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The aim of this paper is to present the results from an empirical investigation of Six Sigma in the Indian software industry

The paper begins with a review of literature of Six Sigma and its role in the software industry. The importance of Six Sigma in the software domain is presented, followed by presentation of the results from an empirical investigation of Six Sigma in the Indian software industry

The research reflects the status of Six Sigma application and implementation in the software industry, identifies the commonly used statistical and non statistical and software engineering tools and frameworks used within software business; and determines the critical success factors (CSFs) for a successful Six Sigma initiative in the software/IT industry. The most important factor was management commitment and involvement. Documentation management and suppliers' involvement were found to be the least important factors.

This study was carried out with some boundaries like the number of companies, available resources, time constraints, etc.

This paper dispels the myths concerning the unsuitability of Six Sigma in the software arena. At the same time it highlights the status of Six Sigma implementation in Indian software organizations and the critical success factors for implementation of Six Sigma.

Little research has been carried out in terms of empirical survey relating to the application of Six Sigma in the software industry like that demonstrated in this paper. The paper will be valuable for quality professionals and management personnel in software organizations.

Statistical process control (SPC) is a powerful technique for managing, monitoring, analyzing and improving the performance of a process through the use of statistical methods. The purpose of this paper is to present results of a survey on SPC in the software industry. The focus is on understanding the critical success factors (CSFs) for successful implementation of SPC in the software industry.

In total, 12 critical success factors (CSFs) with 36 variables were identified from the literature and discussions with software quality professionals. An e‐mail questionnaire was used to gather the data.

The results reveal that management commitment and involvement are the most critical success factors, followed by selection of control charts. The use of SPC facilitators was found to be the least important factor in successful deployment of SPC in the software industry.

This research project was conducted with a limited number of participants, and was limited to software firms in India; cultural differences in other nations may yield different results.

These results provide an increased understanding of how to better implement SPC in the software industry, and provide managers with improved guidelines for identifying the most important factors that will lead to success.

Indian software companies are leading exporters to Europe and the USA. Considering the growth of the Indian software industry and increased inclination towards acquiring quality certifications and implementing quality management techniques, a better understanding of the implementation of SPC can provide companies with a stronger competitive advantage.

The aim of this paper is to highlight the application of six sigma, software engineering techniques and simulation to software development with a view to improving the software process and product.

This paper attempts to integrate six sigma and simulation to define, analyse, measure and predict various elements of software development (such as cost, schedule, defects) that influence software quality, thereby helping the software personnel take necessary measures early in the development process to improve the software processes and remove defects. Simulation results provide qualitative and quantitative suggestions on the ways to change the software process to achieve six sigma quality. The integration of six sigma and CMM and the role of knowledge management in software organisations have been taken into account.

Most software organisations operate between 2.3 and 3 sigma level. This paper presents a framework for definition, measurement, and analysis of important elements of the software product and process using six sigma tools and exploits the use of simulation in bringing six sigma improvements. Case studies have been presented to demonstrate the findings.

Application of the techniques presented in this paper would definitely improve software organisations' processes and product.

The adoption of methodologies outlined in this paper in software companies would enable them to attain improvements in terms of cost, schedule and quality.

The integration of simulation with six sigma applied to software development is novel in this paper. This paper will be valuable for quality professionals and management personnel in software organisations.

The aim of the research is to use an integrated approach – simulation and Six Sigma to improve the ambient air quality.

Integration of simulation and Six Sigma DMAIC methodology in a foundry had been used to improve the ambient air quality. Various elements of the Six Sigma toolkit such as Cause and Effect diagrams and Failure Mode and Effect Analysis have been used to discover the root causes underlying the problem and prioritize action and incorporate cost‐effective solutions. Simulation has been used to improve and control the environmental efficiency by monitoring the performance of the Venturi Scrubber – the pollution control equipment, by running the model under varying conditions.

The integrated application of Six Sigma and simulation has been successful in reducing particulate emissions from 200 milligrams per cubic meter to less than 20 milligrams per cubic meter and sulphur dioxide emissions from 45 milligrams per cubic meter to less than 4.5 milligrams per cubic meter, thus reducing air pollution.

Air pollution is a burning problem in the present scenario and foundry industries are one of the contributors to air quality degradation. The approach described in this paper is a step towards reducing air pollution due to foundry operations.

Integration of Six Sigma DMAIC methodology and simulation provides a novel cost‐effective strategy for monitoring and reducing air pollution resulting from foundry operations. This paper is useful for environmental division of foundry and other manufacturing industries.