INTRODUCTION TO SOFTWARE DESIGN FOR SIX SIGMA (DFSS) - Software Design for Six-Sigma: A Roadmap for Excellence - page 172

reviews to ensure accountability of all the design team members, Black Belt, Project
Champions, and Deployment Champions 2 as well as the rest of the organizations.
The software DFSS objective is to attack the design vulnerabilities in both the
conceptual and the operational phase by deriving and integrating tools and methods
for their elimination and reduction. Unlike the DMAIC methodology, the phases or
steps of DFSS are not defined universally as evidenced by the many customized
training curriculum available in the market. Many times the deployment companies
will implement the version of DFSS used by their choice of the vendor assisting in the
deployment. However, a company will implement DFSS to suit its business, industry,
and culture, creating its own version. However, all approaches share common themes,
objectives, and tools.
DFSS is used to design or redesign a service, physical product, or software gener-
ally called “product” in the respective industries. The expected process Sigma level
for a DFSS product is at least 4.5, 3 but it can be Six Sigma or higher depending on the
designed product. The production of such a low defect level from product or software
launch means that customer expectations and needs must be understood completely
before a design can be operationalized. That is, quality is defined by the customer.
The material presented herein is intended to give the reader a high-level under-
standing of software DFSS, its uses, and its benefits. Following this chapter, readers
should be able to assess how it could be used in relation to their jobs and identify
their needs for further learning.
DFSS as defined in this topic has a two-track deployment and application. By de-
ployment, we mean the strategy adopted by the deploying company to launch the Six
Sigma initiative. It includes putting into action the deployment infrastructure, strat-
egy, and plan for initiative execution (Chapter 9). In what follows, we are assuming
that the deployment strategy is in place as a prerequisite for application and project
execution. The DFSS tools are laid on top of four phases as detailed in Chapter 11 in
what we will be calling the software DFSS project road map.
There are two distinct tracks within the term “Six Sigma” initiative as discussed
in previous chapters. The retroactive Six Sigma DMAIC 4 approach takes problem
solving as an objective, whereas the proactive DFSS approach targets redesign and
new software introductions on both development and production (process) arenas.
DFSS is different than the Six Sigma DMAIC approach in being a proactive
prevention approach to design.
The software DFSS approach can be phased into I dentify, C onceptualize,
O ptimize, and V erify/ V alidate or ICOV , for short. These are defined as follows:
I dentify customer and design requirements. Prescribe the CTSs, design parameters
and corresponding process variables.
2 We will explore the roles and responsibilities of these Six Sigma operatives and others in Chapter 9.
3 No more than approximately 1 defect per thousand opportunities.
4 D efine: project goals and customer deliverables. M easure: the process and determine baseline.
A nalyze:determine rooat causes. I mprove: the process by optimization (i.e., eliminating/reducing defects).
C ontrol: sustain the optimized solution.