An empirical study into the limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma in manufacturing and service organisations

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to carry out an empirical study of the limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma in manufacturing and service companies.Design/methodology/approach: The authors developed an online survey instrument based on the existing literature addressing the current limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma in manufacturing and service companies. In this study, 75 Six Sigma Master Black Belts, 39 Black Belts and 12 Green Belts from large manufacturing and service companies participated; each of whom is familiar with the Six Sigma topics.Findings: This study reports the top 5 limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma from the viewpoints of subject matter experts from large manufacturing and service companies from over 20 countries. The main finding is that the top 4 limitations were identical for both manufacturing and service companies. These limitations include: the integration of Six Sigma with Big Data, the use of Six Sigma in small medium and micro-enterprises, an over emphasis of Six Sigma on variability reduction and the poor implementation of Six Sigma and its resultant negative impact on employee satisfaction.Practical implications: In order to sustain Six Sigma initiatives in organisations, the authors argue that the limitations and emerging trends of this powerful business strategy should be understood and appropriate remedial strategies developed to address said limitations.Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study to examine the limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma in both manufacturing and service organisations. Moreover, the findings of the study can be very beneficial to many organisations.</p

An Empirical Study Into the Limitations and Emerging Trends of Six Sigma:Findings From a Global Survey

The purpose of this article is to identify and evaluate the limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma from the perspectives of Six Sigma experts. The authors developed an online global survey and deployed the survey to 1250 Six Sigma experts of which 307 experts responded. The article finds integration of Six Sigma with Big Data to be the topmost among Asian, South American, and African experts, whereas European and North American experts felt Six Sigma in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises and Micro-enterprises would be very beneficial. The manufacturing sector experts nominated the topmost emerging trend as Six Sigma in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises and Micro-enterprises to be very challenging and will be rewarding if implemented properly. In the service sector, the topmost emerging trend was the integration of Six Sigma with Big Data. However, public sector experts felt variance reduction should not be the only goal of Six Sigma implementation. The that master black belts perceived Six Sigma in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises and Micro-enterprises would be advantageous, whereas Black and Green Belts perceived Integration of Six Sigma with Big Data to be topmost emerging trend

State Relationship with Private Legal Entities on Oil and Natural Gas Management in Indonesia

Indonesia has Undang-Undang Dasar Negara Republik Indonesia 1945 (UUD NRI 1945), Chapter 33 (3) UUD NRI 1945 give a mandate to the state that is equipped with the right to control the state as an instrument to achieve one of the highest goals of establishment Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia (NKRI), that is: promote the general welfare. The state represented by BP Oil and gas and then SKK Oil and gas, is in an unequal position with private legal entities in the upstream oil and gas business. The concept of the relationship between the state and private legal entities in the management of oil and gas is deemed by the MK to be inappropriate or contrary to the meaning Chapter 33 (3) UUD NRI 1945, which causes the lack of realization of oil and gas management for the greatest prosperity of the people. Management of oil and gas resources that are not in line or contrary to meaning Chapter 33 (3) UUD NRI 1945 can cause the goal of the greatest prosperity of the people not to be achieved. In the management so far, it is difficult to realize the nature of the constitutional management of oil and gas resources, this occurs because the Government of Indonesia as the representative of the state is apparently unable to maintain state sovereignty and adequate state control rights in the presence of foreign contractors involved in the management of oil and natural gas resources. through cooperation contracts due to ignoring priorities to government agencies such as independent BUMN. BUMN must dominate the management of oil and gas as strategic natural wealth in Indonesia, so that state sovereignty and the right to control the state can be used for the greatest prosperity of the people without third party intervention

Developing an Industry 4.0 Readiness Model for Indian Engineering Industries

For India to be a global economic superpower, the Indian Engineering Industry which at present is the largest foreign exchange earner must make its strong presence in the global markets. Industry 4.0 is one such initiative which has the power to transform the Indian Engineering Industry to be globally competitive along several strategic dimensions. Industry 4.0 is gradually making inroads and yet, there is no model to assess whether the Indian Engineering Industry is prepared to implement Industry 4.0. This study develops a multi-dimensional Industry 4.0 readiness model by analysing in-depth the extant literature. A theoretical framework for assessment is developed. Further, the developed model is qualitatively analysed using the ABCD framework. Practical application of Industry 4.0 readiness model in Indian Engineering Industries is discussed. This is the first Industry 4.0 readiness model developed for Indian Engineering Industries

Practical Lessons for Engineers to adapt towards Industry 4.0 in Indian Engineering Industries

Industry 4.0 is the current buzzword in the modern organization. It promises to revolutionize the Industry with automation and computing technologies. Indian Engineering Industry is the largest segment among the Indian Industries having a huge export potential. Industry 4.0 is making inroads into this high potential Industry in a gradual manner. There are very few studies as to how should engineers adapt with the skills and ability requirements of knowledge society created due to the application of Industry 4.0. The main aim of this paper is to critically analyze the previous studies so that engineers can adapt to Industry 4.0. This study finds six dimensions engineers must adapt while working in Industry 4.0 environment. Though there have been numerous literature reviews on Industry 4.0, however this is the first study carried out on engineer adaptability for Industry 4.0 in the contextual domain of Indian Engineering Industries

The misplacement of ISO 18404:2015 in organisational improvement : a point-counterpoint article

Purpose. This paper gives the background to the ISO 18404:2015 standard and explains its rationale. It aims to rebut the Oudrhiri et al. (2022) paper. Furthermore, this paper adds further evidence of the misplacement and unfitness for use of the standard, as evidenced in the previous work by Antony et al. (2021, 2022). Design/methodology/approach. A point-counterpoint methods approach with a literature review of studies available on ISO 18404:2015 to respond to the Oudrhiri et al. (2022) study. Findings. The findings indicate that Oudrhiri et al.'s (2022) work is not open minded in relation to ISO18404. Each point raised in the Oudrhiri et al. (2020) study has been answered and counter argued. Research limitations/implications. Other than Antony et al.'s three studies (2021 and 2022) and Oudrhiri et al.’s (2022) study empirical studies looking into the impact of the ISO 18404 standard in the literature were limited. As the literature has shown, many companies are not utilising the standard given its current format; hence, a lack of information relating to the practical implementation is sparse. Practical implications. The findings indicate that Oudrhiri et al.'s (2022) work can be answered and counter argued. Originality/value. This study consolidates and strengthens the findings from the three studies by Antony et al. (2021 and 2022) and acts as a rebuttal to the Oudrhiri et al. (2022) study

State Relationship with Private Legal Entities on Oil and Natural Gas Management in Indonesia

Indonesia has Undang-Undang Dasar Negara Republik Indonesia 1945 (UUD NRI 1945), Chapter 33 (3) UUD NRI 1945 give a mandate to the state that is equipped with the right to control the state as an instrument to achieve one of the highest goals of establishment Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia (NKRI), that is: promote the general welfare. The state represented by BP Oil and gas and then SKK Oil and gas, is in an unequal position with private legal entities in the upstream oil and gas business. The concept of the relationship between the state and private legal entities in the management of oil and gas is deemed by the MK to be inappropriate or contrary to the meaning Chapter 33 (3) UUD NRI 1945, which causes the lack of realization of oil and gas management for the greatest prosperity of the people. Management of oil and gas resources that are not in line or contrary to meaning Chapter 33 (3) UUD NRI 1945 can cause the goal of the greatest prosperity of the people not to be achieved. In the management so far, it is difficult to realize the nature of the constitutional management of oil and gas resources, this occurs because the Government of Indonesia as the representative of the state is apparently unable to maintain state sovereignty and adequate state control rights in the presence of foreign contractors involved in the management of oil and natural gas resources. through cooperation contracts due to ignoring priorities to government agencies such as independent BUMN. BUMN must dominate the management of oil and gas as strategic natural wealth in Indonesia, so that state sovereignty and the right to control the state can be used for the greatest prosperity of the people without third party intervention

Quality management as a means for micro-level sustainability development in organizations

Purpose. The use of quality management (QM) to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) is a topic of growing interest in academia and industry. The IAQ (International Academy for Quality) established Quality Sustainability Award in 2020, a testament to this growing interest. This study aims to investigate how QM philosophies, methodologies and tools can be used to achieve sustainable development in organizations. Design/methodology/approach. Five large manufacturing organizations – three from India and two from China – who reported their achievements about using QM in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were studied using multiple sources of data collection. A detailed within-case and cross-case analysis were conducted to unearth this linkage's practical and theoretical aspects. Findings. The study finds that QM methodologies effectively met the five organizations' UNSDGs. These organizations successfully used OPEX (Operational Excellence) methodologies such as Lean, Kaizen and Six Sigma to meet UNSDGs 7, 11, 12 and 13. Moreover, UNSG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) is the most targeted goal across the case studies. A cross-case analysis revealed that the most frequently used quality tools were Design of Experiments (DoE), Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA), C&E analysis and Inferential statistics, among other essential tools. Research limitations/implications. The study's sample size was limited to large-scale manufacturing organizations in the two most populous countries in the world. This may limit the study's generalizability to other countries, continents, or micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Additionally, the study's conclusions would be strengthened if tested as hypotheses in a follow-up survey. Practical implications. This practical paper provides case studies on how to use QM to impact SDGs. It offers both descriptive and prescriptive solutions for practitioners. The study highlights the importance of using essential QM tools in a structured and systematic manner, with effective teams, to meet the SDGs of organizations. Social implications. The study shows how QM can be used to impact UNSDGs, and this is very important because the UNSDGs are a set of global objectives that aim to address a wide range of social and environmental issues. This study could motivate organizations to achieve the UNSDGs using essential QM tools and make the world a better place for the present and future generations. Originality/value. This case study is the first to investigate at a micro-level how QM can impact UNSDGs using live examples. It uses data from the IAQ to demonstrate how QM can be integrated into UNSDGs to ensure sustainable manufacturing

Critical failure factors for Quality 4.0 : an exploratory qualitative study

Purpose. This study aims to investigate the adoption of Quality 4.0 (Q4.0) and assess the critical failure factors (CFFs) for its implementation and how its failure is measured. Design/methodology/approach. A qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with quality managers and executives was conducted to establish the CFFs for Q4.0. Findings. The significant CFFs highlighted were resistance to change and a lack of understanding of the concept of Q4.0. There was also a complete lack of access to or availability of training around Q4.0. Research limitations/implications. The study enhances the body of literature on Q4.0 and is one of the first research studies to provide insight into the CFFs of Q4.0. Practical implications. Based on the discussions with experts in the area of quality in various large and small organizations, one can understand the types of Q4.0 initiatives and the CFFs of Q4.0. By identifying the CFFs, one can establish the steps for improvements for organizations worldwide if they want to implement Q4.0 in the future on the competitive global stage. Originality/value. The concept of Q4.0 is at the very nascent stage, and thus, the CFFs have not been found in the extant literature. As a result, the article aids businesses in understanding possible problems that might derail their Q4.0 activities