Accendo Reliability

Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site

  • Home
  • About
    • Contributors
  • Reliability.fm
    • Speaking Of Reliability
    • Rooted in Reliability: The Plant Performance Podcast
    • Quality during Design
    • Critical Talks
    • Dare to Know
    • Maintenance Disrupted
    • Metal Conversations
    • The Leadership Connection
    • Practical Reliability Podcast
    • Reliability Matters
    • Reliability it Matters
    • Maintenance Mavericks Podcast
    • Women in Maintenance
    • Accendo Reliability Webinar Series
    • Asset Reliability @ Work
  • Articles
    • CRE Preparation Notes
    • on Leadership & Career
      • Advanced Engineering Culture
      • Engineering Leadership
      • Managing in the 2000s
      • Product Development and Process Improvement
    • on Maintenance Reliability
      • Aasan Asset Management
      • CMMS and Reliability
      • Conscious Asset
      • EAM & CMMS
      • Everyday RCM
      • History of Maintenance Management
      • Life Cycle Asset Management
      • Maintenance and Reliability
      • Maintenance Management
      • Plant Maintenance
      • Process Plant Reliability Engineering
      • ReliabilityXperience
      • RCM Blitz®
      • Rob’s Reliability Project
      • The Intelligent Transformer Blog
    • on Product Reliability
      • Accelerated Reliability
      • Achieving the Benefits of Reliability
      • Apex Ridge
      • Metals Engineering and Product Reliability
      • Musings on Reliability and Maintenance Topics
      • Product Validation
      • Reliability Engineering Insights
      • Reliability in Emerging Technology
    • on Risk & Safety
      • CERM® Risk Insights
      • Equipment Risk and Reliability in Downhole Applications
      • Operational Risk Process Safety
    • on Systems Thinking
      • Communicating with FINESSE
      • The RCA
    • on Tools & Techniques
      • Big Data & Analytics
      • Experimental Design for NPD
      • Innovative Thinking in Reliability and Durability
      • Inside and Beyond HALT
      • Inside FMEA
      • Integral Concepts
      • Learning from Failures
      • Progress in Field Reliability?
      • Reliability Engineering Using Python
      • Reliability Reflections
      • Testing 1 2 3
      • The Manufacturing Academy
  • eBooks
    • Reliability Engineering Management DRAFT
  • Resources
    • Accendo Authors
    • FMEA Resources
    • Feed Forward Publications
    • Openings
    • Books
    • Webinars
    • Journals
    • Higher Education
    • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • 14 Ways to Acquire Reliability Engineering Knowledge
    • Reliability Analysis Methods online course
    • Measurement System Assessment
    • SPC-Process Capability Course
    • Design of Experiments
    • Foundations of RCM online course
    • Quality during Design Journey
    • Reliability Engineering Statistics
    • An Introduction to Reliability Engineering
    • An Introduction to Quality Engineering
    • Process Capability Analysis course
    • Root Cause Analysis and the 8D Corrective Action Process course
    • Return on Investment online course
    • CRE Preparation Online Course
    • Quondam Courses
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Live Events
  • Calendar
    • Call for Papers Listing
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Calendar
  • Login
    • Member Home

by Robert Allen Leave a Comment

What is DFx?

What is DFx?

In a previous article, we defined design for six sigma (DFSS) as a thought process focused on maximizing customer value and minimizing cost.

More specifically, DFSS is used to reduce variability in product performance (thereby increasing value), using analytical models and our knowledge of manufacturing variability to enable specification limits on difficult-to-manufacture tolerances to be increased (thereby reducing cost).

Meanwhile, when most people are asked “What is the “x” in DFx?”…a range of answers would be provided (design for assembly, service, procurement, costing, reliability, safety, reuse, etc, etc..).  However:

DFx is focused on design-by-analysis, where design performance is modeled, the model is verified and exercised to optimize the design.

While there’s nothing wrong with a design focus area, we don’t want to miss the key points of the “DFx” thought process.  Let’s review the thought process as follows:

  • Understand Customer Needs
  • Define Initial Design Concept
  • Model Design Performance
  • Optimize the Design (close gaps in modeled design performance)
  • Validate Design and Models
  • Control (control key x’s that influence customer CTQ’s)

The key questions to be asked, therefore, when developing any new product, new service or even a new business process is:  Can the (product, service or process) design be accurately modeled?  Can we learn from the model to optimize the design?

Some examples include:

  • Matlab/Simulink Models
  • Circuit Design Models
  • Finite Element Analysis
  • Process Maps
  • Reliability Models

In summary, the DFx objective is robust, optimized designs through validated models rather than through “design by test” and multiple build cycles.  As a result, DFx can significantly reduce design risk and shorten your product (or process) development life cycle.  Also, powerful software, analytic, simulation and emulation tools should enable DFx now more than ever.

Filed Under: Articles, on Leadership & Career, Product Development and Process Improvement Tagged With: Critical to Quality, customer value, Design for Six Sigma, DFSS, DFx, New Product Development, PLC process, product development, product life cycle, Project Management, six sigma

« Product Specification, Use Case, and Environment
Metering & Dosing Pump Operations »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Articles by Rob Allen
in the Product Development and Process Improvement series

Join Accendo

Receive information and updates about articles and many other resources offered by Accendo Reliability by becoming a member.

It’s free and only takes a minute.

Join Today

Join PD&PI

Your email is safe and the opt-in here provides your permission to send messages concerning the PD&PI article list plus special announcements. Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

  • History Repeats Itself: Buncefield, Puerto Rico, Jaipur
  • How Reliability Engineers Can Improve Their Communication in Information Sessions
  • FMEA Detection Risk: Insights and Advices
  • How to Structure Your ERM System
  • Rate of Occurrence of Failure

© 2023 FMS Reliability · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service · Cookies Policy

This site uses cookies to give you a better experience, analyze site traffic, and gain insight to products or offers that may interest you. By continuing, you consent to the use of cookies. Learn how we use cookies, how they work, and how to set your browser preferences by reading our Cookies Policy.