Application of Lean Six-Sigma methodology to reducing production costs: case study of a Portuguese bolts manufacturer

Cabrita, María do Rosário; Domingues, João Pedro

doi:10.1080/17509653.2015.1094755

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Lean Six Sigma is gaining a lot of popularity. This is evident from a number of publications on this topic (Cabrita et al 2015;Panat et al, 2014;Snee, 2010). Snee (2010) shows how Lean Six Sigma can be used to support finances during economic downturns.…”

Section: Lean Six Sigma's Impact Of Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 94%

Investigating the green impact of Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma

Chugani

Kumar

Garza‐Reyes

et al. 2017

IJLSS

166

122

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Purpose-The academic literature and research lines exploring the effect of quality improvement methods on environmental performance still remain in early stages. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate, through a systematic review of the existing academic literature, the environmental (green) impact of using quality and operations improvement methods such as Lean, Six Sigma, and Lean Six Sigma. This includes the impact on energy saving and the usage of natural resources. Design/methodology/approach-This study follows a systematic literature review approach through which it analyses research papers published in top 16 operations and quality management journals. No specific time frame was established, but a set of keywords were used to shortlist the articles. A sample of 70 articles was finally shortlisted and analysed to provide a discussion on environmental concerns related to Lean, Six Sigma, and Lean Six Sigma. Findings-The comprehensive review of shortlisted articles indicates that both Lean and Six Sigma can be considered effective methods to support the conservation of resources, combat global warming and saving energy. Various scholars provide evidence of this and as such, organisations should not only consider these methods to manage quality and improve operational performance but also meet environmental regulations. A set of research questions that demands further investigation has also been proposed based on the findings of this research. Research limitations-This study is limited to a sample of 70 articles collected from top 16 operations and quality management journals. The search of journals is also limited to a set of key words ('Lean', 'Green', 'Six Sigma', 'environment', 'sustainable' and 'sustainability') used to shortlist the sample size. Practical implications-The study shows that organisations can consider the adoption of Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma to meet environmental regulations, save costs and also meet quality management standards. This will contribute in helping organisations to formulate more effective and inclusive strategies which do not only consider the quality and operational dimensions but also the environmental dimension. Originality/value-Literature exploring the environmental/green impact of quality management methods commonly used in industry is limited. There is also a lack of studies aiming to investigate the green impact of Lean and Six Sigma in top operations and quality management journals. The study focusing on investigating the green impact of Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma methods altogether is also a research first of its kind.

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Section: Lean Six Sigma's Impact Of Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 94%

Investigating the green impact of Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma

Chugani

Kumar

Garza‐Reyes

et al. 2017

IJLSS

166

122

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These databases provide online delivery systems with full text access to thousands of high-quality articles and journals that cover a wide range of case studies of casting, chemical, textile, plastic, paper, steel manufacturing, auto, food processing, aerospace, electric and electronics industries. There are 112 research case studies taken for the critical review and analysis of measuring the success of Six Sigma in manufacturing industry (Thomas et al , 2016; Sahoo et al , 2007; Kuthe and Tharakan, 2009; Laureani and Antony, 2012; Singh and Khanduja, 2014; Chiarini, 2015; Andrew, 2009; Andrew and Barton, 2006; Andrew et al , 1994; Rivera and Marovich, 2001; Prashar, 2014a,b; Prashar, 2015; Singh et al , 2012; Bilgen and Sen, 2012; Cheng and Kuan, 2012; Hardeman and Goethals, 2011; Desai, 2012; Desai, 2008; Powell et al , 2017; Pranckevicius et al , 2008; Gijo et al , 2011; Gijo and Scaria, 2010; Gijo et al , 2014; Gijo et al , 2014; Lin and Wong, 2014; Amitrano and Lígia de Oliveira, 2014; Filardi et al , 2015; Wang and Chen, 2012; Radha Krishna and Dangayach, 2007; Nithyanandama and Pezhinkattilb, 2014; Maheshwar, 2012; Besseris, 2011; Barbosa et al , 2014; Sekhar and Mahanti, 2003; Hong, 2012; Nunes, 2015; Wu et al , 2011; Antony et al , 2012; Antony et al , 2016; Chen et al , 2014; Leu and Lee, 2016; Srinivasan et al , 2016; Srinivasan et al , 2014a, b; Chen et al , 2006; Srinivasan et al , 2014a, b; Gupta et al , 2014; Lee and Wei, 2010; Meng et al , 2011; Simanova, 2015; Kumar et al , 2006; Shanmugaraja et al , 2011; Kumar et al , 2007; Dora and Gellynck, 2015; Cabrita et al , 2015; Franchetti and Yanik, 2011; Franchetti and Pukhraj, 2013; Cournoyer et al , 2012; Zhang et al , 2014; Zhang et al , 2014; Shu et al , 2012; Kim et a...…”

Section: Research Methodology Adopted For Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical review and analysis of measuring the success of Six Sigma implementation in manufacturing sector

Patel

Desai²

2018

IJQRM

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to capture the status of implementation of Six Sigma in various manufacturing industries and also examine the success of the Six Sigma by using different performance indicators. Design/methodology/approach The methodology of critical review involves the selection and classification of 112 research articles on the implementation of Six Sigma in different manufacturing industries. The selected articles are categorized by the following: articles distribution based on the year of publication, publication database, various journals, contribution of authors, continent, scale of industry, implemented approaches, focused industry, tools and techniques used in phases of Six Sigma methodology, and performance indicators used in Six Sigma implementation. Then after, future scopes of research opportunities are derived based on significant findings. Findings The literature revealed that: Very few work was undertaken on the implementation of Six Sigma in various manufacturing industries like ceramic, paper, gems and jewelry, cement, furniture, stone, fertilizer, forging, paper and surface treatment industries. Most of the researchers have considered very few performance indicators to identify the improvement after Six Sigma implementation. But, there is no clue regarding overall improvement in different perspectives after the implementation of Six Sigma. The financial indicators, personnel indicators, process indicators and customer indicators are useful to measure the overall improvement after the implementation of Six Sigma in the manufacturing sector. Research limitations/implications The study was carried out on the implementation of Six Sigma methodology in various manufacturing industries, and various performance indicators were identified while implementing the Six Sigma methodology. Case studies pertaining to service industries were not covered here. Originality/value Very little research has been carried out to measure the overall success of implementing Six Sigma methodology in manufacturing industries. This paper will provide value to students, researchers and practitioners of Six Sigma by providing insight into the implementation of Six Sigma in manufacturing industries.

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“…It also reduced lead time by integrating Six Sigma DMAIC, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis and others. Cabrita et al (2015) applied Lean Six Sigma model in a Portuguese bolts manufacturing company to reduce the production cost. The proposed project discussed some valuable Lean and Six Sigma tools utilizing the DMAIC approach leading to a 50% cost reduction.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…customer satisfaction, cost reduction, variations reduction, and business excellence. (Ben Ruben et al, 2017;Garza-Reyes et al, 2016;Cabrita et al, 2015;Nunes, 2015;Sreeram and Thondiyath, 2015;Jie et al, 2014;Thomas et al, 2016;Ramphal, 2017;Rathilall and Singh, 2018;Raja Sreedharan et al, 2018) in the development of frameworks. All other articles (Sunder and Antony, 2018;Yadav et al, 2018b;Jevgeni et al, 2015;Swarnakar and Vinodh, 2016;Mishra and Sharma, 2014;Kowang et al, 2016;Panagopoulos et al, 2017) Jevgeni et al (2015), Nunes (2015) and Man et al (2015) applied their designed framework in process industries.…”

Section: Comparative Study Of Different Existing Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Exploring the literature on Lean Six Sigma frameworks development and their implementation in manufacturing organizations, it was found that many LSS frameworks which were developed and implemented in the organizations (Ben Ruben et al, 2017;Cabrita et al, 2015;Nunes, 2015;Deeb et al, 2018;and Pugna et al, 2016) are based on the DMAIC six sigma methodology. But, so far none of the academician/practitioners discussed the pre (initial/introduction) and post (validation/verification) implementation phase which is proposed in the present model.…”

Section: Research Gapmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Development and validation of DMAIC based framework for process improvement: a case study of Indian manufacturing organization

Kumar¹,

Singh²,

Bhamu³

2021

IJQRM

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop and validate an extended Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC) based framework through a case study of an Indian fasteners manufacturing organization.Design/methodology/approachResearch methodology is established on the development of the existing DMAIC framework through an extensive literature review of 25 LSS/DMAIC based frameworks and discussions held with practitioners. This paper also depicts a case study of Indian manufacturing organization for validation of the developed framework.FindingsThe study proposed an extended DMAIC based framework for effective implementation of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology. Furthermore, this framework has been implemented successfully in the Indian manufacturing organization and showed encouraging results. The in-house rejections of Nut Cylinder Head (NCH) were brought down to 966 from 2910 PPM and sigma level was improved by 0.40. The case organization has achieved significant improvements in the process capability, customer satisfaction, and cost savings of US$ 0.25 million in one financial year. Intangible benefits like improvements in employee's morale, communication, housekeeping and decision-making capabilities were also observed significantly.Practical implicationsThe proposed DMAIC based framework has been implemented successfully in the Indian case organization, and the results will enable the policymakers, specifically practitioners, to strategically leverage the resources for successful implementation of the LSS in healthcare, aerospace, service sectors etc.Originality/valueThis research develops a DMAIC based framework which can be used to implement LSS effectively in different industries. Moreover, the pre (initial/introduction) and post (validation/verification) implementation phase provides the top management, an edge to think strategically into broader improvement areas.

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Application of Lean Six-Sigma methodology to reducing production costs: case study of a Portuguese bolts manufacturer

Cited by 12 publications

References 18 publications

Investigating the green impact of Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma

Investigating the green impact of Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma

Critical review and analysis of measuring the success of Six Sigma implementation in manufacturing sector

Development and validation of DMAIC based framework for process improvement: a case study of Indian manufacturing organization

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