Title: Failure analysis of automobile spares in a manufacturing supply chain distribution centre using Six Sigma DMAIC framework

Authors: S. Srivatsa Srinivas; V. Raja Sreedharan

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University, Chennai – 600 025, India ' Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University, Chennai – 600 025, India

Abstract: The spares distribution centre is an important member of a manufacturing supply chain where the automobile components are packaged and distributed to customers and retail units. Though the components do not undergo processing in a spare parts centre, various other operations are performed during distribution that contributes to component failures. The Six Sigma DMAIC framework is used for the analysis of the failures effectively. The different causes of rejections are generated using the cause and effect diagram and each of these causes are validated with the help of experiments and other tools. The root cause of this problem arising in the distribution centre is identified to be the packing method. An economic solution to the existing cause of the problem is implemented with minor variations in the current packing method and the results are discussed. A structured follow up plan for continuous improvement is also suggested.

Keywords: spare parts distribution unit; failure analysis; automobile spares; supply chain; rejections; packing method; quality; Six Sigma; define-measure-analyse-improve-control; DMAIC.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2018.089828

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2018 Vol.29 No.3, pp.359 - 372

Received: 02 Jan 2016
Accepted: 15 Jun 2016

Published online: 13 Feb 2018 *

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