Jiju Antony

Key ingredients for the effective implementation of Six Sigma program

Six Sigma is a business strategy and a systematic methodology, use of which leads to breakthrough in profitability through quantum gains in product/service quality, customer satisfaction and productivity. The concept of implementing Six Sigma processes was pioneered at Motorola in the 1980s and the objective was to reduce the number of defects to as low as 3.4 parts per million opportunities. For the effective implementation of Six Sigma projects in organisations, one must understand the critical success factors that will make the application successful. This paper presents the key ingredients, which are essential for Six Sigma implementation. These ingredients are generated from a pilot survey conducted in the UK manufacturing and service organisations.

Critical success factors for the successful implementation of six sigma projects in organisations

Six sigma is a popular approach to drive out variability from processes using powerful statistical tools and techniques. Although originally introduced by Motorola in 1986 as a quality performance measurement, six sigma has evolved into a statistically oriented approach to process and product quality improvement. Many organisations have reported significant benefits as a result of six sigma project implementation, though not all are yet success stories. This paper reviews the literature related to the critical success factors for the effective implementation of six sigma projects in organisations.

Six sigma in small- and medium-sized UK manufacturing enterprises: Some empirical observations

Purpose – Six sigma for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is an emerging topic among many academics and six sigma practitioners over the last two to three years. Very few studies have been reported about the successful applications of six sigma in SMEs. The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of six sigma implementation in UK manufacturing SMEs. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents an extensive literature review based on the experiences of both academics and practitioners on six sigma within an SME environment. The paper highlights the strengths and weaknesses associated with SMEs, followed by the results of a six sigma survey in UK manufacturing SMEs. The results of the study are based primarily on descriptive statistics. Findings – The results of the study show that many of the SMEs are not aware of six sigma and many do not have the resources to implement six sigma projects. It was also found that lean sigma was not generally popular among SMEs. Management involvement and participation, linking six sigma to customers and linking six sigma to business strategy are the most critical factors for the successful deployment of six sigma in SMEs. Originality/value – This paper reports the first study on the status of six sigma implementation in UK SMEs. The paper will yield a great value to academics, consultants, researchers and practitioners of six sigma.

Critical success factors of TQM implementation in Hong Kong industries

Total quality management (TQM) is an integrative management philosophy aimed at continuously improving the performance of products, processes and services to achieve and exceed customer expectations. This paper provides an empirical study on the identification of the critical success factors (CSFs) of TQM implementation in Hong Kong industries. Through a thorough and detailed analysis of the literature, 11 success factors with 72 elements were identified to develop a questionnaire. These items were empirically tested by data collected from 32 companies in Hong Kong. A factor analysis was carried out that identified seven CSFs with 38 elements of the implementation of TQM. These factors were shown to be reliable and valid and offer new insights into the understanding of TQM success factors in Hong Kong industries.

Six sigma in service organisations: Benefits, challenges and difficulties, common myths, empirical observations and success factors

Purpose – Six sigma has received considerable attention over the last four years in the UK service sector. The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the literature on six sigma as applied to the service industry, followed by a presentation of the key findings obtained from a pilot survey carried out in UK service organisations. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents some of the most common challenges, difficulties, common myths, and implementation issues in the application of six sigma in service industry settings. It also discusses the benefits of six sigma in service organisations, tools and techniques of six sigma for service performance improvement, key criteria for the selection of winning projects, followed by the results of a six sigma pilot survey in UK service organisations. Findings – The results of the study show that the majority of service organisations in the UK have been engaged in a six sigma initiative for just over three years. The average sigma quality level of the companies was around 2.8 (approximately 98,000 DPMO). Management commitment and involvement, customer focus, linking six sigma to business strategy, organisational infrastructure, project management skills, and understanding of the six sigma methodology are the most critical factors for the successful introduction, development and deployment of six sigma. Originality/value – This paper reports the first study on the status of six sigma implementation in UK service organisations. The findings and key observations of this paper will be of immense value to the six sigma academic and research community.

Six sigma for service processes

Purpose – This paper attempts to demonstrate the power of six sigma, a disciplined approach to improving product, process or service quality, in the service industry.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents the basic features that characterize six sigma followed by a simple methodology for six sigma applied to service operations. The paper also illustrates a set of tools and techniques used within six sigma for service process performance improvement. Key success factors for the implementation of six sigma in service organisations and the factors for selection of winning projects are also addressed.Findings – The paper draws the point that six sigma is not same as other quality initiatives such as TQM due to various misconceptions among many quality practitioners with these two philosophies. There are also limitations of six sigma and these are outlined and discussed.Originality/value – Although six sigma has been successfully implemented in many manufacturing industries, its application in the se...

Implementing the Lean Sigma framework in an Indian SME: a case study

Lean and Six Sigma are two widely acknowledged business process improvement strategies available to organisations today for achieving dramatic results in cost, quality and time by focusing on process performance. Lately, Lean and Six Sigma practitioners are integrating the two strategies into a more powerful and effective hybrid, addressing many of the weaknesses and retaining most of the strengths of each strategy. Lean Sigma combines the variability reduction tools and techniques from Six Sigma with the waste and non-value added elimination tools and techniques from Lean Manufacturing, to generate savings to the bottom-line of an organisation. This paper proposes a Lean Sigma framework to reduce the defect occurring in the final product (automobile accessories) manufactured by a die-casting process. The proposed framework integrates Lean tools (current state map, 5S System, and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)) within Six Sigma DMAIC methodology to enhance the bottom-line results and win customer loyalty. Implementation of the proposed framework shows dramatic improvement in the key metrics (defect per unit (DPU), process capability index, mean and standard deviation of casting density, yield, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)) and a substantial financial savings is generated by the organisation.

Some pros and cons of six sigma: an academic perspective

Six sigma is a powerful business strategy that employs a disciplined approach to tackle process variability using the application of statistical and non-statistical tools and techniques in a rigorous manner. This paper examines the pros and cons of six sigma in a detailed manner. This is followed by a section about the future of six sigma and its links to statistical thinking. It is believed that, although the total package may change, the applications of six sigma will continue to grow in the forthcoming years, due to the existence of sound principles of statistical thinking within the six sigma strategy.

Six Sigma in the UK service organisations: results from a pilot survey

Six Sigma is now increasingly applied to a variety of processes ranging from manufacturing to service and variegated transactional processes. Six Sigma has been proved to be a rigorous pursuit of the reduction of process variation and defect rate in all critical business processes to achieve breakthrough improvements in process performance that generates significant savings to the bottom line of an organisation. The paper begins with a simple comparative study between manufacturing and service processes from the Six Sigma application perspective. The paper then presents the results of a pilot survey carried out in the UK service organisations to understand the status of Six Sigma. The paper finally reports the essential ingredients which are required for the successful deployment of Six Sigma in the service sector.

Multi‐response optimization in industrial experiments using Taguchi's quality loss function and principal component analysis

Many industrial experiments based on Taguchis parameter design (PD) methodology deal with the optimization of a single performance quality characteristic. Studies have shown that the optimal factor settings for one performance characteristic are not necessarily compatible with those of other performance characteristics. Multi-response problems have received very little attention among industrial engineers and Taguchi practitioners. Many Taguchi practitioners have employed engineering judgement for determining the final optimal condition when several responses are to be optimized. However, this approach always brings some level of uncertainty to the decision-making process and is very subjective in nature. In order to rectify this problem, the author proposes an alternative approach using a powerful multivariate statistical method called principal component analysis (PCA). The paper also presents a case study in order to demonstrate the potential of this approach. Copyright