DMAIC and DFSS Roadmaps: How to Connect and Integrate?

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y David L. Hallowell

The roadmap has always been an important part of Six Sigma. It lays out the thought process for teams and leaders, and distinguishes the methodology from a parade of tools. With the original "Six Steps to Six Sigma" and then "Define Measure Analyze Improve Control" (DMAIC) as the improvement roadmap, plus the addition of Design for Six Sigma (DFSS), practitioners have evolved and expanded their view of how the steps and tools fit together and deliver results.

To make things interesting, DFSS is a lot less standard around the world than DMAIC. Roadmaps like "Define Measure Analyze Design Verify" (DMADV), "Invent/Innovate Develop Optimize Verify" (I2DOV) and "Concept Design Optimize Verify (CDOV) are similar in spirit, but with differences in nuance and detail. Add to this the common desire to map in other initiatives, like Lean and Business Process Management, and it's easy to see why companies sometimes think about rationalizing and perhaps simplifying their roadmap view.

While there are numerous coexistence and integration questions, a combined core DMAIC-DFSS roadmap is possible.

How to Deal with Two Roadmaps?

Many companies begin their Six Sigma work with DMAIC problem-solving and improvement. This makes sense as DMAIC brings rapid improvement to existing processes – quickly returning significant dollars to the bottom line. Because DMAIC projects often point to problem root causes in the design of products or processes, interest in DFSS often develops in connection with improvement work. Thus leaders may find themselves struggling to manage two Six Sigma approaches and roadmaps.

In a world where "innovate and design" are naturally separated from "improvement work," two roadmaps may work just fine. In many real-world cases, though, design is often interwoven with existing products and processes, and improvement often means revisiting fundamental design. In those situations, the project teams, Belts and Champions can waste energy worrying, "Is this a DMAIC or DFSS project?"

The Appeal – and Challenge – in Integrating DMAIC and DFSS

When a company feels that too much time is being spent sweating out the distinctions between DMAIC and DFSS, it may move to integrate and simplify things. Experienced Six Sigma practitioners may notice that the thought processes have some parallels, especially in the Define and Control phases. While it is tempting, and even possible, to integrate the approaches in new and creative ways, it is best to use some common approaches with an eye toward caution. Integrating the roadmaps requires special attention to the subtle ways they are different.

(For the purposes of this article, the common DMADV map is used as the frame of reference for DFSS.)

"Everything Is DMAIC"

Perhaps because people are more familiar with DMAIC, they seek to use it as the foundation for integration, with DFSS seen as a special sidebar. At one extreme, companies move to integrate with the theme, "Everything Is DMAIC+/-." They view the DFSS distinction in the scope and nature of the improvement or innovation work that happens between the Analyze and Control phases. An accompanying theme is often "D, M and A Are the Same for All Projects." The thinking is that during Analyze, a team figures out whether improvement or design is called for and they pursue an I-phase that tracks with either DMAIC (improvement) or DFSS (innovation/design). As Figure 1 depicts, after that roadmap branch, the similarities between DMAIC's Control phase and DFSS's (DMADV) Verify phase often bring things back together for a common last stage.

Figure 1: DMAIC with a Branch to Integrate DFSS

Figure 2: Improvement and Design at Each Step

Risks in Viewing "D, M and A" as Identical for All Projects

While the high-level thought process for D, M and A are parallel for DMAIC and DMADV, they are not at all the same in practice. The mindset of a team and the nature of its curiosity in data gathering and analysis are different through D, M and A for projects with DMAIC scope versus DFSS scope. DMAIC problem-solving calls for a "detective" orientation, looking for clues and focusing on specific root causes. Innovation/design calls for an "anthropologist" orientation, looking for how people do things (or could do things), clues about latent requirements and measures that identify performance drivers. While both of these orientations move through a "D, M and A" stage, they have a different scope and flavor. Figure 2 illustrates the view that every stage, not just the I-phase, sits against a backdrop that could be Improvement (DMAIC)- or Design/Innovation (DFSS)-oriented. While the names of the steps, and in many cases the tools, are the same for all projects, a team's practical work is guided by a project's location on the improve-innovate continuum.

Aligning DMAIC and DFSS With Attention to the Distinctions

The table below depicts a simplified view of what happens if the DMAIC and DMADV thought processes are distilled to a high enough level that one map might be laid out. The "Practical Translation" columns show distinctions that would be important to a particular team, depending on whether its current project was DMAIC or DFSS (or somewhere in the middle). The intended takeaway from this view is that D, M and A are where many of the DMAIC and DFSS distinctions lie. While they can be overlaid, it is important for each project to understand as early as possible where it is on the DMAIC-DFSS continuum. Some projects start out "thinking they are DMAIC" only to find (somewhere in D, M, A or I) that they are really more DFSS – or vice versa. The table is a first step in guiding a team toward the correct "edge," no matter where on the map the team was when the project's nature became clear.

High-Level Thought Process	-------------------------------------------------- Practical Translation --------------------------------------------------- DMAIC                                                                                                                     DFSS (Improvement)                                                                                   (Design/Innovation)
Define Project Goals? Business Case? Scope? Customers/ Stakeholders? As-is Process? What Are Key Requirements?	Removing or reducing a problem in an existing process or work-product (e.g. defects, delays) Reducing costs of poor quality (e.g. rework, scrap, waste) Returning savings to the bottom line Defined and bounded by the problem (Focused) Those involved in or impacted by the problem. Already familiar players Studied to reveal: clues about the problem, measurement points, and things not to break in the course of improvement "Must-be" and "satisfier" requirements – to be sure the solution improves the primary Y while maintaining or improving performance across the board The curiosity brought to VOC data-gathering is that of a detective looking for what's important, but also clues about the problem,  its implications and its location(s). Identifying and capitalizing on an opportunity  (i.e. a new or next-generation product or service)	Identifying and capitalizing on an opportunity (i.e. a new or next-generation product or service) Increasing business net value (sales, profitability, market share). Bringing increased revenue to the top line Defined by potential opportunity (Broad at the outset) Internal or external potential "markets" connected with the opportunity. Could be new players Studied to reveal: compensatory behavior,  lead user "aha's," and future trends "Must-be" and "Satisfiers" as a base, but special attention toward identifying latent requirements VOC data-gathering more widely exploratory.  Problems are interesting but, additionally, quirks in how things are done and future trends are pursued for their value in uncovering latent requirements and robust  design clues
Measure What are the most important measures and their drivers? What measures to collect? (where, how much, etc.)	Y-to-x, prioritization, operational definitions and measurement systems analysis (MSA)  are useful in all projects Segmentation based on the location of the problem and its symptoms Data collected, using the as-is process as the source of facts, to shed light on the root cause drivers (for this project's focused problem or problems)	Y-to-x, prioritization, operational definitions and measurement systems analysis (MSA) are useful in all projects Segmentation based on potential locations of the opportunity Additional measures used to model "prospective value" (e.g. conjoint analysis) Data collected, with or without an as-is process, to characterize and prioritize requirements (including prospective latent requirements) As appropriate, data collected or developed through modeling to shed light on "design" drivers
Analyze What has the team learned about current performance/- capability? What can the team learn from patterns and statistical contrasts in the data? Can the team verify the root cause or driving impacts of the x's on the Ys?	This will apply directly, as there is a lot more "current performance" to document for a DMAIC-type project "Peeling the onion" to get down to root   causes and fundamental drivers in order to remove those causes and fix the problem at its core – removing or reducing the waste in the as-is process The historic/current process data is the key source of data and insight In DMAIC the x-Y connections are part of the known, existing system. The work here focuses on quantifying that relationship	There may not be a current process for the work under consideration – but generally the performance of a relevant as-is process helps document the state of the art Understanding the design drivers in order to guide upcoming decisions about which factors will be included in and adjusted; to optimize business net value Models, prototypes and industry benchmarks are key sources of data and insight In DFSS, the x-Y connection may be new and may depend on the solution to be selected. The work at this step may involve prototyping or modeling the x-Y connection in order to estimate the nature of the relationship
Improve What is the best solution choice? How should the solution be detailed for best practical implementation? How will it work?	Selecting among solution options Some use of modeling, depending on the case Pilot	Some modeling of solution optionsmay have been started as part of the x-Y relationship assessment in Analyze For software, the "coding/construction" happens here – realizing the design Continued use of modeling, prototyping/alpha release to predict and/or verify performance and reduce risk
Control What factors are important to control over the life of the improvement or design? How will ongoing operation be monitored at all levels of the process and business, with appropriate control signals at every level?	Similar considerations Process management Process control Dashboards

Conclusion: Being Well-Armed with Insight

All practitioners appreciate that roadmaps are needed to guide the work in Six Sigma, and that there is an understandable need to simplify and integrate when their complexity starts to get in the way. While considering a "branched" and a "parallel" approach to integrating DMAIC and DFSS, one must be armed with as much insight at possible before deciding what is best in their particular environment.

About the Author

David L. Hallowell, a founding partner of Six Sigma Advantage, Inc., has more than 20 years experience as an engineer, manager and Master Black Belt. As Digital's representative to Motorola's Six Sigma Research Institute, he worked on the original courseware for Black Belts and the application of Six Sigma to software. He has supported Six Sigma deployments worldwide. With a special focus on Design for Six Sigma, he has led development teams in the concept development and design of a number of commercial products. Mr. Hallowell has patents and publications in the area of microelectronics packaging and high speed interconnect. He has authored courses in software DFSS, design of experiments, C++ and computational intelligence tools. He co-authored Six Sigma Advantage's Black Belt, Green Belt and foundation curriculum. Mr. Hallowell can be reached at dhallowell@6siga.com.

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