SIX SIGMA

PRESENTED BY:
BATCH 1
R.SANTHOSH EGAPPAN-12T119
R.SANTHOSH VAIRAVAN-12T219
SURATKAL SHRIJAY KIRAN-12T223
BALAJI-13T403
SNEHA-12T220
MALATHI-12T113

WHAT IS SIGMA ?
A term (Greek) used in statistics to
represent
standard deviation from mean value, an
indicator of the degree of variation in a set
of a process.
Sigma measures how far a given process
deviates from perfection.
2

WHAT IS SIX SIGMA ?

Six Sigma is a problem-solving technology
that uses data, measurements, and
statistics to identify the vital few factors
that will dramatically decrease waste and
defects while increasing predictable
results, customer satisfaction, profit and
shareholder value.
The central idea behind Six Sigma is that if
you can measure how many defects you
have in a process, you can systematically
figure out how to eliminate them and get

WHY SIX SIGMA ?

Six Sigma emerged as a natural evolution in business
to increase profit by eliminating defects.
The Current business environment now demands and
rewards innovation more than ever before due to:
Customer Expectations
Technological Change
Global Competition
Market Fragmentation
4

WHEN SHOULD SIX SIGMA BE

USED?
Its usage depends on the type of business.
In general,
If there are processes that generate a lot
of negative customer feedback, whether
that customer is internal or external, the
components of Six Sigma should be
considered as a means to study and rectify
the problem.
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THE SIX SIGMA STRATEGY

To achieve Six Sigma quality, a process
must produce no more than 3.4 defects
per million opportunities.
An opportunity is defined as a chance
for non-conformance, or not meeting the
required specifications.
This means we need to be nearly flawless
in executing our key processes.

SIGMA LEVELS
Sigma Level ( Process
Capability)

Defects per Million

Opportunities

308,537

66,807

6,210

233

3.4
7

KEY CONCEPTS OF SIX

SIGMA
Critical to Quality: Attributes most important to the
customer
Defect: Failing to deliver what the customer wants
Process Capability: What your process can deliver
Variation: What the customer sees and feels
Stable Operations: Ensuring consistent, predictable
processes to improve what the customer sees and feels
Design for Six Sigma: Designing to meet customer needs
and process capability

TOOLS & TECHNIQUES

Check Sheets (collect data to make improvements)
Pareto Charts( define problem and frequency)
Cause and effect diagram (Identify possible causes to solve
problem)
Histogram (Bar charts of accumulated data to evaluate
distribution of data)
Scatter diagram (plots many data points and pattern between
two variables)
Flow Chart (Identify unwanted steps)
Control charts (Control limits around mean value)

SIX SIGMA TEAM

STRUCTURE

SIX SIGMA APPROACH DMAIC

DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and
Control) is a process for continued improvement.
This closed-loop process eliminates unproductive
steps, often focuses on new measurements, and
applies technology for improvement.
DMAIC is a generalization of Walter Shewharts PlanDo-Check-Act cycle, which provides a roadmap to
help people understand how to integrate the various
tools into an overall approach to quality
improvement.

DMAIC CORE
PROBLEM SOLVING
Define the problem
Define TOOL
Measure
Analyze
Improve
Control

Measure the gap, listen to the

process
Analyze data to determine root
causes
Improve the process Implement the
solution
Control the process, standardize, and
document Sustain the gains

DEFINE - PHASE
The objective of the Define step of DMAIC is
to identify the project opportunity and to
verify or validate that it represents
legitimate breakthrough potential.
It is desirable that a project be important to
both customers (voice of the customer
[VOC]) and the business.
The team also will need to prepare an action
plan for moving forward to the other DMAIC

MEASURE - PHASE

The purpose of the Measure step is to evaluate

and understand the current state of the process.
This involves collecting data on measures of
quality, cost, and throughput/cycle time.
It is important to develop a list of all of the key
process input variables (sometimes abbreviated
KPIV) and the key process output variables
(KPOV).
The KPIV and KPOV may have been identified at
least tentatively during the Define step, but
they must be carefully defined and measured
during the Measure step.

ANALYSE - PHASE
The objective is to use the data from the Measure
step to begin to determine the cause-and-effect
relationships in the process and to understand the
different sources of variability.
In the Analyse step the goal is to determine the
potential causes of the defects, quality problems,
customer issues, cycle time and throughput
problems, or waste and inefficiency that motivated
the project.
It is important to separate the sources of variability
into common causes and assignable causes.

IMPROVE - PHASE
In the Improve step, they turn to creative
thinking about the specific changes that can be
made in the process and other things that can
be done to have the desired impact on process
performance.
A broad range of tools can be used in the
Improve step.
Redesigning the process to improve work flow
and reduce bottlenecks and work-in-process will
make extensive use of flow charts and/or value
stream maps.

CONTROL - PHASE
The goal is to ensure that the gains are of help
in the process and, if possible, the
improvements will be implemented in other
similar processes in the business.
The financial benefits of the project should be
quantified.
The process owner should be provided with
before-and-after data on key process metrics,
operations and training documents, and
updated current process maps.

COMPANIES USING SIX SIGMA

Motorola
Ericsson
General Electric
Sony
Ford Motor Co.
CITI bank

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CASE STUDY IN AN
APPAREL INDUSTRY
Research Case: As quality plays a pivotal role
in all aspects of life, reducing the number of
defectives in garment industry is an important
function. Garment industries in India are facing
stiff competition from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and
China. At this critical juncture, it is paramount for
the manufacturers to reduce defects in their
products and become competitive.

Problem Statement: The garment industry is

suffering from high rate of rejections of their
products.

DEFINE PHASE
Goal Statement :
To reduce the defect% to minimum level and
thereby improve quality, reduce wastes and
increase productivity.

Team :
3 members

CTQ (Critical to Quality Characteristic)

:
Defective % of shirts.

PROCESS FLOW IN SUN

GARMENTS

MEASURE - PHASE
In this phase, after discussions with the
managers and supervisors data is
collected with the help of team members.
1. Data Collection Period
PERIOD

VARIABLES

RESPONSIBILITY

MAY DECEMBER
2010

Total Defectives
Checked

Team

MEASURE - PHASE
The company manufactures variety of garment products
like shirts, pants and Jackets. One product, i.e., Executive
Shirt is inspected for defects since this was the critical
product for the company as it had lot of demand and the
profit margin for this particular product is high.

MEASURE - PHASE
Capability Study:
The analysis is carried out using Mini Tab Software.

MEASURE - PHASE
Analysis:

The outcome of this corresponding phase can

be summarised as:

ANALYSE - PHASE
The past data was collected on the causes
or type of defects.

ANALYSE - PHASE
PARETO CHART:

ANALYSE - PHASE
PARETO CHART: DEFECT IDENTIFICATION

ANALYSE - PHASE
CAUSE AND EFFECT DIAGRAM:

IMPLEMENT PHASE

Through discussions with the managers

and supervisors the following remedial
actions were implemented for the each
cause.

IMPLEMENT PHASE

After remedial actions are taken to reduce

the defects, the results are encouraging.

CAPABILITY STUDY
AFTER
IMPLEMENTATION

The results are indicating that the %

defectives has been reduced to 1.95%.

CONTROL - PHASE

Control Plan: The following are the mandatory

actions that has to be taken by the management to
sustain the results after lean six sigma
implementation.
The operators of garment industry must be given training on
a continuous basis on the issue of quality.
The drawings of the product must be made available at all
the machines. The final garment pattern should be referred
by all the operators.
The management should give incentives for high quality
performance.
The focus should be on preventing defects rather than
correcting defects.
Tight quality controls should be enforced on those products
coming from subcontractors.
Training the subcontractors on the importance of quality on
continuous basis.

CONCLUSION
The garment industry in focus was
exporting the final product to European
countries.
It was operating at a percentage defective
of 4.42%.
After implementing the DMAIC
methodology the percentage defective is
reduced to 1.95%.
The same approach can be utilized to
other products of the company which will
reduce lots of defects.

THANK YOU