Most executives harbour misconceptions about the many quality initiatives that have Preface xvi bombarded US companies over the past two decades. This book will clarify these misconceptions. The first, and most important, misconception to dispel is that Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) only applies to engineering designs. Given the name Design for Six Sigma, this confusion is understandable but costly if not corrected, because DFSS can be applied with equal effectiveness to such varied tasks as billing, marketing, customer service, and everything in between. DFSS will also teach you how to determine what your customers truly want and optimize your operations at every turn to give it to them. the writers wrote this book with the belief that designing products and processes right the first time must be every company?s first concern. The most visionary CEOs lead their teams with this focus in mind. This book is not just for CEOs, but also for those engineering managers who believe they know what Robust Design® is all about and end up fighting fire after fire when a product is actually launched. And it?s for those operations managers who call in consulting firms to fix their own processes. Finally, this book is for anyone who wants to serve customers effectively and efficiently by understanding the true customer?s voice.