Title: Design of Innovative Six Sigma Quality Management Systems

Authors: G.V. Prabhushankar, S.R. Devadasan, P.R. Shalij, V. Thirunavukkarasu

Addresses: Department of Production Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641 004, Tamil Nadu, India. ' Department of Production Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641 004, Tamil Nadu, India. ' Department of Production Engineering, Government Engineering College, Thrissur 680009, Kerala, India. ' Mechanical Engineering Department, PARK College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract: ISO has brought out TS 16949 for the automotive sector by including additional process improvement requirements to the ISO 9000 standard. Despite this, TS 16949 fails to exploit successful strategies such as Six Sigma and innovation within its framework. To fill this gap, a new model – ||Innovative Six Sigma Quality Management System|| has been developed. This integration can result in synergistic benefits and help organisations in achieving consistency in operations and results, thereby facilitating a smooth transition from a quality assured company into a world class company. A hypothetical case study outlines the steps required for the implementation of ISSQMS.

Keywords: QMS standard; innovation; six sigma; TS 16949; process management; benchmarking; quality management systems; process improvement; automobile industry; automotive quality.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPMB.2009.026410

International Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking, 2009 Vol.3 No.1, pp.76 - 100

Published online: 10 Jun 2009 *

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