Bending Metal: Improving Sheet Metal Repair at Tobyhanna Army Depot through Lean Six Sigma

The Army's Lean Six Sigma methodology includes five phases: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC); each of these phases includes interaction between the stakeholder and process team. This paper focuses on the application of Lean Six Sigma methodology at Tobyhanna Army Depot to help reduce overruns and repair cycle time within the sheet metal cost center. At the initiation of the project, the process incurred over 4,000 hours of overruns, a situation in which it takes longer to repair an asset than the standard hours allocated for the repair. Additionally, the average repair cycle time, amount of time required to repair an individual asset, exceeded customer expectations by almost four days. The paper describes recommended solutions to address both problems.

A case study of using the hybrid model of scrum and six sigma in software development

<span>The world of software engineering is constantly discovering new ways that lead to an increase in team performance in the production of software products and, at the same time, brings the customer's further satisfaction. With the advent of agile methodologies in software development, these objectives have been considered more seriously by software teams and companies. Due to their very nature, agile methodologies have the potential to be integrated with other methodologies or specific managerial approaches defined in line with agility objectives. One of the cases is Six Sigma, which is used in organizations by focusing on organizational change and process improvement. In the present study, attempts were made to present the hybrid software development approach, including Scrum, as the most common agile and Six Sigma methodology. This approach was practically used in a case study, and the obtained results were analyzed. The results of this evaluation showed that this hybrid method could lead to the increased team performance and customer satisfaction. However, besides these two achievements, an increase in the number of re-works, number of defects discovered, and the duration of the project implementation were also observed. These cases are in line with the main objectives of Scrum and Six Sigma and are justifiable and acceptable due to achieving those objectives.</span>

Application of lean six sigma methodology to improve the weight inconsistency problem of coffee powder packaging

This paper presents a continuous improvement (CI) project based on the application of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology. This project was carried out at coffee manufacturing industry located in northern area of Malaysia. The focus of this presented CI project is to improve the weight inconsistency problem of coffee powder packaging. The presented CI project was mainly guided with Six Sigma methodology of Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC) steps, and related Lean tools applications. The step of Define summaries the overall view of CI project. In the step of Measure, current level of sigma based on defect per million of opportunities (DPMO) calculation was determined. Initially, 6% of rejected products were recorded, which it presents the sigma level at 3.1. In the step of Analyze, a series of team-based activities towards root cause identification was carried out. It included the applications of cause effect (CE) analysis and possible causes prioritization and close observations on packaging process. In the step of Improve, the related Lean tool was proposed to improve the problem under study. In the final step of Control, related supportive actions were suggested to sustain the effectiveness of the proposed solution. There are fourteen possible causes are initially identified in CE analysis and based on team’s evaluation process of possible causes prioritization four causes are collectively to be the most possible of root cause(s). Three close observation sessions were carried out to finalize the most possible root cause of the problem. Result strongly suggested that the high variation of coffee powder’s size and inconsistency is the root cause. An improvement strategy based on Lean Manufacturing approach called ‘poka yoke’ is proposed. The proposed improvement strategy was then validated based on real packaging process scenario. Result shows that the proposed improvement strategy is significantly effective to solve the problem with 0% of reject product was recorded so far, where it is not only produced the product within the acceptable weight of 215 and 208 grams, but also presents the reduction of weight fluctuation that close to ideal weight of 208 grams.

Redesigning the Process for Scheduling Elective Orthopaedic Surgery: A Combined Lean Six Sigma and Person-Centred Approach

The Health Service Executive Ireland model of care for elective surgery supports the delivery of elective surgical care in achieving both process and clinical outcomes. This project was conducted in the Orthopaedic Department. Following an outpatient consultation with an orthopaedic surgeon, patients who required surgical intervention were scheduled for their intervention by the administrative team. Prior to commencing this project, the average time from patient consultation to being scheduled for surgery on the hospital system was 62 h/2.58 days. A pre- and post-team-based intervention design employing Lean Six Sigma methodology was applied to redesign the process for scheduling elective orthopaedic surgery. The project was informed by collaborative, inclusive, and participatory stakeholder engagement. The goal was to streamline the scheduling process for elective orthopaedic surgery, with a target that 90% of surgeries are scheduled “right first time” within 48 h/two working days of the outpatient consultant appointment. The main outcome measures showed that 100% of orthopaedic surgeries were scheduled successfully within 2 days of outpatient appointment. Duplication in work between patient services and scheduling teams was eliminated and facilitated a reduction in unnecessary staff workload. This project highlights the importance of collaborative interdisciplinary stakeholder engagement in the redesigning of processes to achieve sustainable outcomes, and the findings have informed further improvements across the hospital’s surgical scheduling system.

An Application for Measuring and Analyzing the Level of Performance Accuracy for Health Services Quality Indicators by Using Six-Sigma: A Study Case of Government Hospitals in Khartoum State

The study aimed at acknowledging the Six Sigma methodology and the existence of the essential components for the application, as well as reducing the time for completing the operations, reducing the error rate to the lowest possible level, and improving the quality of operations. For this objective, the analytical descriptive methodology was used on a sample consisted of 300 administrative and medical staff from Khartoum State Hospitals (Khartoum, Omdurman, Bahri). To this end, a questionnaire was used for collecting data and for analyzing it and achieving the results of the study by using the statistical analysis package (SPSS). The study deduced a number of results, the most important of which are that the items of commitment and supreme command support for the senior leadership and the methods of abundant human resources on quality control, and the application of the Six Sigma methodology in government hospitals in Khartoum state achieved a satisfactory level, while continuous improvement paragraphs, processes, and systems on quality control and the application of Six Sigma methodology achieved high quality. There is a significant effect on the extent of commitment and support of the higher leadership on quality control and the application of the Six Sigma methodology. Similarly, there is a statistically significant effect on the application of continuous improvement methods on quality control and Six Sigma methodology. Also, there is a statistically significant effect on the application of the abundance of human resources methods variable on quality control and the application of Six Sigma methodology in governmental hospitals in Khartoum state. The study recommended to take interest in the Six Sigma methodology and assure the possibility of using it in Khartoum State’s hospitals because of its scientific and practical importance in improving the quality of services and provided processes, and the need to provide qualified financial and human resources for using and developing Six Sigma methodology in hospitals, as well as great attention in training and providing departments heads with full knowledge of Six Sigma methodology and the fundamentals on which Six Sigma methodology, is based on its importance for hospitals. The study also recommended associating the promotions system in government hospitals in Khartoum state with the quality control program.

A Bibliometric Analysis of the Evolution of Six Sigma in the Context of Industry 4.0

Contemporary world with constantly increasing speed of change and rapid development of technologies is challenging companies to accustom to existing complexity. This led to the fact that various methodologies change accordingly. Practitioners and researchers are seeking the ways to ameliorate processes using emerging technologies. One of the methodologies is Six Sigma that has always been connected with technologies necessary for data collection and analysis. The emergence of new technologies might benefit or challenge Six Sigma. In this paper an attempt has been performed to analyze the trends in research output of the conjunction of Industry 4.0 technologies and Six Sigma methodology. This paper is based on the bibliometric analysis. In the process of analysis, it was found that the combination of Six Sigma methodology and Industry 4.0 technology has positive potential, however, not all of the technologies have been analyzed.

Implementation of Six-Sigma methodology to achieve a competitive edge in Saudi universities

Six Sigma is a business process improvement method that aims to discover and eliminate the causes of defects, mistakes, and errors. Six Sigma is a process improvement methodology that focuses on critical processes that result in unacceptable defects to customers. This study aims to Implementation of Six-Sigma methodology to achieve a competitive edge in Saudi universities. For this purpose, we used the Scopus database for the data extraction; the PRISMA statement 2015 inclusion and exclusion framework is used to select data. Six sigma keywords are used in the search bar, and 12279 results are shown and follow the screening process. The final 48 articles and reviews are used for the systematic literature review after the detailed screening process. The results have classified the literature into three significant categories, organizational performance, Lean Six Sigma, and higher education. The Saudia Arabia universities are also focusing on the collaborative research work with the different regional and international universities for the Six Sigma implementation in universities. The study's findings of the study demonistrating that universities in Saudia are focusing on developing the education structure and methods using the Six Sigma methodology and Lean Six Sigma approach.

Histology Slide Quality Improvement Project Utilizing DMAIC principle of Six Sigma Quality Improvement Methodology

Introduction/Objective DMAIC (an acronym for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) refers to a data- driven improvement cycle used for improving, optimizing, and stabilizing business processes and designs. Our goal was to utilize DMAIC principle of six sigma quality to improve histology slide quality. Methods/Case Report We “defined” the problem as suboptimal quality in endometrial biopsy slides (defects). Utilizing the DMAIC principle and adhering to a strict timeline, the defects found during baseline slide quality review were “measured” by linking the defects to specific histology competencies, which were addressed systematically for process improvement (PI). After PI, a follow up review (“improve” and “control” phases) was carried out to identify measurable outcomes as a testament to quality. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) During the problem “measurement” phase, the defects found in the baseline review of 175 slides were linked to four specific histology competencies (fixation, embedding, cutting, and staining). Processing was excluded as it is completely automated and standardized. Our analysis showed that 83.3 % of defects were linked to embedding (“tissue too dispersed”). As embedding competency depends on the size and nature of the tissue (e.g. mucus and blood admixed with tissue), grossing competency was also addressed along with embedding at the respective workstations. Recommendations were offered to the grosser, embedder, and cutter to reduce variables during the “improvement” phase. Follow up review was done on 196 slides. The number of defective slides decreased and the defects that linked to “tissue too dispersed” had an overall improvement of 91.3%. Once the PI is proven to be effective, in service to histotechnology personnel biannually were also offered during “control” phase. Conclusion We have demonstrated successful methods for improving histology slide quality utilizing DMAIC principle of quality improvement by six sigma methodology DMAIC principle can be creatively adapted in laboratory practice management to enhance quality.