Improving customer delivery

commitments the
Six Sigma way: case study of an Indian
small scale industry

 Author : Dr Darshak A. Desai

 Published in :Int. J. Six Sigma and
Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2006
 Pages : 23 – 47
 Presented by : Nikunj Rana (150110746014)
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
The case has been presented in
the following sequence
• Challenges and advantages of SSI sectors on Six
Sigma initiatives compared to large organizations.
• Selection of Six Sigma over TQM and other business
improvement strategies .
• Management approval on the Six Sigma project .
• Case explanations
• Lessons learned, things went great and difficulties
faced.
• Next phase of the study .
Challenges and advantages of SSI sectors on
Six Sigma initiatives compared to large
organizations
Case explanations
• 1)Define :
The following techniques were adopted in
the subject project at Define stage :-
a) creating the team charter .
b) identifying the customers of the project,
their needs and requirements .
c) creating a high-level process map for
the project.
Case explanation Contd…
• Measure:
a) relevant data collection .
b) calculation of present sigma level
(Baseline Six Sigma).
• Analysis:
a) data analysis.
b) process analysis.
• Improve :
a) setting improvement targets .
b) designing improvement measures .
c) drawing improved process.

• Contol:
a) periodic review of the various solutions.
b) continuous watch on the success rate of
meeting delivery commitments.
Benefits of the project to the
company
• The existing problem of poor performance in meeting
customer delivery commitments was quantified making the
reflections of the efforts put in by the firm clear on meeting
delivery commitments for the period of last five years
• The problem that existed at the back of the mind of the chief
of operations was made crystal clear with multidimensional
datum
• The major ‘culprits’ causing the problem of failing in meeting
delivery commitments were discovered
• The approach of DMAIC methodology was applied
successfully to the existing problem and even though the
grounds were not conducive for the full utilization of different
tools of the technique, effective improvements were drawn
out compatible with the present operating system
• A wide-ranging system of effective planning of production,
keeping the entire infrastructure in view, was set up leading
to higher success rate of meeting delivery commitments
• Targets for the next year were set up for the overall
success rate as well as for the urgent items .
Next phase of the study
• The root causes fixed during this project can be
taken up separately one by one and their individual
impact on the problem can be further analyzed with
tools such as frequency distribution of occurrence of
each root cause, correlation and regression analysis
and design of experiments.
• • Application of tools involving more statistical
analysis. Since this was the introductory initiative,
rigorous statistical analysis was not adopted.
• • Application of DMAIC methodology at other areas
such as, accounts receivable, shortening
development time of the new products, reducing
customer complaints etc. and ultimately deploying
Six Sigma company-wide
Conclusion
• SSI sectors are constantly on the alert to gain a competitive
edge, using the many tools and techniques that have long been
flaunted as a way to beat the competitions. Yet, there remain
one basic constraint, that is, organizations that produce better
quality products and services, on time, than their rivals beat the
competition time and again.
• Small industries are inherently capable of adopting Six Sigma
as breakthrough strategy but they need to show the roadmap.
The multiple gains achieved by this initial effort of Six Sigma on
one of the problems of the company are attractive enough for
them to deploy Six Sigma company-wide.
• Project by project application of Six Sigma in SSI sectors can
strengthen their understanding about this strategy along with
consolidating on the gains from it. Six Sigma among the small
industries is a much-awaited movement, which can strengthen
their bottom lines vis-à-vis contribute in uplifting global
economy.
Implementing the Lean Sigma
framework in an Indian SME: a
case study
 Authors : M. KUMAR, J. ANTONY, R. K.
SINGH, M. K. TIWARI and D. PERRY
 Pages : 407-423
 Published in : Production Planning and
Control
Vol 17 June 2006.
 Published by : Taylor and Francis Group
 Presented by : Nikunj Rana (15IEP57)
Introduction
 This paper presents a case study undertaken by
implementing a Lean Sigma framework into an Indian small-
to medium-sized enterprise (SME) in order to reduce the
defects which occur in the final product manufactured by the
company and thus satisfy their customers.
 The company was regularly receiving complaints from its
customers on crack propagation in the automobile
accessories manufactured by the company. This was the
major cause of customer dissatisfaction and was putting
customer loyalty at risk.
 To retain its customers, the management realized the
importance of removing operational inefficiencies and wastes
from the organization. The goal of the organization was to
reduce the defects in the product, work-in-process inventory,
scrap and rework cost.
Frame work on lean sigma
DMAIC
DEFINE :
1)Management
Initiatives .

2)Problem
Definition.

3) Current State
Map .
 MEASURE :
1) The team had been collecting data of defective
products for the last years and had identified the
critical processes where maximum defects were
occurring, but no action was taken.
2) The company was operating at a baseline
capability of 0.12 with defects per unit (DPU)
being 0.18. The desired specification limit of
casting density was 2.73–2.78 g/cc and the
casting produced before the implementation of
Lean Sigma had an average density of 2.45
g/cc.
Analyze Phase :
The Pareto chart shown in figure illustrates the percentage
contribution
of internal and external defects in the process. It can be
concluded that internal defects are the result of poor casting density
and amounts to 67% of total defects in the process. Other defects
occur
in the de-burring, chamfering and threading operations
due to tooling and clamping problems.
Improve Phase :
 Design of Experiment
 Confirmatory Test
 5s system
 TPM

Control Phase :
Sustainability
Mistake Proofing Exercise
 Conclusion

The following conclusions are drawn from this case study:

1. The implementation of Lean Sigma framework provided an impetus

for establishing best practice within the company. Moreover, it also
provided the company with a performance benchmark on which they
could base future performance enhancement programmers
2. The optimal settings of the process parameters
have improved the casting density of the die casting
process by over 12%.
3. A significant improvement was observed in the key
performance metrics (e.g. DPU, process capability,
first time yield, etc.) after implementation of the
Lean Sigma strategy.
4. The implementation of the Lean Sigma strategy has
resulted in savings of around $140 000 per year.
5. Successful implementation of the proposed
integrated framework of Lean and Six Sigma
provided an impetus for bringing a cultural change
in the company with systematic implementation of
the integrated approach throughout the
organization.