Title: Reduction of rework the Six Sigma way: case study of an Indian small scale industry

Authors: Prasenjeet C. Gholap; Tushar N. Desai

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Satara College of Engineering, Satara-415001, Dist.Satara, Maharashtra, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Saradar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat-395007, Dist.Surat, Gujarat, India

Abstract: To respond to the fast changing economic conditions and customer needs various industrial engineering and quality management strategic such as ISO 9000, TQM, KAIZEN, JIT manufacturing, enterprises resources planning, lean management, business process reengineering (BPR), etc., have been developed. A new paradigm in this area of manufacturing strategies is Six Sigma. From last many years, the Six Sigma define-measure-analyse-improvecontrol (DMAIC) methodology is being used in many manufacturing industries to solve the problems related to the quality and productivity. The paper discusses the real life case where Six Sigma has been successfully applied at one of the Indian small-scale units to improve rejection rate in manufacturing of components in batch production. This paper explains phase wise application of all the phases of define-measure-analyse-improvecontrol (DMAIC), and ultimately shows how Six Sigma can help improving quality and profitability.

Keywords: six sigma; batch production; quality; productivity; profitability; small-scale industry; define; measure; analyse; improve; control; DMAIC; India; component manufacturing; rejection rate.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSCA.2012.045266

International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, 2012 Vol.7 No.1, pp.92 - 116

Published online: 22 Apr 2015 *

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