Chapter 9: Linking DFLSS with the Fourth Industrial Revolution Data-based Technologies

The Design for Lean Six Sigma (DFLSS) has evolved from a concept into a structured methodology aimed at designing robust products and processes. The core principles of DFLSS are a proactive quality approach, ensuring quality and reliability, minimising design vulnerabilities, critical parameter management (CPM) and comprehensive business system (Antony, 2002). The proactive quality approach mentions that, unlike traditional Six Sigma, which fixes defects, DFLSS focuses on designing defect-free products from the outset. Ensuring quality and reliability ensures that the goal of DFLSS is to ‘do the right things right all the time’. The minimising design vulnerabilities component in DFLSS aims to eliminate conceptual and operational weaknesses that impact product quality. CPM warrants that DFLSS emphasises the disciplined management of key design functions to prevent defects and optimise development. The comprehensive Business System approach in DFLSS integrates product line management, project management, and the define–measure–analyse–design–verify (DMADV) framework to create innovative, high-value products. From the evolution of DFLSS, it can be inferred that it is not a standalone tool but an integrated system that enhances product design by aligning with strategic planning, programme management, and project management. However, there is no universally accepted DFLSS framework, leading to inconsistencies in its application in modern organisations. However, one of the most widely used DMADV processes provides a structured approach. However, DFLSS must be tailored to an organisation’s unique business model and product requirements (Watson & DeYong, 2010). Thus, there is a need to analyse the DFLSS implementation from both the organisation’s and customer perspectives. The customer needs are ever-changing. The modern age customers want products and services to meet their needs. The needs are ever-changing at a fast pace due to technology and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in almost every sphere of life. The organisations have also undergone changes due to the industrial revolution. The First Industrial Revolution (late 18th century) introduced steam engines, mechanising manual labour. The Second Industrial Revolution (late 19th century) saw the rise of electricity, assembly lines, and increased machine automation. The Third Industrial Revolution (late 20th century) was driven by electronics, telecommunications, and computers, leading to widespread automation in manufacturing. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), emerging in the mid-21st century, integrates advanced technologies such as AI, augmented reality, blockchain, and the internet of things (IoT) to create smart business systems (Ghobakhloo et al., 2023). These smart systems enable real-time adaptation to change to various business systems from manufacturing, supply chains, and consumer demands through digitalisation. Smart manufacturing leverages intelligent systems to rapidly innovate, minimise waste, and reduce production errors, ultimately enhancing efficiency and affordability (Sony, 2020). The rapid advances in technologies such as AI, large language model (LLMs), robotics, blockchain, augmented reality, AR, VR, data analytics, CPS, IoTs, etc., have challenged the initial concepts of Industry 4.0. This has led to a concept of Industry 5.0, which, unlike previous industrial revolutions, exists in parallel with Industry 4.0. However, it brought in a distinct thinking human-centricity, sustainability, and resiliency being the central character of Industry 5.0 (Leng et al., 2022). Human-centricity extends beyond traditional human factors by placing human needs and interests at the core of business operations, shifting from a technology-driven approach to a deeply human-centric and society-centric model. Sustainability considers three pillars: the economy, environment, and society. Resilience is the ability of a system to maintain or quickly restore stability during and after major disruptions, such as geopolitical shifts, natural disasters like the COVID-19 pandemic, or prolonged significant stressors. Thus, in this Industry 5.0 there is symbiotic relationship of people, planet, profit, and technology. Fig. 23 depicts the evolution.