WRAP THE SCRAP WITH DMAIC: Strategic Deployment of Six Sigma in Indian Foundry SMEs

Chapter 1.1 Pretext
In the present market, competitors are looking for flexibility and shorter production lead;times because only such a configuration of production system can fulfill the ever-changing;demands of customers (De Feo, 2000). But for this it is necessary to have less scrap as it is;well known that this will result into economic production (Wright and Basu, 2008). To;handle these challenges, companies are being forced to adopt such strategies/techniques;which can make production less costly and of optimum quality. Goh et al. (2004) highlights;that by scrap reduction, one can have maximum utilization of machines or equipments, which;will obviously enhance the production rate and make the overall production more feasible. So;for higher productivity, 'defect reduction' will be one of the most promising and viable;strategy and it will also help to cope up with the future challenges (Antony, 2002). To;achieve this efficacy, Six Sigma's DMAIC approach can be efficiently used in the given;production environments, particularly in foundry SMEs of India.;Over the past few decades, Six Sigma has been espoused successfully by many worldclass;companies. The main benefit of a Six Sigma program is the elimination of subjectivity;in decision-making by creating a system where everyone in the organization collects,;analyzes and displays data in a consistent way (Maleyeff and Kaminsky, 2002). Six Sigma is;regarded as a well-structured methodology for improving the quality of processes and;products. It helps to achieve the company's strategic goal through the effective use of;project-driven approach (Khan and Al-Darrab, 2010). Six Sigma projects must be linked with;business strategy and should meet the requirements of the customer (Singh & Khanduja,;2010a). Nowadays, Six Sigma has been widely adopted in a variety of industries in the world;and it has become one of the most important subjects of debate in quality management. Six;Sigma can help a company to achieve

Dr. BIKRAM JIT SINGH is working as a Professor in Mechanical Engineering Department of Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Sadopur, Ambala (Haryana). He is PhD. from National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra on Six Sigma and has done Masters of Engineering with distinction in Industrial Engineering from Thapar University, Patiala. He has a three year Professional Experience as a Manager in Light Alloy Foundry at FEDRAL MOGUL, INDIA (A US based Multi-National at Bahadurgarh, India.). He was undergone on the job training on SAP (PP-Module), QS-9000, ISO-TS 16949, SQC Tools and TPM for 2 years. He had worked as Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering Department for Two Years at RIMT-Institute of Engineering & Technology, Mandi Gobindgarh, India. He was also posted as HOD-Mechanical at BBSBPC, Fatehgarh Sahib, India for One Year. He has around 15 International Journal publications along with paper presented in number of International and National Conferences. He is a main and corresponding Author and can be contacted at chann461@yahoo.com.

Dr. DINESH KHANDUJA is a regular Professor from last 15 years at National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, India. Earlier he was posted as Assistant Professor in Regional Engineering College Kurukshetra. His fields of specializations are Industrial Engineering, Production Engineering and TQM. He had participated in more than 25 International and National Conferences and publishes around 38 Papers in various International and National Journals. He had also guided number of Master's and Doctorate students in the field of Six Sigma, Productivity Management, Waste Management and Entrepreneurship. He is also working as Head of Entrepreneurial Cell at NIT Kurukshetra India. He can be contacted at dineshkhanduja@yhaoo.com.