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Six Sigma Implementation to Reduce the Defects in Sheet Metal Manufacturing Industry

Praveen Saraswat, Sarita Choudhary

Abstract


In manufacturing industries, productions methods and processes are subjected to some variability which is due to inherent causes or common causes and special causes. Six sigma is a quality improvement program that aims to reduce the number of defects to as low as 3.4 parts per million. From the past literature review, it appears that six sigma has been widely applied in large manufacturing industries and it is very rare and very inconsistent in small manufacturing industries. In this study, case study of a sheet metal manufacturing industry has been discussed. The company manufactures engine mount brackets which were used in a variety of vehicles starting from small cars to locomotives. The problem that arose was the assembly of bracket elements for the engine block. Each element consists of series of holes and curves in which engine main bracket mounts with the help of nut and bolts. The element hole diameter does not match with the standard engineered specified diameter then in the final assembly of engine problem arises, same is for centre to centre distance. DMAIC (define, measure analyze, improve, control) methodology of six sigma is applied to get improvements. The results show that process is in control stage with % defective of level 1.92. It is concluded that even the application of some isolate tools from six sigma methodology provides benefits in process improvement. These results could be improved with more widespread use of six sigma tools and methodology.

Keywords


DMAIC; six sigma; process improvement

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References


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