Title: An investigation into 6-S auditing in an aircraft company

Authors: R. Gnanaguru, K. Puvaneswari, Jogendra Mallick, C. Jegadheesan, V. Mohan Sivakumar, S.R. Devadasan

Addresses: Light Combat Aircraft Production Group, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bangalore 560 017, India. ' Light Combat Aircraft Production Group, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bangalore 560 017, India. ' Light Combat Aircraft Production Group, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bangalore 560 017, India. ' Paavai Engineering College, Pachal 637 018, Namakkal, India. ' Mechanical Engineering Department, PSG Polytechnic College, Coimbatore 641 004, India. ' Production Engineering Department, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641 004, India

Abstract: Currently, the world is witnessing the progression of 6-S from 5-S for ensuring house keeping of organisational facilities. The success of applying 6-S would depend upon the auditing of facilities. Auditing score is often a subjective topic. The score varies depending on the auditor and his expectation. This can create much confusion when several people express their opinion on how to maintain 6S. To minimise this subjectivity, the 6-S audit worksheets were designed and developed for shop floor, stores and office. The practical validity of these 6-S audit worksheets was tested by conducting audits in an Indian public sector company by name Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

Keywords: 6S; 5S; sorting straightening sweeping standardising sustaining safety; audit worksheets; shop floors; stores; offices; Hindustan Aeronautics; auditing scores; aircraft industry; India; housekeeping; organisational facilities; auditors; expectations; subjectivity; public sector; productivity; quality management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2010.035894

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2010 Vol.6 No.4, pp.495 - 517

Published online: 07 Oct 2010 *

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