Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by LULEA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY For Authors: If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service. Information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Additional help for authors is available for Emerald subscribers. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com With over forty years' experience, Emerald Group Publishing is a leading independent publisher of global research with impact in business, society, public policy and education. In total, Emerald publishes over 275 journals and more than 130 book series, as well as an extensive range of online products and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 3 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. Abstract Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to present a study of how Six Sigma influences job satisfaction among employees at three large companies with manufacturing units in Sweden that have used different implementation strategies. Design/methodology/approach-The study was performed using a survey distributed to those affected by the implementation at the three company sites, including those not directly involved in any Six Sigma activities. Findings-Employees participating in Six Sigma feel positive changes in many aspects of job satisfaction. The Black Belts (BBs) felt, on the average, positive changes in almost all the tested areas. The largest changes are related to personal and new skill development, influence on work duties and enjoying the work. BBs also feel more recognition from management. Employees not involved in the Six Sigma projects do, on average, also feel positively influenced by Six Sigma, but the tendency is not as clear. Research limitations/implications-The results constitute a platform for further studies on the relation between Six Sigma applications and job satisfaction due to the different approaches used in the three studied plants. Practical implications-The positive results should help alleviate concerns of job satisfaction due to implementation of Six Sigma. Originality/value-The paper fills a knowledge gap concerning the effect of Six Sigma on employees' well being and job satisfaction.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify, present and categorise the main requirements, challenges and impacts of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) applications. Emphasis is given to the soft impacts of LSS applications, which are intangible in nature and difficult to quantify and measure, highlighting the most frequently cited ones. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative synthesis of the studies using the narrative synthesis approach is adopted to descriptively summarise and categorise the requirements, challenges and impacts of LSS applications. The studies were searched by using the following keywords: “LSS applications,” “LSS requirements,” “LSS challenges” and “LSS impacts” in almost all major electronic databases such as Emerald, Taylor and Francis, ScienceDirect and Wiley. A total of 116 articles published between 2007 and 2017 in 41 academic journals were collected and reviewed. Consideration was also given to a number of substantial publications in 2006, 2018 and 2019. Findings In addition to its process efficiency and financial impacts, LSS was found to have another impact category related to individual and organisational behaviours. Management commitment, training and organisational culture were concluded to be amongst the most important and required categories for successful LSS applications. It was also found that the lack of awareness of LSS tools and benefits and the lack of change management and resistance to change were amongst the most cited categories of implementation challenges. Research limitations/implications The studies published between 2007 and 2017 are mainly considered in this paper. It is believed that 10-year publication period considered in this research is sufficient to study the evolution, benefits, limitations and future trends of a particular research topic. However, the exclusion criteria used in the search process with respect to the articles’ year of publication and search terms and keywords may limit the generalisation of the research findings. In addition, the qualitative nature of this research study and the lack of empirical data to support its findings is another limitation that future research should consider. Practical implications This research paper may serve as a valuable source of information for LSS researchers as it will provide them with useful and new insights and directions for further research in LSS. It will also increase the awareness of LSS practitioners about the kind of impact LSS has, and therefore, achieve a better utilisation of its tools by ensuring availability of application requirements and overcoming application challenges. Originality/value This study differs from previous research studies as it focusses attention on the soft impacts of LSS applications and highlights them. The study identifies and prioritises LSS application impacts, requirements and challenges. The study on these aspects was found to be limited and lacking in previous research studies.

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SUMMARYThe cumulative count of a conforming (CCC) chart is used to monitor high-quality processes and is based on the number of items inspected until observing r non-conforming ones. This charting technique is known as a CCC-r chart. The function of the CCC-r chart is the sensitive detection of an upward shift in the fraction defectives of the process, p. As r gets larger, the CCC-r chart becomes more sensitive to small changes of upward shift in p. However, since many observations are required to obtain a plotting point on the chart, the cost is fairly high. For this trade-off problem it is necessary to determine the optimal number of non-conforming items observed before a point is plotted, the sampling (inspection) interval, and the lower control limit for the chart. In this paper a simplified optimal design method is proposed. For illustrative purposes, some numerical results for the optimal design parameter values are provided. The expected profits per cycle obtained using the proposed optimal design method are compared with those obtained using other misspecified parameter values. The effects of changing these parameters on the profit function are shown graphically.

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We develop multistage lot-sizing models for imperfect production processes. The effect of inspection errors in screening non-conforming items at various stages has been incorporated. Inspection and restorstion of the processes at all stages have also been considered. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate various aspects of the models developed. It is shown that when inspection and restoration are introduced, lower costs are incurred and larger lot sizes are produced because of reductions in quality control costs.

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