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APPLICATION OF SIX SIGMA IN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY

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International Journal of Exploration in Engineering and Technology (IJEET) Research Article

APPLICATION OF SIX SIGMA IN

AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY
Sushil Kumar

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Maharaja Agrasen University, Baddi ,India

Corresponding author: Dr. Sushil Kumar, sushilt6512@gmail.com

Abstract-- Six Sigma is a strategic initiative to boost profitability, increase market share and improve
customer satisfaction through statistical tools that can lead to breakthrough quantum gains in quality. A case
study is carried out in automobile casting industry, where Six Sigma tools i.e. Taguchi approach for the
defect reduction is applied, which analyzes various significant process parameters of the casting process at a
foundry, based at north India. This study aims to develop a novel approach to create Six Sigma projects and
identify the critical parameters of these projects. The optimized parameters obtained using Taguchi method
will then be tested in an industrial case study and a trade-off will be made to finalize the recommended
process parameters used in manufacture automobile parts.

Key Words:Six Sigma, casting defects, differential housing cover. Gear Box, Rear Cover.

1. INTRODUCTION distributed. Figure 1 below shows the Normal

distribution curve. Six Sigma is based on the
Six Sigma may also be defined as the normal distribution theorem by Carl-Friedrich
powerful business strategies, which have helped Gauss with this formula:
to improve quality initiatives in many industries
around the world. Six Sigma management uses
statistical process control to relentlessly and
rigorously pursue the reduction of variation in all
critical processes to achieve continuous and
breakthrough improvements that impact the
bottom-line and/or top-line of the organization
and increase customer satisfaction. It is a
company-wide systematic approach to achieve
continuous process improvements.
A Six Sigma philosophy generates top box
customer satisfaction and repeat customers by
reducing the cost of products because it is based
on the principle, “Do right the first time”. Six
Sigma is a set of statistical tools to help
companies to measure, analyze, improve and
control processes. It is also a commitment to all
customers and consumers of products and
services that an organization continually works
on improving its products and processes to
reduce the defects. Six Sigma also provides an
atmosphere for solving many CTQ (critical-to-
quality) problems through team efforts. CTQ
could be a critical process/product result
characteristic to quality or a critical reason to
quality characteristic. The former is termed as
CTQ, and the latter CTQx.
The Greek letter σ or ‘sigma’, corresponding
to our‘s’, is a notation of variation in the sense of
standard deviation. For a stable process the Figure1. Normal distribution curve.
distance from the process mean to the nearest
tolerance limit should, according to the Six From the figure above +/-6 deviations (6 sigma)
Sigma approach, be at least six times the standard contains 99.99% of all values requirements, when
deviation σ of the process output. However, the It can never reach 100% though this means that
process mean is also allowed to vary somewhat there will always be room for improvement.
over time. If the process mean varies at most 1.5 Motorola Company modified the statistical
σ from the target value, then on average at most meaning of Six Sigma. The definition can allow
3.4 Defectives Per Million Opportunities the sample mean shifts from the center of the
(DPMO) will occur if the output is normally population, and the observed process or product

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 International Journal of Exploration in Engineering and Technology (IJEET) Research Article

would out lie the six sigma limits only 3.4 times Stable Operations: Ensuring consistent,
per million operations under the original predictable processes to improve what the
specifications. In addition, the sigma performance customer sees and feels.
can also be expressed by “Defect Per Million
Operations (DPMO)” shown in Table 1 below. Design for Six Sigma: Designing to meet
customer needs and process capability
Table 1: DEFECTS PER MILLION
OPPORTUNITIES. Our Customers Feel the Variance, Not the
Mean
Yield DPMO Shift from Popular
Often, our inside-out view of the business is based
Mean Age
on average or mean-based measures of our recent
past. Customers don’t judge us on averages, they
6.68 % 933200 ± 0σ Prior to
feel the variance in each transaction, each product
1970s
we ship. Six Sigma focuses first on reducing
process variation and then on improving the
30.9 % 690000 ± 1σ Prior to process capability. Customers value consistent,
1970s predictable business processes that deliver world-
class levels of quality. This is what Six Sigma
strives to produce.
69.2 % 308000 ± 2σ 1970s
1.1.Procedure to introduce Six Sigma
Methodology
93.3 % 66800 ± 3σ 1980s When an organization intends to introduce
Six Sigma for its new management strategy, one
should follow the following seven-step procedure:
99.4 % 6210 ± 4σ Early
1. Top-level management commitment for Six
1990s
Sigma is first and foremost. The CEO of the
corporation or business unit should genuinely
99.98 % 320 ± 5σ Mid 1990s accept Six Sigma as the management strategy.
Then organize a Six Sigma team and set up the
long-term Six Sigma vision for the organization.

99.9997 % 3.4 ± 6σ
The Six Sigma Strategy
To achieve Six Sigma quality, a process must
produce no more than 3.4 defects per million
opportunities. An “opportunity” is defined as a
chance for nonconformance, or not meeting the
required specifications. This means we need to be
nearly flawless in executing our key processes.
Key Concepts of Six Sigma
At its core, Six Sigma revolves around a few key
concepts.
Critical to Quality: Attributes most important to
the customer.
Defect: Failing to deliver what the customer
wants.
Process Capability: What your process can
deliver.
Variation: What the customer sees and feels.
2000s 2. Start Six Sigma training for champions first.
Then start the training for White belts (WBs),
Gray belts (GBs), Black belts (BBs) and Master
Black belts (MBBs) in sequence. Every employee
of the organization should take the WB education
first and then some of the WBs receive the GB
education, and finally some of the GBs receive the
BB education. However, usually MBB education
is practiced in professional organizations.
3. Choose the area in which Six Sigma will be first
introduced.
4. Deploy Critical to Quality (CTQs) for all
processes concerned. The most important is the
organization’s deployment of big CTQs from the
standpoint of customer satisfaction. Appoint BBs
as full-time project leaders and ask them to solve
some important CTQ problems.
5. Strengthen the infrastructure for Six Sigma,
including measurement systems, Statistical
Process Control (SPC), Knowledge Management
(KM), Database Management System (DBMS)
and so on.
6. Designate a Six Sigma day each month and
have the progress of Six Sigma, reviewed by top-
level management.

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International Journal of Exploration in Engineering and Technology (IJEET)
7. Evaluate the organization’s Six Sigma
performance from the customers’ viewpoint,
benchmark the best organization in the world and
revise the Six Sigma roadmap if necessary. Go to
step 1 for further improvement.
1.2.Six sigma strategies,
techniques, and principles
The following tools are used in various phases
of research:
The Seven Quality Control tools (7 QC tools) are
graphical and statistical tools, which are most
often used in quality control for continuous
improvement. Since they are so widely utilized
by almost every level of the organization, they
have been nicknamed the ‘Magnificent Seven’.
They are applicable to improvements in all
dimensions of the process performance triangle:
variation of quality, cycle time and yield of
productivity. Each one of the 7 QC tools had
been used separately before 1960. However, in
the early 1960s, they were gathered together by a
small group of Japanese scientists lead by Kaoru
Ishikawa, with the aim of providing the QC
Circles with effective and easy-to-use tools.
Seven QC tools are:
(1) Pareto chart
(2) Cause & Effect / Ishikawa / Fishbone
diagram
(3) Histogram
(4) Control Charts
(5) Scatter Diagram/Plot
(6) Flow Chart / Flow Charting
(7) Check sheet
Apart from 7 QC tools, there are some other tools,
which are useful in the implementation of Six
Sigma as listed below:
 Affinity Diagram
 Cause & Effect / Ishikawa / Fishbone
 Control Charts
 Design Of Experiment
 Flow Chart / Flow Charting
 FMEA / Risk Assessment
 Histogram
 Kano Analysis
 Pareto
 Poka Yoke (Mistake Proofing)
 Process Map / Process Mapping
 Project Charters
 Quality Function Deployment / House of
Quality
 Scatter Diagram / Plot
 SIPOC Diagram
1.3.DMAIC process
DMAIC is a closed-loop process that
eliminates unproductive steps, often focuses on
new measurements, and applies technology for
continuous improvement.
Define- Define the requirements and expectations
of the customer. Define the project boundaries.
Define the process by mapping the business flow.
Vol. 2, Issue 1, February 2016
Research Article
Measure- Measure the process to satisfy
customer’s needs, develop a data collection plan,
collect and compare data to determine issues and
shortfalls.
Analyze -Analyze the causes of defects and
sources of variation, determine the variations in
tools, the process and prioritize opportunities for future
improvement.
Improve -Improve the process to eliminate
variations, develop creative alternatives and
implement enhanced plan.
Control- Control process variations to meet
customer requirements, develop a strategy to
monitor and control the improved process,
implements the improvements of systems and
structures.
2. LITERATURE SURVEY
Casting is one of the most economical routes
to produce metallic components in which the
liquid metal is directly poured into the mould
cavity of required size and shape. The major
drawback of casting processes is the formation of
casting defects such as porosity, segregation, hot
tears etc.
Alagarsamy (2003) [1] stated that employing
a disciplined approach to understand nature of the
defect and mechanism of defect formation and
controlling key process factors, rejections can be
reduced. Muzammil et al. (2003) [8] optimized a
gear blank casting process by using Taguchi’s
robust design technique. In their study, they
demonstrated that the casting process involves a
large number of parameters affecting the various
casting quality features of the product. The
reduction in the weight of casting compared to the
target weight was taken proportional to the casting
defects.
Ghani et al. (2004) [4] stated that Taguchi’s
method of experimental design is a viable
methodology, which not only provides the
maximum amount of information with the
minimum number of trials but also establishes
functional relationships between the input and
output variables.
Vijayaram et al. (2006) [11] stated that it is
necessary to improve the quality of castings
without increase in price. The price is influenced
by the cost of production, which in turn is
influenced by rework or rejection. Attention to
quality assurance can reduce wasteful rework.
Thus, quality production results in foundry’s
growth and profit. Timely implementation of
modified techniques based on the quality control
research is necessary to avoid defects in products.
Karunakar and Datta (2007) [6] conducted
experiments with varying grain fineness number,
clay percentage, moisture percentage, mulled time
and hardness with an objective to formulate the
green sand mixture optimally.
Behera et al. (2011) [2] constructed a
benchmark model to study the solidification
behavior of green sand aluminium alloy castings
(LM6) and detection of hot spots in castings with
the help of Finite Element Method (FEM).
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International Journal of Exploration in Engineering and Technology (IJEET) Research Article

Denkena et al. (2011) [3] introduced a novel 3. SIX SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION

method for generating and analyzing computer-
aided design (CAD) models of mould cavities to Six Sigma can be implemented in
compute the tool accessibility. Singh and Mishra manufacturing, health care sector, financial service
(2011) [10] stated that reduction in a small sector, engineering and construction, research and
percentage rejection, can save lot of energy in a development sector etc.
foundry and can make it competitive in the global
market. 3.1 field of application
Singh and Khanduja (2012) [9] performed a Data have been collected from a foundry,
literature survey to highlight the status of foundry based at north India. Purpose of this research is to
industry at global level and position of India in develop a test bed for 6-Sigma based evaluation in
context to other countries. The present Indian the field of production of automobile parts by
foundry scenario has been reviewed in terms of using the different tools,
types of foundries, their production trend and
geographical clusterification. Further the concept Production of Products:
of Six Sigma has been defined and surveyed (i) Differential
deeply with respect to more frequently used (ii) Gear Box
themes. (iii) Rear Cover
Kumar et al. (2013) [7] explored Six Sigma
practice in a casting industry. That could improve (A).REAR COVER: Detailed for Jun 2015
the green sand casting process of a foundry by Total production = 1043 Metric Tones
reducing the casting defects. The goal was to Total rejection = 52 Metric Tones
determine which variables influenced this Rejection rate =4.98%
evolution and the relative weight of critical
success factors as the methodology developed. DPO DPMO Sigma Yield Cpk
Gijo et al. (2014) [5] illustrated the step-by-step 0.049822 49822.06 3.15 0.9505286 1.05.
application of Six Sigma DMAIC methodology in
a small scale foundry industry to solve an age-old (B).Gear box: Detailed for Jun 2015
problem in the organization. The root causes for Total production = 1833 Metric Tones
the problem of rejection and rework were Total rejection = 99 Metric Tones
identified through data based analysis at different Rejection rate = 5.40%
stages in the project. The process parameters were
optimized and measures for sustainability of the DPO DPMO Sigma Yield Cpk
results were incorporated in the process. 0.0540048 54004.85 3.1 0.9452007 1.0333

Figure 2. Pareto chart for Rear Cover

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International Journal of Exploration in Engineering and Technology (IJEET) Research Article

Figure 3. Pareto chart for Gear box

C).Differential Housing Cover: Detailed for Jun 2015

Total production = 1936 Metric Tones
Total Rejection = 91 Metric Tones
Rejection rate = 4.70%

DPO DPMO Sigma Yield Cpk

0.0470459 47045.95 3.15 0.9505286 1.05

Figure 4.Pareto chart for Differential Housing Cover

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 International Journal of Exploration in Engineering and Technology (IJEET)
4.FUTURE PLAN/CONCLUSION
In the above presentation, Data have been
collected and analyzed from a foundry, based at
north India. Data shows that their sigma value lay
in between 3.0-3.16 generally. Therefore to
increase the sigma value of processes, most
influencing parameters will be identified. Next,
the effective range of the parameters identified
will be studied for its effects on the sigma
performance of the processes. Analysis shall be
carried out to further identify the levels of these
influencing parameters, which will contribute to
increase the sigma value of the processes and
thereby result in the lower rejection of the
components /parts. This strategy shall be
implemented in above said foundry. An optimized
design state will be proposed later on.
REFERENCES
[1] Alagarsamy, A., “Casting defect analysis procedure
and a case history”, PT Keith Millis Symposium on
Ductile Iron Castings, Citation Corporation,
Birmingham, Alabama, 2003, October 20-23.
[2] Behera, R., Kayal, S. and Sutradhar, G.,
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in Aluminium Alloy castings: Computer Aided
Analysis and experimental validation 726.
[3] Denkena, B., Schürmeyer, J.T., Kaddour, R. and
Böß, V., “Assessing mould costs analysing
manufacturing processes of cavities”, International
Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology,
Vol. 56, 2011, pp. 943-949.
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[4] Ghani, J.A., Choudhury, I.A. and Hasan, H.H.,
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[6] Karunakar, D.B. and Datta, G.L., “Controlling
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