SIX SIGMA AS A QUALITY CONTROL MEASURE – A CASE STUDY IN DAIRY INDUSTRY

ABSTRACT
In the present scenario the world is steadily moving into one global market. And to survive in the global market, Indian Organization will need to recognize the fact that they need to manufacture & provide quality products & services that are of international standards.

Six sigma a latest technique defined as a highly technical method used by engineers & statisticians to fine-tune products & processes “or It’s a way of measuring processes, a goal of near – perfection, represented by 3.4 Defects per Million Opportunities (DPMO). The higher the Sigma value the better the process. As far as Indian Co. are concerned, the Sigma value lies between 3( – 4(. Only Sundaram Motors has achieved the 5( level recently.

This paper highlights the concept of Six Sigma with the help of Case study conducted at dairy industry, M.I.D.C., Nagpur. The study shows the calculation of present Sigma level of the Industry by measuring the deviation of weight of Ice-cream pouches. The Sigma level calculated helps the company to judge its position in present competitive scenario regarding quality.


1. INTRODUCTION
Six Sigma is firstly invented / originated by Motorola company in Japan. Six Sigma is a rigorous, focussed & highly effective implementation of proven quality principles & techniques. It relies on tried & true methods that have been around for decades. Six Sigma discards a great deal of complexity that characterized Total Quality Management (TQM). It focusses on improving quality by helping organization produce products & Services better, faster  &  cheaper. Six Sigma focuses on defect prevention, cycle time reduction & cost savings. Alongwith it identifies & eliminates costs which provide no value to customers, waste costs. The Sigma level of most of the companies according to research is about 2-3 sigma level i.e. there is high level of conformities in the process or product. Many companies like Telco, TCS etc. are trying to implement Six Sigma in their companies.

2. THE SIX SIGMA ROADMAP
Fundamental areas to improve company’s value are methodology Process improvements, Product & Service improvement, Investor relations, Design methodology, Supplier improvement & Training, Recruitment.
Six Sigma Roadmap attempts to focus on value addition. The important steps in implementation of Six Sigma are :

1. Identify core processes and key customers
2. Define customer requirements
3. Measure current performance
4. Prioritize, Analyze, & implement improvements
5. Expand & Integrate the Six Sigma system. 

3. THEORY OF DEVIATION OF SIX SIGMA

Six sigma relies on the Normal distribution theory to predict defect rates. As we all know, variation is inevitable in any process. The variation can be due to chance causes that are inherent in the process (chance variation) or due to assignable causes that are external to the process. [Assignable variation] If  we detect &; remove all the assignable cause & bring the process under influence of only chance causes, then the process is under statistical control. When the process is under statistical control any measured characteristic will result in a normal distribution. Assume that the measured values follow a normal distribution with mean and standard deviation @. The process capability (pc) is defined as six times the standard deviation. PC represents the measured inherent reproducibility of  the product turned out by the process. It gives the inherent process variation. The area under the normal curve within +/-3 of the mean includes 99.73% of all measurement. The mean is centered at the nominal or target value and the upper specification limit (USL) and lower specification limit (LSL) are respectively at _/-3 of the mean. This is a three sigma process, and 99.73% of all measurements are within specification conversely, 0.27% (2700 parts per million) are outside the specification. A four Sigma process will have USL and LSL of +/-4 of the mean. Such a process has a defect rate of 63 ppm. Similarly, a six sigma process will have USL and LSL of +/-6 of the mean with a defect rate of 0.002 ppm.

SIX SIGMA CONVERSION TABLE

Based on Yield (%) in case of defectives & DPMO in case of defects the operating level of Six sigma is determined with the aid of SIX SIGMA CONVERSION



 IDENTIFICATION OF AREA OF APPLICATION (CASE-STUDY).
To explain the concept of Six Sigma, this paper consists of case study conducted at one of the dairy industry situated at MIDC, Nagpur.
Here, aim is to determine the sigma level of the company based upon the product Ice cream, Plain Vanill, Std. Vol. (ml) 900 – combo Pack.
We have concentrated on the weight of the chosen product.
Specification limit for 900 ml. Plain Vanilla Ice Cream = 500 gm. – 550 gm.
We have taken total 80 observations. These observations are given in the below mentioned table.
Product Name :- Plain Vanilla
Date : 30/08/2003
Std. Vol (ml.) 900 ml. – combo Pack


OBJECTIVE
To calculate the present sigma level of the industry by measuring the deviation as weight of a particular product. The Sigma level calculated helps the company to judge his position in present competitive scenario regarding quality.

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