma system allows a company to also increase its profits by adding new products, ensuring quality of all products, and perfecting the processes that make these products.  Not only do people need toilet paper, they need all paper products such as paper towels, tissues, paper plates, writing paper, and many more.  Once a customer is satisfied with your products, you are essentially creating a ‘brand’ that they can trust.  If they like your toilet paper, and come across your brand of tissues when they need them, they are more likely to choose your brand, which is good news for your company.

From the ground up, companies can use Six Sigma to verify their products and measure their success by looking at data, and determining the needs of the consumers in order to expand on product lines to meet the needs of customers. This does not happen overnight, and it takes time to collect and analyze data within the Six Sigma Methodology, but the success is most often well worth the trouble.  Small companies have taken this method and used it to their advantage in order to become very large successful companies such as GM, GE, Corning Incorporated, and Dupont. New products allow new customers to be introduced to the product line thus generating more business and a trusted brand that customers will want to buy.