The Path to Improved Product Development - How a Road Map Can Lead to Company Growth In a Competitive Marketplace

Six Sigma Forum Magazine vol. 8 issue 1 - November 2008

Abstract:A company striving for business excellence should have a planning process in place as part of its process of bringing a product to market. The plan should be progressive and show what technologies and methods are needed to continuously improve the processes. This can be achieved with a product development improvement roadmap (PDIR), which is best developed by company executives. Understanding the structure and progress of the plan allows employees to be proactive. Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) can help determine what a system needs to perform and what it takes to be effective and reliable. A company that has successfully implemented DFSS proves that its product development process has reached an innovative and robust level.

Keywords: Business plans; Continuous improvement (CI); Product development; Marketing; Design for six sigma (DFSS); Process map