Title: Does analysis matter in Six Sigma?: a case study

Authors: Bikram Jit Singh, Dinesh Khanduja

Addresses: Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra – 136119, Harayana, India. ' Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra – 136119, Harayana, India

Abstract: It is a conceptual paper that takes at in-depth look at the origins, pros and cons of Six Sigma and describes how it relates to some of the other quality initiatives in industry. DMAIC strategy of Six Sigma is briefly explained and realised the significance of analysis phase, specifically. Various prospects have been formulated to understand the reason of failure of Six Sigma particularly in SMEs and it has been found that doing |wrong analysis| is one of the major reasons in them. It highlights the analysis phase and proposed a more applicable form for classification of analytical tools as far as their industrial applications are concerned. A road map for short listing the relevant analytical tool has been carpeted especially for students, people working in industry and professional statisticians. A case study in a medium scale non-ferrous foundry has been conducted which has validated the suggested approach successfully. It is based on utilising an integrated advantage of both quantitative and qualitative tools extensively for producing significant results quickly in real industrial environments.

Keywords: six sigma; define measure analyse improve control; DMAIC; analysis phase; susceptible sources of variation; SSV; SIPOC diagram; quantitative analysis; one factor at a time; OFAT; one way ANOVA; t-test; regression analysis; fitted line plot; normal probability plot; industrial statistics; SMEs; small and medium-sized enterprises; non-ferrous foundries.

DOI: 10.1504/IJDATS.2011.041336

International Journal of Data Analysis Techniques and Strategies, 2011 Vol.3 No.3, pp.300 - 324

Published online: 29 Nov 2014 *

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