Implementing design for six sigma to supply chain design

The changing paradigms in manufacturing in the global market since the late 1990's have seen the emergence of more collaborative manufacturing ventures, an increase in outsourcing and a review of the relationship between manufacturing, operations management and logistics and their place in the overall supply chain. Building effective supply chains has become a way to develop a firm's competitiveness and profitability requiring firms to make the shift from a functionally based organisation to one focused on business processes, first internally and then across the supply chain members. Consequently supply chain members must have measurable outcomes that reflect bottom line improvement in supply chain processes and research is required to understand how to identify appropriate supply chain metrics, implement them and measure results. Generic supply chain frameworks such as the supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model aim to develop a common supply chain approach for firms with an emphasis on benchmarking but there is some criticism that broader frameworks are required so that managers can link supply chain improvement to strategic plans, key performance indicators and improvement goals. This paper presents design for six sigma (DFSS) as a versatile methodology for approaching supply chain design and performance measurement. The demand management process is described as a critical to customer requirements (CCRs) and its importance to business performance elaborated.