DFSS
Strategic Quality Focus Nets 100 million
Practice: Strategic Quality Focus
Challenge
A multi-billion dollar automotive supplier was on the brink of losing its OEM customer since it was unable to meet its quality requirement. They sought a strategic quality focus to increase their quality levels and asked ASI Consulting Group to help.
ASI Solution
After our first analysis, it was clear to the team that the company needed to implement DFSS in order to reach their strategic quality focus. ASI’s Subir Chowdhury developed the concept in his 2005 book, “Design for Six Sigma.” ASI has maintained a high-level understanding of implementation and requirements. We conducted a comprehensive review of the client’s quality practices and developed an implementation plan using DFSS.
Achieved Benefit
Quality was increased and the business with the OEM was not only saved, but increased.
Paradigm Change In Approach Through DFSS
Practice / Industry: DFSS
Challenge
An automotive supplier was facing an intense pressure to reduce emission from its fuel handling system. Many of its previous efforts to confront this problem failed. This was of strategic importance to the company and ASI was called for its expertise to solve this problem.
ASI Solution
ASI worked with client’s team of engineers to design an optimization strategy using DFSS. Within two months, a design that met all requirements was executed.
Achieved Benefit
Our implementation of DFSS translated into substantial cost savings of several million dollars. The future warranty cost avoidance also contributed several million dollars.
Enterprise Implementation
Practice / Industry: Electronics/High Tech
Challenge
The Company suffered major setbacks due to lower cost, higher quality products offered by numerous competitors. In spite of rapidly declining profits, corporate management did not resort to panic cost cutting. Rather, the top management team devoted several months to study competitive offerings and benchmark engineering & manufacturing methods in non-competitive companies. Armed with a new strategy derived from the study of enterprise implementation, the CEO set the goal of reversing this trend and becoming the market leader.
ASI Solution
To achieve this objective, the company selected ASI-CG as a partner to help with their enterprise implementation. The first stage was to reinvent the engineering and manufacturing capability of the corporation. ASI-CG was intensely involved during the initial 5 year turnaround period. ASI-CG provided training, consulting and execution in all of the elements of what is now recognized as engineering based Design for Six Sigma (DFSS). The corporation developed a new Product Development Process based on DFSS methodology.
Achieved Benefit
The outcome was an outstanding success story in which ASI-CG is proud to have participated. Within 4 years, the corporation was delivering the highest quality, most reliable, and lowest cost office products. Happy customers helped the company regain market share, years of rapid growth, and unprecedented profitability.
DFSS Helps To Achieve Company Vision
Practice / Industry: DFSS
Challenge
An Asian automotive OEM was No.8 in sales worldwide. The CEO of the company announced it is targeting to become No.5 worldwide. In order to accomplish this goal, the company’s execute vice president of engineering recognized a need to change its engineering culture. ASI-CG was called to help.
ASI Solution
DFSS (Design for Six Sigma) has been deployed before to address similar challenges. Armed with client’s vision and leadership commitment, ASI-CG transformed the culture. Changing the hearts and minds of the technical staff was a huge challenge and ASI-CG started with the top executive team. The commitment from senior management allowed for all sixty technical directors to participate in the 4-week project oriented Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) black belt training. Perception started to change as more engineers were trained. DFSS projects were carefully selected and assigned to each of the black belt candidates. Both top management and engineers were able to see and measure the success of the program.
Achieved Benefit
The business impact of the DFSS program was significant. There was a 200X return on investment. ASI-CG laid the groundwork needed for the corporation to create a multi-billion dollar gain. The company is now well position to achieve its vision and the market trends have reflected this.
DFSS Helps Leverage New Market Opportunities
Practice / Industry: DFSS
Challenge
The Company was attempting to expand out of the automotive market but was having difficulty translating their engine system experience from automotive applications to other engine applications. The current engineering process was not allowing the company to be competitive in this new market.
ASI Solution
DFSS (Design For Six Sigma) was first introduced in 2005 by ASI. The client’s new engineering group needed new engineering processes; ASI-GC utilized its extensive knowledge of DFSS. Management support for these new methods was skeptical at first. The group utilized the DFSS methodologies on the target market products. The result for the group was that they were able to transition from 30 % below the competition in performance to 10 % above the competition. This was completed using a fraction of the resources and less than half the time of previous projects. This success allowed them to enter a new market and generate revenue.
Achieved Benefit
The success did not stop with that one application of DFSS, Management recognized the power of this new process and began to expand it to other engineering groups. These groups were able to document resource and time savings of over 50 % on other engineering programs while delivering products that were far superior in performance and durability of previous released products.
DFSS Aids New Product Development
Practice / Industry: DFSS
Challenge
An office product company was examining digital electronic copier implementations. New electronic implementations created problems with new features and functions. How could the thousands of potential new features and functions be narrowed down to those that were important to future customers? This seemingly unknown answer slowed development while competitors were preparing to launch their digital copiers.
ASI Solution
DFSS has been an ASI tool since the first book on the subject: Design For Six Sigma in 2005. Using DFSS methodology, ASI-CG helped the corporation understand that the Voice of the Customer (VOC), Quality Function Deployment, and Concept Development Methodologies could help turn technological into products customers want. They also learned that through DFSS and Robust Optimization methods, their products would become highly reliable. The corporation established a program to get engineers out and about with customers. For the first time engineers collaborated with customers to refine and an extensive list of possible features and functions. The result created a product that was well received by customers and hepled the corporation ‘leap frog’ its competition.
Achieved Benefit
The company launched a highly successful family of digital copiers that quickly replaced optical copiers. The principles of DFSS helped the company to create a full range of digital copiers customers purchased in preference to competitive offerings.