Title: Demystifying MSA: a structured approach for Indian foundry SMEs

Authors: Bikram Jit Singh, Dinesh Khanduja, Er. Arvinder Singh

Addresses: Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra (Haryana), India. ' Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra (Haryana), India. ' Quality Engineer,Fedral Mogul Goetze India Ltd., Bahadurgarh, Patiala, India

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present the results from an empirical investigation of measurement system analysis, status in the Indian foundry SMEs and formulate an integrated approach for its successful implementation. A feasible survey questionnaire is supplied to units related to one of the vital foundry cluster and is suitable to small and medium scale Indian foundries. Further the result of the survey becomes basis for problem formulation. The paper not only un-wraps the critical reasons to implement MSA in SMEs but also generates an integrated frame work for deploying MSA comprehensively among foundry SMEs by not ignoring present constraints of Indian SME environments. Its practical implication has been analysed empirically by implementing structured MSA approach in one of the significant foundry of the Batal-Jalandhar-Samalkha cluster. Very rare research has been carried to relate the status of MSA in the Indian foundries and it will further provide value to academicians and Six Sigma practitioners.

Keywords: measurement system analysis; MSA; foundry clusters; Minitab software; gauge stability; linearity; SMEs; small and medium-sized enterprises; India; six sigma; performance measurement.

DOI: 10.1504/IJQI.2011.040425

International Journal of Quality and Innovation, 2011 Vol.1 No.3, pp.217 - 236

Published online: 21 Feb 2015 *

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