STUDY OF FEASIBILITY OF SIX SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION IN A MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY : A CASE STUDY

This paper discusses the implementation of Six-sigma methodology in reducing rejection in a welding electrode manufacturing industry. The Six-sigma DMAIC (define– measure – analyse –improve – control) approach has been used to achieve this result. This paper explains the step-by-step approach of Six-sigma implementation in this manufacturing process for improving quality level. This resulted in reduction of rejection, and thus, reduced the Defect Per Million Output (DPMO) from 28356.96 to 1666.67. This had resulted in increasing the sigma level from 3.41 to 4.43, without any huge capital investment. During this study, data were collected on all possible causes and was analysed and thereby conclusions were made. Implementation of Six-sigma methodology has resulted in large financial savings for the industry. KeywordsSix-sigma; DMAIC; Regression Analysis; Process Capability; sigma level; fishbone diagram; SIPOC diagram; Pareto Chart.