Search results

Six Sigma is a well-established powerful business strategy for achieving operational excellence (OPEX). However, previous studies have suggested that the Six Sigma may negatively impact organizational creativity and innovation. The C-K theory is one of the most widely used technique for design reasoning which promotes the creativity and innovation. The purpose of this paper is to integrate the Six Sigma methodology and C-K theory for enhancing innovative capacity of Six Sigma for achieving OPEX.

The paper proposes an integration methodology of C-K theory and Six Sigma using the extant literature. Also, a case study is conducted based on the proposed integration model.

The paper suggests a step-by-step integration methodology for integrating Six Sigma with C-K theory for both (DMAIC and DMADV). The methodology when applied to a live case in mining logistics the results are very encouraging. The solution was cost effective and also technically superior compared to previous solutions.

The paper proposes a step-by-step methodology for the integration of Six Sigma with C-K tools. The methodology is practically applied in a live case. Organizations can use findings from this paper to implement an integration model of Six Sigma with C-K theory.

This is the first paper that proposes an integration methodology of Six Sigma with C-K theory to enhance the innovation capability to achieve the OPEX.

The purpose of this paper is to present a combined framework for system design using Six Sigma and Lean concepts. Systems Engineering has evolved independently and there are numerous tools and techniques available to address issues that may arise in the design of systems. In the context of systems design, the application of Six Sigma and Lean concepts results in a flexible and adaptable framework. A combined framework is presented here that allows better visualization of the system-level components and their interactions at parametric level, and it also illuminates gaps that make way for continuous improvement. The Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-Act is the basis of this framework. Three case studies are presented to evaluate the application of this framework in the context of Systems Engineering design. The paper concludes with a summary of advantages of using a combined framework, its limitations and scope for future work.

Six Sigma, Lean and Systems Engineering approaches combined into a framework for collaborative product development.

The present framework is not rigid and does not attempt to force fit any tools or concepts. The framework is generic and allows flexibility through a plug and play type of implementation. This is important, as engineering change needs vary constantly to meet consumer demands. Therefore, it is important to engrain flexibility in the development of a foundational framework for design-encapsulating improvements and innovation. From a sustainability perspective, it is important to develop techniques that drive rationality in the decisions, especially during tradeoffs and conflicts.

Scalability of the approach for large systems where complex interactions exist. Besides, the application of negotiation techniques for more than three persons poses a challenge from a mathematical context. Future research should address these in the context of systems design using Six Sigma and Lean techniques.

This paper provides a flexible framework for combining the three techniques based on Six Sigma, Lean and Systems Engineering.

This paper will influence the construction of agent-based systems, particularly the ones using the Habermas’s theory of social action as the basis for product development.

This paper has not been published in any other journal or conference.

Six sigma has been considered a business strategy that employs a well‐structured continuous improvement methodology to tackle process variability and drive out waste from the business processes using statistical tools and techniques. This paper first examines the differences and similarities of six‐sigma improvement methodology compared with the DFSS approach. This work illustrates the use of analytical hierarchy process (AHP), a multiple criteria decision‐making technique, for the evaluation of six‐sigma projects in order to determine when the six‐sigma approach becomes a priority over DFSS. The use of AHP to determine the transition from six sigma to design for six sigma represents a major challenge to many researchers today, as very little has been done on this subject.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how Six Sigma methodology has been applied in a small-scale foundry industry to improve the overall first-pass material yield and quality, with a view to the product and the process.

The researchers have reported this paper based on a case study carried out in industry using the Six Sigma Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC) and its application in improving the manufacturing process of a foundry shop.

Identified root causes are validated and countermeasures are implemented for improvement. As a result of this case study, the overall first-pass yield of the sand casting process is improved to 78.88% from the previous yield of 67%. For product-specific case, yield is improved by 18% through the improved gating system design. Sigma level of the process is improved to 3.08 from baseline 2.21. Key lessons learned from this case study are mentioned in the current study.

This case study provides a standard road map and motivates small-scale foundry industries to implement Six Sigma methodology for productivity improvement, especially in jobbing foundry. The presented paper is based on a single case study, and the results are limited to the company only. Also, one of the reasons for low process yield is slag creation, which is not covered here, as it is a concern of the material quality supplied by the vendor. However, the approach of this paper is generic for learning perspective.

This case study provides a standard road map and motivates small-scale foundry industries to implement Six Sigma methodology for productivity improvement, especially in jobbing foundry. Through the effective application of Six Sigma quality initiative, how a quantum jump in financial aspect could be gain, has been demonstrated.

This research study showcases step-by-step implementation of Six Sigma-DMAIC methodology at a small-scale foundry industry. This paper could serve as a unique roadmap for practitioners and academicians to improve the material productivity of the foundry industry both ways, product and process.

The success of Six Sigma in manufacturing in the past decade has encouraged moves to explore Six Sigma applications to other domains, such as the software industry, for performance improvement. Owing to the uniqueness of software processes, there have been disagreements as to whether Six Sigma should be adopted in software design processes. In this paper, we discuss the applicability of the Six Sigma framework to software. Some myths and facts about the Six Sigma Software Program (6SSP) are discussed. We also address some common misconceptions on the potential of Six Sigma in software, as well as some actual practical challenges. A framework is suggested for practitioners and managers interested in exploiting the benefits of statistical analysis in general, and 6SSP in particular. Some ideas are also raised on what remains to be done to make 6SSP work.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between Six Sigma methodology and organisational ambidexterity (exploitation and exploration orientations). For this purpose, this study describes how Six Sigma practices may enhance both orientations simultaneously, contributing to organisational ambidexterity and performance improvements.

A systematic literature review was adopted as the research methodology. The authors analysed 512 publications in Social Science Citation Index journals in fields such as management, business, operation research management science, planning development, behavioural sciences, interdisciplinary social sciences and applied psychology from 1987 to 2016, as the first development and adoption of Six Sigma was in 1987 by Motorola.

This analysis describes how Six Sigma emphasises not only useful practices for exploitation orientation, such as customer input, design for manufacturability or improvement and control of processes, but also explorative practices, such as discovery, novelty or innovation. Consequently, an adequate combination of all these practices may enhance organisational ambidexterity and organisational success.

This study relies exclusively on previously published literature that fulfilled the selection criteria described in the search methodology. Further empirical research is necessary to test the propositions included in this paper.

This study has important implications for academics, practitioners and employers, as it furnishes new theoretical insights to the scarce literature that studies the relationship between quality management practices and organisational ambidexterity. The authors provide a better understanding of Six Sigma philosophy and some fresh and new insight on how Six Sigma practices may help organisation develop distinctive competitive competences by its influence over exploration and exploitation orientations (ambidexterity). Therefore, it might be of interest to those practitioners interested in achieving a successful competitive position and discover emerging business opportunities, as it may provide some guidance on the important implication of Six Sigma practices over exploration and exploitation orientations.

This study provides new insights into the non-existent literature about Six Sigma and organisational ambidexterity and to the scarce literature about quality management and ambidexterity. Propositions on how Six Sigma practices benefit organisational ambidexterity are also suggested.

This paper aims to bring together the concepts of Six Sigma into the process of training design and training transfer.

The concepts of the paper are supported with an actual example of their application to practice. The industrial example shows where the inclusion of the concepts of Six Sigma can make positive contributions to the design and transfer of training processes.

The application of the concepts to training design and transfer showed a positive contribution through a more structured process. Including the concepts of Six Sigma within the process of training design and transfer will provide the organization with additional support and structure to improve the overall success of the training design process, and improve the impact and effectiveness of the training itself.

The single example of application may limit the successfulness of the overall concept to training design overall. Based on the successful application in one industrial training setting, the impression that the concepts will adequately translate to additional applications is favorable.

The success of the application shown in this paper suggests that further success is likely in other similar industrial applications. Expanding the application to other job training design processes should improve the overall process of training design in other areas and industries.

Training design and transfer are critical components to all areas of an organization that conducts any type of training. Application of these and other improvement methods and tools will improve the overall performance of the training process and the effectiveness of the training.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the historical approach to concurrent engineering (CE) which has resulted in product line management (PLM) and then evaluates the theoretical models that have been proposed for design for Six Sigma (DFSS) in order to determine which model is able to provide the most consistent approach with historical development of PLM.

The approach begins with an overview of the approach taken by the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) in the development of a coherent quality methodology for structured analysis and problem solving – the Deming Wheel of plan‐do‐check‐act (PDCA) which has become the standard model in Japanese total quality management to define a logical decomposition in process management. In Japan, PDCA is the single logical model which has been broadly accepted as the construct for understanding how to develop both strategic and operational quality methods. The second step in the approach is to examine a similar American development of the model for statistical problem solving that is applied in the Six Sigma method for statistical problem solving: define‐measure‐analyze‐improve‐control (DMAIC). Next, the paper examines the historical sequence in the way the product development process has developed over the past forty years, with emphasis on its military origins (especially CE) and which resulted in the generic model for PLM. The final part of this paper examines the models that have been proposed to implement DFSS over the past ten years and evaluate their logical congruence with the engineering community's design process.

Problems in alignment with the engineering design process were identified with all of the DFSS models and with the non‐structured or “heuristic” approach to developing a coherent body of knowledge related to DFSS.

This paper provides a challenge to the quality community as well as to the academic community. The paper points out the need for rigorous examination of logical models that are proposed for guiding the thinking of practitioners in the use of quality methods for both the engineering of products and business systems. An expose of lack of rationality in the way an approach to DFSS has been investigated calls for more responsibility in the management of the development of this body of knowledge.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate an application of the Six Sigma define, measure, analyze, improve, control (DMAIC) problem-solving methodology in a Portuguese industrial enterprise, aimed at reducing the rejection rate of a specific manufactured product due to defects generated in an aluminum gravity die casting operation.

Along the five-stage roadmap, a set of analytical and conceptual tools was systematically employed to better characterize the problem, define the product’s critical to quality characteristics, estimate the process baseline, determine the relevant cause-and-effect relationships, identify the root causes leading to the high rejection rate, implement an improvement plan, determine the effectiveness of the improvement actions, and put in place a control plan.

The project team discovered that the high rejection rate was caused by factors inherent to the gravity die casting operation itself and by the mixing of rejected parts made of different types of alloys from other locations within the plant. Another key finding was that the successful execution of the project was only possible due to the belief and support of top management and to the active involvement of the team members.

This case study illustrates a successful practical application of a Six Sigma project in a small-medium enterprise in Portugal, as well as the operational and financial benefits that derived from it; thus providing a good example for others to follow.

Few cases of continual improvement initiatives, including Six Sigma projects, developed at a Portuguese company are available in the literature; this paper fills such void by describing a very successful application that demonstrates the advantages that other companies can learn in terms of adopting structured methodologies to improve the quality of their products and the efficiency of their processes. Moreover, the analysis and conclusions herein presented can be of great importance for companies using gravity die casting technology.