Epilogue: Linking Design to Operations

This Epilogue was written by Stephen A. Zinkgraf, Ph.D., CEO and President of Sigma Breakthrough Technologies, Inc.

The penultimate goal of Design For Six Sigma is to create new products, technologies, and processes that lead measurably and directly to company growth by meeting or beating the business plan. The best global metric I've seen to describe the success of a commercialization program is a simple ratio:

Commercialization success = $ spent on R&D / $ in revenue from new products

I love this metric because it reminds us that R&D is a business process with the accountability to generate new revenue. If the ratio is one or greater, your company probably does not have an effective commercialization program. ...

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