Use Six Sigma to achieve and sustain excellence in product development and commercialization!

To sustain growth and profitability, companies must tightly align product development and commercialization to fast-changing customer requirements. In this book, Clyde Creveling identifies the four process areas most crucial to doing so—and shows executives and managers how to optimize each of them.

Creveling introduces a Six Sigma-enabled workflow that encompasses strategic product/technology portfolio definition and development, research and technology development (R&TD), tactical design engineering processes for commercialization, and operational production and service support. He presents tools, methods, and best practices for selecting the right projects, prioritizing them, and executing them rapidly, consistently, and successfully.

•  Integrate all key technical processes so they work together in harmony

•  Create Phase/Gate control plans for delivering products with minimal risk

•  Establish scorecards for risk management in technical processes

• Use Six Sigma tools, such as Monte Carlo and FMEA, to improve project management

• Bring discipline to your product and technology portfolio renewal processes

• Systematically optimize your commercialization processes

• Define stripped-down “Fast Track” processes for commercializing high-risk, high-reward opportunities

• Provide effective operational support after you launch your product

• Preview the future of “lean” and Six Sigma in technical processes

• Use lean techniques to streamline repeatable processes such as R&D, product design, and post-launch production engineering support

• Learn how to manage the risk of doing a fast track commercialization project when you really must cut corners to get a product out into the market before your opportunity evaporates

Foreword by John Boselli  xiii

Preface  xv

About the Author  xxi

Chapter 1: Introduction to Six Sigma for Technical Processes  1

Chapter 2: Scorecards for Risk Management in Technical Processes  21

Chapter 3: Project Management in Technical Processes  35

Chapter 4: Strategic Product and Technology Portfolio Renewal Process  51

Chapter 5: Strategic Research and Technology Development Process  95

Chapter 6: Tactical Product Commercialization Process  163

Chapter 7: Fast Track Commercialization  275

Chapter 8: Operational Post-Launch Engineering Support Processes  293

Chapter 9: Future Trends in Six Sigma and Technical Processes  317

Glossary 323

Index 351

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 2 Ratings

Intended for the Six Sigma practitioner looking to branch out... - 2006-12-16
Reviewer Rating:
Having read a fair number of business books over the years, I am somewhat aware of Six Sigma concepts. But as a software developer, it's never been anything I was directly involved with in terms of process. When I saw the book Six Sigma for Technical Processes: An Overview for R&D Executives, Technical Leaders, and Engineering Managers by Clyde M. Creveling, I thought that I might be able to learn more about Six Sigma for my technical pursuits. Unfortunately, I don't think I was the intended audience. The book's not bad, it's just that I didn't have the prerequisite knowledge to tackle it.

Contents: Introduction to Six Sigma for Technical Processes; Scorecards for Risk Management in Technical Processes; Project Management in Technical Processes; Strategic Product and Technology Portfolio Renewal Process; Strategic Research and Technology Development Process; Tactical Product Commercialization Process; Fast Track Commercialization; Operational Post-Launch Engineering Support Processes; Future Trends in Six Sigma and Technical Processes; Glossary; Index

The Six Sigma program is most commonly associated with manufacturing entities that want to lower defects, increase quality, and reduce manufacturing time. Through a very rigorous and defined process, the manufacturing process is tracked, measured, and adjusted to get the desired results. Very formal, but successful if you're willing to commit to it. Six Sigma for Technical Processes covers the application of the process to research and development, as well as the task of bringing new products to market. Rather than just building something that "seems" to be cool or is based on the hunch of some senior executive, Six Sigma processes are set in place to review each product idea from inception to launch. These processes assess risk, ability to produce, customer needs, and a host of other variables that can make or break your product. Six Sigma doesn't substitute for the creativity in coming up with ideas (although there are processes for generating potential products), but it systematically evaluates the ones you do have in order to focus efforts on ideas that have the best chance for success.

The book assumes a comprehensive understanding of Six Sigma concepts before you start reading. The introduction isn't so much "what's Six Sigma" as it is "how does Six Sigma fit into technical design and research". Acronyms abound throughout the book, and you're best off already knowing what they mean. Otherwise, you will get lost pretty quickly. And if you're not familiar with things like Monte Carlo simulations and analysis of means/variances, you won't get up to speed here. That background is assumed. As such, this book is really intended for the Six Sigma practitioner who is ready to apply the program to more than just the manufacturing arena.

If you fit the right criteria, I can see where this book would give you everything you'd need to move in the desired direction. It's just that I didn't fit that criteria... :)

Concepts lost amongst abstractions, technical jargon and acronyms - 2008-02-15
Reviewer Rating:
First my background: I am relatively new (but not entirely new) to Six Sigma and lean methodologies. I am well-versed in a number of different processes related to software development and related activities. I have nearly three decades of experience in commercial software research and development. Apparently, this does not give me a suitable background to fit into the book's intended audience.

The author must delight in inventing acronyms as he throws them around with abandon, often without introduction or explanation. The descriptions of what to do are so far abstracted from the actual business purpose that it is frequently a struggle to decipher what the author is saying. This, combined with excessive Six Sigma technical jargon, makes the book read more like a technical manual than a business book.

I read this book hoping to gain insights into how to tie a software development process into a company's Six Sigma efforts. There were some useful concepts in the book and some useful prescriptive suggestions. However, it took way too much effort to extract the useful parts from the book to allow me to recommend the book to anyone less than a completely experienced Six Sigma practitioner--and I'm not qualified to evaluate whether or not it should be recommended to the complete experienced practitioner. Ultimately, the book was of little help in my efforts to design and implement a software process that is complementary to the company's Six Sigma process.

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