Title: Improving customer delivery commitments the Six Sigma way: case study of an Indian small scale industry

Authors: Darshak A. Desai

Addresses: Mechanical Engineering Department, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology (SVIT), Vasad – 388 306, Dist. Anand, Gujarat, India

Abstract: Six Sigma has emerged as one of the most effective business improvement strategies. After its conception at Motorola, many success stories were charted by a number of multinationals. Small scale concerns are still not fetching the real benefits from the same. Much is available regarding its techniques, but very few studies are reported regarding its implementation roadmap for small concerns. This paper is an attempt to introduce Six Sigma to small scale sectors. The paper discusses the real life case where Six Sigma has been successfully applied at one of the Indian small-scale units to improve one of the core processes.

Keywords: six sigma; DMAIC methodology; high-level process mapping; defects per million opportunity; DPMO; baseline six sigma; small scale industry; customer delivery; India; SMEs; small firms.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSCA.2006.009368

International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, 2006 Vol.2 No.1, pp.23 - 47

Published online: 23 Mar 2006 *

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