Design_for_SS_and_LM.pdfVIP

(Published in December 2001 issue of Circuits Assembly) Design for Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing Praveen Gupta After initial success, Six Sigma methodology has become the strategy of many corporations. Before the advent of Six Sigma, as discovered by Motorola, initiatives such as design for manufacturability (DFM), cycle time reduction (or lean manufacturing) and waste reduction existed. Six Sigma methodology has evolved to incorporate DFM and lean manufacturing. Whatís interesting to note is that DFM and lean manufacturing have become post-Six Sigma initiatives, instead of prerequisites for implementing Six Sigma successfully. Quality assurance has evolved from end-of-line inspection (product inspection) to on- line inspection, to process control (control charts), and to off-line inspection (DFM), quality management systems (ISO 9000) and Six Sigma (dramatic improvement). During this evolution, many tools, techniques and systems have been invented. Commonly known systems are pareto charts, cause-effect diagrams, control charts, design of experiments, Taguchi methods, zero defects, quality function deployment, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Guidelines, Triz (Russian methods for systematic innovation), ISO 9000, QS-9000 and Six Sigma. Names like Walter Shewhart, Ed Deming, J.M. Juran, Armond Feigennbaum and Phil Crosby are legends in the quality assurance industry. However, Six Sigma was invented at Motorola within a framework that included DFM and lean manufacturing. DFM is achieved through concurrent design of product and processes. Design for Six Sigma uses an integrated approach to design so that the product is manufacturable at the highest quality and lowest cost and satisfies all of the customerís requirements. DFM is important to implement because the majority of manufacturing defects occur due to design-related issues. The success in creating a manufacturable product depends upon clearly defined product goals reflecting