IMPLEMENTATION OF SIX SIGMA IN INDIAN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

Abstract

Higher Productivity achievement is very crucial factor for the field of production. With the High productivity various other factors must be taken in to consideration in manufacturing industries such as global competitors, diversity in product range, lead time and customer demand in terms of quality and quantity. A new benchmark called Six Sigma has been invented for dealing with all these needs. Six sigma is a quality initiative which reduces variations in a process and helps to lower the cost of product as well as process. To sustain in today‟s global completion, organizations key to long-term success is being able to do certain things better than your competitors can do. Hence many companies are in the process of trying to „do it right the first time‟ in every process of the business like new product development, supply chain management, marketing and manufacturing processes also. Traditional manufacturing approaches are no longer sufficiently competitive weapons by themselves. Organizations must consequently develop new methods and perspectives to meet these market needs in a timely and cost effective manner. In response to this, many organizations have started to adopt different philosophies like Total Quality Management, Total Preventive Maintenance, Six Sigma, Lean Enterprise etc., in their business processes to stay in the competitive world market. In the pursuit of improved operational performance and higher customer satisfaction, six sigma has been recognized as a systematic and structured methodology that attempts to improve process capability through focusing on customer needs. Although many Indian industries have started embraced the six sigma business improvement strategy, the adoption of said strategy in Indian industries is not as encouraging as it should be. There is no clear consensus among the manufacturers about six sigma implementation and also the absence of a practical and detailed framework to follow is an issue of concern to those organizations interested to implement six sigma principles especially for Indian organizations. Hence, there is a need for an empirical investigation of six sigma in the Indian industry. To fulfill this requirement this study was undertaken. In the first phase literature review of six sigma is undertaken and the existing frameworks for six sigma were identified. Their validity and reliability in the present Indian industrial scenario was analyzed. It was found that none of the existing frameworks were fulfilling the requirements of the present 2

manufacturing scenario. Hence, a framework for six sigma was proposed. The proposed framework was developed by performing a comparative analysis of the existing frameworks and empirical data collected from validation of existing six sigma frameworks. The proposed framework is represented in the form of a house having nine pillars supporting the roof of six sigma. The foundation was made up of key element top management commitment and leadership. To validate the same the systematic approach for empirical investigation was used. A survey instrument was developed to do empirical study across five important sectors of Indian manufacturing industry viz. – automobile, electrical and electronics, machines and equipment‟s, process industries and textile. Further, the data obtained from the survey is subjected to statistical analysis using statistical computing package SPSS® 18.0v. Various data analysis methods such as descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, reliability and validity analysis, factor analysis and inter item analysis were used and the analysis indicated that the developed framework is valid in the Indian scenario. Apart from the ISM model and structural equation modeling were also used. Finally, the applicability of the proposed framework for six sigma was checked by providing empirical survey and ISM model also. Thus, it is believed that the proposed framework can help the managers to understand the various initiatives they have to take, to move towards implementation of six sigma and being the best or excellent organizational activities.