When it comes to Six Sigma Training, the general teachings involve learning about how to define problems, measure current processes, and analyze the difference between what is and what could be in a certain processes or products in regard to quality and defect rates. The goal of Six Sigma Methodology is 3.4 parts per million as a defect rate when the process is executed properly. With Design for Six Sigma, or DFSS, the goal is the same, but the process of achieving that goal is very different. Instead of improvement of a process or product, DFSS is focused on the creation of a more effective process or product from scratch.

Starting with nothing often can seem much more intimidating, but DFSS actually originated because so many people could not move past four sigma without needing a complete redesign of the product or process that was being investigated. Hence, it was determined that the DFSS tools could be useful in this sense where traditional Six Sigma training had left off. The specific tools of the Design for Six Sigma process include simulation tools, design and analysis programs, and data to predict the cost and success of certain prototypes or different types of architecture.

DFSS is designed to avoid process and product quality issues from the beginning using the Voice of the Customer technique and systems engineering to stop problems from the start of the creation of a process. The methods used in DFSS can allow for a proven and direct solution for the customer and a way to increase product reliability at the start of design rather than remodeling what is already in place. The requirements of DFSS are more than capable of increasing effectiveness and consumer satisfaction, which then leads to increased market share and profitability for a business.

Using tools that allow the team to predict, simulate, and preview the system or product before it becomes an actual item, DFSS is striving to solve problems before they can be created by making a more effective product to begin with. The specialized tools of DFSS that vary from traditional Six Sigma Process tools include things like Quality Function Deployment, Axiomatic Design, TRIZ, Design for X, and Response Surface Methodology. Some of these tools are used in traditional DMAIC Six Sigma Projects, but many of them are unique to DFSS because of their ability to analyze something that is still in a conceptual state rather than analyzing a product that already exists.