Title: Process improvement in an Indian automotive part manufacturing company: a case study

Authors: M.L. Meena; R. Jain; P. Kumar; S. Gupta; G.S. Dangayach

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, J.L.N. Marg, Jaipur-302017, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, J.L.N. Marg, Jaipur-302017, India ' Military Engineering Services, GE (P), Navy & Cost Guard, Kolkata-700021, India ' School of Engineering, GD Goenka University Gurgaon, 122103, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, J.L.N. Marg, Jaipur-302017, India

Abstract: Problem-solving and ongoing procedure enhancements are key elements to obtaining quality improvement in business operations. Many process improvement strategies have been suggested and implemented in organisations, where define, measure, analysis, improve and control (DMAIC) is mostly applied. This study presents a practical application of an improved version of DMAIC, for reducing the defects generated through a process within the auto part manufacturing firm. The paper reviews the most commonly used lean and Six Sigma tools, explicitly, DMAIC, its modifications, and restrictions. Based on this, the study provides define, measure, pre-analysis, experiment, analysis, improve, and control (DMPEAIC) methodology. Finally, DMPEAIC is tested in a case study. The results obtained from the case study shows that DMPEAIC is an efficient approach resulting in the case study company to get a reduction of 76.4% defects in problems related to maintenance methods, and informal issues.

Keywords: automobile part manufacturing; defect; define, measure, analysis, improve and control; DMAIC; process improvement; Six Sigma; waste reduction; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2018.090263

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2018 Vol.23 No.4, pp.524 - 551

Received: 04 Aug 2016
Accepted: 13 Jan 2017

Published online: 07 Mar 2018 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article