36,272 research outputs found

    Reducing the delivery lead time in a food distribution SME through the implementation of six sigma methodology

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    Purpose – Six sigma is a systematic data driven approach to reduce the defect and improve the quality in any type of business. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings from the application of six sigma in a food service “small to medium sized enterprise” (SME) in a lean environment to reduce the waste in this field. Design/methodology/approach – A simplified version of six sigma is adopted through the application of appropriate statistical tools in order to focus on customer's requirements to identify the defect, the cause of the defect and improve the delivery process by implementing the optimum solution. Findings – The result suggests that modification in layout utilization reduced the number of causes of defect by 40 percent resulting in jumping from 1.44 sigma level to 2.09 Sigma level which is substantial improvement in SME. Research limitations/implications – Simplicity of six sigma is important to enabling any SME to identify the problem and minimize its cause through a systematic approach. Practical implications – Integrating of supply chain objectives with any quality initiatives such as lean and six sigma has a substantial effect on achieving to the targets. Originality/value – This paper represents a potential area in which six sigma methodology along side the lean management can promote supply chain management objectives for a food distribution SME

    Applications of lean thinking: a briefing document

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    This report has been put together by the Health and Care Infrastructure Research and Innovation Centre (HaCIRIC) at the University of Salford for the Department of Health. The need for the report grew out of two main simple questions, o Is Lean applicable in sectors other than manufacturing? o Can the service delivery sector learn from the success of lean in manufacturing and realise the benefits of its implementation?The aim of the report is to list together examples of lean thinking as it is evidenced in the public and private service sector. Following a review of various sources a catalogue of evidence is put together in an organised manner which demonstrates that Lean principles and techniques, when applied rigorously and throughout an entire organization/unit, they can have a positive impact on productivity, cost, quality, and timely delivery of services

    Altı sigma yönteminin orta ölçekli işletmelerde uygulanabilirliğinin analizi ve örnek işletme uygulaması

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    06.03.2018 tarihli ve 30352 sayılı Resmi Gazetede yayımlanan “Yükseköğretim Kanunu İle Bazı Kanun Ve Kanun Hükmünde Kararnamelerde Değişiklik Yapılması Hakkında Kanun” ile 18.06.2018 tarihli “Lisansüstü Tezlerin Elektronik Ortamda Toplanması, Düzenlenmesi ve Erişime Açılmasına İlişkin Yönerge” gereğince tam metin erişime açılmıştır.Değişen pazar şartlarına uyum sağlamak işletmeninin yeniliklere açık olması ilesağlanır. Altı Sigma tekniği, uzman bir ekip ile sürekli başarı sağlamanın güzel birörneğidir.Altı Sigma'da işletme içersindeki her çalışanın amacı sıfır hataya yaklaşmaktır. Birmilyon üretimde 3,4 kusur oranını yakalamak hedeftir. Bu hedefin kaynağı müşterimemnuniyetidir. Altı Sigma, önce müşterinin ihtiyaçlarını analiz eder sonraiyileştirmeye çalışır.Dünyada olduğu gibi Türkiye'de de büyük işletmelere girdi sağlayan tedarikçilerküçük ve orta ölçekli işletmelerdir. Bu nedenle, büyük işletmelerin hatasız ürünüretebilmeleri için hatasız ürünleri tedarik etmeleri gerekir. KOB 'lerin müşterilerininihtiyacına kulak vermesi demek, hatalı ürün oranını aşağıya çekmesi anlamınagelmektedir.Bu çalışmada, orta ölçekli bir işletmede bir ürüne ait sürecinin geri dönüşünü sağlayanhata nedenlerini analiz ederek, bu sebeplerin ortadan kaldırılmasına çalışıldı. Taguchive problem çözme yöntemleri yardımıyla sürecin değişkenliği azaltılabileceği görüldü.Uygulama yapılan firmada, ele alınan sürecin biraz daha sıkı kontrol edilmesi ile sigmadüzeyinin yükselebileceği anlaşıldı.Burada dikkat edilmesi gereken husus, üst yönetimin liderliğini sağlayarak müşteriihtiyaçları doğrultusunda doğru proje seçmek ve çalışanlara gerekli eğitimlerivermektir.Anahtar Kelimeler: Altı Sigma, KOB , KaliteTo adapt to changing market conditions is implemented by being inclined to changes.The six sigma method is a good example of making continous success with aprofessional team.At six sigma, the aim of each employee at enterprise is to approach to zero defect. Theobject is to reach 3.4 defect at one million production. The source of this object iscustomer pleasure. Six sigma, firstly, analyses the needs of customer, then tries toreform.Such as in the World, also in Turkey, the purveyors that provide input to largeenterprises are small and medium size enterprises. Therefore, large enterprises shouldprovide faultless products to produce faultless products. As small size enterprises heedthe requirements of customers, they reduce the faulty product rate.At this study, it is tried to analyse the defect reasons that makes the transformation ofa process belonging to a product at a medium size enterprise and to eliminate thesereasons. By the help of Taguchi and problem solving methods, it is seen that theprocess could reduce the instability. It is come out that sigma level can increase bycontrolling the discussed process a bit closer at the firm that application is made.The point that is necessary to beware here is to select right projects on the direction ofcustomer requirements by providing the leadership of upper administration and to givenecessary educations to the employees.Keywords: Six Sigma, SMEs, Qualit

    Enablers and Constraints in Implementing Lean Manufacturing: evidence from Brazilian SMEs

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    Lean Manufacturing has revolutionized the global manufacturing environment at an unprecedented rate. In scholarly and managerial literature, many works have reported that Lean Manufacturing is a very efficient approach and a straightforward way towards process improvements, in terms of productivity and value adding activities ratio. However, many studies on Lean Manufacturing have highlighted many problems in its implementation. The analysis carried out within the research project is aimed to the factors enabling or constraining the Lean Transformation of a firm’s production system, along with the most relevant tools or practices to be applied. The research methodology used is the so-called “Normative Delphi” with a panel formed by 32 experts coming from 16 Brazilian SMEs. Our results are partially consistent with what has already been discussed in the literature and we found that the most relevant tools/practices are: value stream mapping, 5S methodology, and Kaizen (Gemba walks); the top three enabling factors are: knowledge and sponsorship of senior management, focus on continuous improvement, and employee development fostered by the company; finally, the main critical constraints are: little support from the top management, resistance to change by middle management, and poor or non-qualified Lean training activities

    Development of a road map for Lean Six Sigma implementation and sustainability in a Scottish packaging company

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    Purpose: Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a continuous improvement (CI) methodology that has been adopted by several companies as a strategy to increase their competitive advantage. However due to the misuse of LSS theory in practice, a high rate of implementation failure occurs in many organisations today. There is a need for a structured and standardized framework to describe how the LSS initiative should be implemented and sustained over time. As a result, this study aims to develop a practical, user-friendly and accurate LSS roadmap for a Scottish manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprise (SME). Design/ methodology/ approach: This approach was to analyse existing literature on Lean and Six Sigma that included roadmaps and critical success factors (CSFs). An incompany survey instrument was designed to collect quantitative data. The aim of the survey was to evaluate employees’ perceptions on the importance of LSS CSFs for the successful implementation and sustainability of a CI initiative. Based on the literature and the results from the data collected, a LSS reference guide - in the form of a roadmap - was designed to support LSS implementation and sustainability. Findings: A customised LSS reference guide in a roadmap format for the Scottish SME was proposed. This roadmap was developed by adopting existing successful roadmaps from the literature into consideration and then adapting them to fulfil the company’s particular perspective on CI. This study complements current literature on LSS roadmaps and corroborates LSS CSFs as crucial for successful LSS implementation and sustainability, regardless of the type of company and/or culture. However, a degree of importance is ascribed to the organisational culture. Research limitations: Whilst a survey was used as the data collection instrument, future interviews with employees may enhance the understanding of the organisational culture and further improved the roadmap. Originality/ Value: The authors developed a practical and strategic roadmap for a Scottish packaging Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) which can be used by other similar SMEs. The proposed LSS roadmap can be replicated and/or adapted for companies in their application of LSS. The methodology by which this study’s roadmap was designed can be used as a guide in the development of further CI roadmaps

    LSS, a problem solving skill for graduates and SMEs: Case Study of investigation in a UK Business School curriculum

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    Purpose - This research aims to investigate the feasibility of a systematic Lean Six Sigma (LSS) education through the curriculum of business schools to respond to the existing gap between the graduate’s expectation of employability and skill requirements by the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Design/approach/methodology - One UK business school has been used as a case study to conduct an extensive module and programme review followed by a semi-structured interview with the potentially suitable core and programme-specific module leaders and also the comparative Analysis between content of these modules and the existing LSS high-street training themes. Findings – The result revealed a high potential of the existing modules in the business schools equivalent to the private sector training providers to increase the level of LSS problem solving knowledge and skill for all graduates and improve their employability and productivity for the SMEs. Practical implications/limitations – This research has been carried out in a single UK–based Business School through a qualitative approach. A further in-depth analysis in a broader scale is required to investigate the practical implications in a better way. Originality/Value – The result of this study highlights the role of LSS to reduce the knowledge and skill gap between the business schools as the source of the explicit knowledge, graduates as the knowledge and skill bearer, and SMEs as the knowledge and skill users

    A Preliminary Study of Applying Lean Six Sigma Methods to Machine Tool Measurement

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    Many manufacturers aim to increase their levels of high-quality production in order to improve their market competitiveness. Continuous improvement of maintenance strategies is a key factor to be capable of delivering high quality products and services on-time with minimal operating costs. However, the cost of maintaining quality is often perceived as a non-added-value task. Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the measurement procedures necessary to guarantee accuracy of production is a more complex task than many other maintenance functions and so deserves particular analysis. This paper investigates the feasibility of producing a concise yet effective framework that will provide a preliminary approach for integrating Lean and Six Sigma philosophies to the specific goal of reducing unnecessary downtime on manufacturing machines while maintaining its ability to machine to the required tolerance. The purpose of this study is to show how a Six Sigma infrastructure is used to investigate the root causes of complication occurring during the machine tool measurement. This work recognises issues of the uncertainty of data, and the measurement procedures in parallel with the main tools of Six Sigma’s Define-Measure-Analyse-Improve-Control (DMAIC). The significance of this work is that machine tool accuracy is critical for high value manufacturing. Over-measuring the machine to ensure accuracy potentially reduces production volume. However, not measuring them or ignoring accuracy aspects possibly lead to production waste. This piece of work aims to present a lean guidance to lessen measurement uncertainties and optimise the machine tool benchmarking procedures, while adopting the DMAIC strategy to reduce unnecessary downtime

    Operational Excellence in Manufacturing, Service and the Oil & Gas: the Sectorial Definitional Constructs and Risk Management Implication

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    The current global business climate has not been favorable to most firms irrespective of industry affiliation. That condition necessitated companies to adopt operational excellence as a strategy for optimising output with little resources, reducing lead time with the efficient use of assets and employees and avoiding safety and health issues to people and the environment. As a result of the need for operational excellence, many kinds of literature defined the concept based on the context of industry or sector. Industries such as manufacturing, services, oil and gas, mining and so many industries to mention a few, have their unique construct in the definition and therefore causing dilemma on which dimension to hold on to. It is against this backdrop that this paper synthesizes and integrate all the varying dimensions and fuses out similarities, differences and the antecedence of research directions taken on the few mentioned sectors. The paper thus concludes that the unique construct among all the definitions is continuous improvement, cost reduction, quality, time utilization, operational efficiency, staff involvement and output optimisation. However, they varied on risk management, staff health, safety and the concern for the environment, which is unique to oil and gas industry and that can affect the choice of research variables

    Methods and Conditions for Achieving Continuous Improvement of Processes

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    In the early twentieth century, the Taylor model improved, in a spectacular maner the efficiency of the production processes. This allowed obtaining high productivity by low-skilled workers, but used in large number in the execution of production. Currently this model is questioned by experts and was replaced by the concept of "continuous improvement". The first signs of change date from the '80s, with the apparition of quality circles and groups of operators on quality issues, principles which are also found in other continuous improvement strategies like: TQM (Total Quality Management), TPM (Total Production Maintenance), Kaizen and Six-Sigma. All these strategies are based on an active participation of the workers. Within this framework, many companies organize autonomous teams of workers responsible for organizing their work and improve economic performances.continuous improvement; segment improvement; Kaizen; TQM; TPM; autonomous teams; Six Sigma.

    Business Process Management Education in Academia: Status, challenges, and Recommendations

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    In response to the growing proliferation of Business Process Management (BPM) in industry and the demand this creates for BPM expertise, universities across the globe are at various stages of incorporating knowledge and skills in their teaching offerings. However, there are still only a handful of institutions that offer specialized education in BPM in a systematic and in-depth manner. This article is based on a global educators’ panel discussion held at the 2009 European Conference on Information Systems in Verona, Italy. The article presents the BPM programs of five universities from Australia, Europe, Africa, and North America, describing the BPM content covered, program and course structures, and challenges and lessons learned. The article also provides a comparative content analysis of BPM education programs illustrating a heterogeneous view of BPM. The examples presented demonstrate how different courses and programs can be developed to meet the educational goals of a university department, program, or school. This article contributes insights on how best to continuously sustain and reshape BPM education to ensure it remains dynamic, responsive, and sustainable in light of the evolving and ever-changing marketplace demands for BPM expertise
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