How to use DMADV in new product design

There are several manufacturing methods you can use when it comes to creating new products, or new product lines.One of these methods is called DMADV, and is part of the manufacturing process known as Six Sigma.DMADV is an acronym for the following processes:

• Define
• Measure
• Analyze
• Design
• Verify

Keep in mind that this process can be used to create new products, and also to replace an existing system that is failing. DMADV is typically used in conjunction with other Six Sigma functions. DMADV breaks down as follows:

• Define-You must have clear goals in relation to the creation or revamping of your product. If you don't have clear goals, your team will not be able to chart a direction to follow. In addition it will draw out the design process because no one will have an idea of where they need to head, in terms of design. Remember that defining each of the key elements of your project portrays a clear standard and goal that the company is working towards. It can be helpful to ask yourself the following questions-
  1. What is the product you would like to create?
  2. What are the product's uses?
  3. What are the customer's needs?
  4. How does this product meet them?
• Measure-You must be able to quantify exactly what you want to achieve with this process. Remember that you will also need to be able to less concrete terms like customer satisfaction and quality.It can be helpful to ask the following questions-
  1. How much of the product can you produce?
  2. How high is the demand?
  3. What is it exactly that the customer needs?
  4. How are you going to get the product to the customer?
  5. What is the customer satisfaction?
  6. How good is the quality control?
• Analyze-You will need to be able to define your customer's needs. You will have to know how much product the customer expects. You will have to know how much product you can produce at this time. When you have this information you can work with your team to analyze all of this information, and come up with a basis of design. Remember that you will want an overall plan with a defined end result. An overall picture of how you will manufacture your new product will be crucial to its long term success. How you will deliver the product, any and all known opportunities that you may run in to, and how you will correct them, will be have to be defined. You will also have to know what your risk is and how you will mitigate it.
• Design-When you have analyzed all the information, you should have a basis of design, and a rough outline, on how you are going to proceed. It is now time to put all the pieces together. You can now assemble your design team, and review the processes; you have been through to date. At this point you will draw up the new product, and put your ideas down on paper. You will also need to decide what type of equipment you need to manufacture the product. Now is the time to determine the availability of your resources, and plan everything down to the very last detail. This will be the operations manual.
• Verify-The final step means that you will need to verify that everything you have come up with will work. It is important to understand that if for some reason your plan did not work, you will have to go back to the analyze portion, find out what when wrong, modify the design and try the verification process again. You should continuously verify your processes, even after they have been put in place. Remember that there is always room for improvement.