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Winning customer loyalty in an automotive company through Six Sigma: a case study
Author(s) -
Kumar Maneesh,
Antony Jiju,
Antony Frenie Jiju,
Madu Christian N.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
quality and reliability engineering international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1099-1638
pISSN - 0748-8017
DOI - 10.1002/qre.840
Subject(s) - dmaic , six sigma , automotive industry , customer satisfaction , profitability index , manufacturing engineering , pareto chart , process management , loyalty business model , engineering , service quality , control chart , control (management) , quality (philosophy) , process (computing) , operations management , computer science , service (business) , business , pareto principle , marketing , philosophy , finance , lean manufacturing , artificial intelligence , epistemology , operating system , aerospace engineering
Six Sigma is a disciplined approach to improving product, process and service quality. Since its inception at Motorola in the mid 1980s Six Sigma has evolved significantly and continues to expand to improve process performance, enhance business profitability and increase customer satisfaction. This paper presents an extensive literature review based on the experiences of both academics and practitioners on Six Sigma, followed by the application of the Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control (DMAIC) problem‐solving methodology to identify the parameters causing casting defects and to control these parameters. The results of the study are based on the application of tools and techniques in the DMAIC methodology, i.e. Pareto Analysis, Measurement System Analysis, Regression Analysis and Design of Experiment. The results of the study show that the application of the Six Sigma methodology reduced casting defects and increased the process capability of the process from 0.49 to 1.28. The application of DMAIC has resulted in a significant financial impact (over U.S. $110 000 per annum) on the bottom‐line of the company. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.