Purpose – This paper aims to clarify emerging aspects and trends of Six Sigma literature over 17 years, from 1992 to 2008Design/methodology/approach – The literature on Six Sigma from 417 referred journal articles in business and management disciplines, information systems and computer science, engineering, healthcare, etc were systematically analyzed based on a scheme that consists of four distinct dimensions: publication year and journal, major themes, research type, and application sector (ie manufacturing vs service)Findings – A number of key findings emerged: Six Sigma research is growing rapidly, covering various disciplines and domains with a great focus on Six Sigma tools and techniques; empirical research is dominant with more emphasis on case study approach; and the growing gap between manufacturing‐ and service‐focused articles implies the return of Six Sigma to manufacturing as its initial base Although a large volume of literature is available on Six Sigma, the topic is still under deve

Six Sigma quality: a structured review and implications for future research

Global markets are continuously changing and demanding customised, low cost, and high quality products and services; organisations that offer these products and services are dealing with these issues on a daily basis to stay competitive. Among the quality tools used to achieve competitive advantage, the 5S practice plays an important role facilitating the introduction and development of other quality and continuous improvement methods and techniques. We present results of an empirical study applied to some Mexican organisations with the aim of understanding their implementation experience, empirical relationships, and ongoing challenges associated with the 5S practice.

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Quality improvement supported by the 5S, an empirical case study of Mexican organisations

Purpose




The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of 5S initiatives as a facilitator of accruing business excellence in the manufacturing organizations.




Design/methodology/approach




The study involves empirical investigation of 92 manufacturing organizations to evaluate the contributions of 5S initiatives toward accruing business performance excellence in the respondent organizations. The study involves nine significant stimulants for 5S implementation and seven crucial performance parameters leading to realization of business excellence in manufacturing organizations.




Findings




The results clearly indicate close association between the significant nine stimulants for 5S implementation and seven crucial business excellence performance parameters. The study also establishes that 5S initiatives can significantly facilitate achievement of business excellence in the manufacturing organizations.




Originality/value




The study deploys various statistical and validation techniques to evaluate the contributions of effective 5S approach as a facilitator for accruing business excellence in manufacturing organizations.

Examining the role of 5S practices as a facilitator of business excellence in manufacturing organizations

Purpose – Derived from work conducted on the topics of Lean‐thinking and Lean‐Kaizen some management practices or techniques, such as the 5Ss, have recently become important in this research The reason for this is that more and more of the companies that apply Lean‐thinking and Lean‐Kaizen are using the 5Ss as an essential step in their implementation Therefore, this paper aims to explore the implementation of the 5Ss in multinational organisations in Mexico empirically, in order to analyse and compare them against the respective theoretical frameworks The research question that governs the study is: “How are the 5Ss implemented in an organisational context such as that of a multinational company in Mexico?”Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory multiple case study was conducted Three multinational companies, which have been established in Mexico for at least 20 years, were selected Two of these companies were from the automotive sector (suppliers) and the third was a company manufacturing hygi

An exploratory study of 5S: a multiple case study of multinational organizations in Mexico

This research conducts tests to measure the quality of e-government websites of five Asian countries via web diagnostic tools online. We propose a methodology for determining and evaluating the best e-government website based on many criteria of website quality, consisting of linear weightage model (LWM), analytical hierarchy process (AHP), fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP), and one new hybrid model (NHM). This NHM has been implemented using combination FAHP and LWM to generate the weights for the criteria which are better and more fairly preferred. The results of this study confirmed that most Asian websites are neglecting in performance and quality criteria. By applying the hybrid model approach it has resulted in significant acceleration of implementation, raised the overall effectiveness and enabled more efficient procedure. To compare the ranking methods, a combination of Friedman's test and Dunn's multiple comparison procedure is adopted. When applied to the methods presented here, these tests indicate that AHP, FAHP, and Hybrid method methods perform better than LWM.

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A comparison of Asian e-government websites quality: using a non-parametric test

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the practical feasibility of adopting a Quality Circle Financial Accounting System (QCFAS) for analyzing the performance of 5‐S teams.Design/methodology/approach – First the literature was surveyed to study the state of the art of 5‐S. This study revealed the importance of analyzing the financial performance of 5‐S. Since, 5‐S contains tangible and intangible activities, it was decided to adopt the QCFAS to financially account it. The practical validity of this preposition was tested by conducting an implementation study in a unit of a multinational abrasive manufacturing company operating in IndiaFindings – The literature review led to the finding that 5‐S could be used as an interweaving device for conglomerating world class paradigms such as total quality management (TQM) and quality circles (QCs). The practical implementation study revealed the compatibility of employing QCFAS for financially accounting 5‐S teams.Research limitations/implications – The...

Performance analysis of 5‐S teams using quality circle financial accounting system

The three fields that dominate the modern organisational scenario are Total Quality Management (TQM), Information Technology (IT) and Web Engineering (WE). Yet it appears that, so far, no model has been brought out to link these fields. In this context, this paper reports the development and evaluation of a model called Web-based Quality Function Deployment (WQFD). WQFD enables the integration of web engineering facilities with QFD. QFD facilitates the translation of customers' voices into technical languages. But its usage is limited to the internal members of the organisation. WQFD overcomes this deficiency by using experts from both within and outside the organisations to participate and share knowledge in translating customers' voices into technical languages. After its development, WQFD was demonstrated to the practitioners. Their reactions indicated its favourable practical receptivity.

Web-based QFD: a collaborative technique for supporting the adoption of customers' voices

This paper reports a research work in which a model called Web-based Quality Costing (WQCOST) has been developed. WQCOST has been developed by integrating 'Prevention, Appraisal and Failure' (P-A-F) model of quality costing with web engineering utilities. Its functionality is described by presenting important screen outputs. The feedback on WQCOST, obtained from a group of practitioners, is also appraised. Their preliminary reactions indicated WQCOST's practical validity. The paper is concluded by indicating the type of future research required for disseminating the deployment of WQCOST.

WQCOST: a web-based technique for quality cost management

The three fields that dominate the modern organisational scenario are Information Technology (IT), Six Sigma and Web Engineering (WE) The integration of these fields is necessary as they have played beneficial roles in organisational improvement In this context, this paper reports the construction and working of a model called Web-based Six Sigma (WSS) WSS enables the integration of WE facilities with the Six Sigma concept WSS also enables the participation of experts from both within and outside the organisation to share knowledge in a Six Sigma project WSS was demonstrated to practitioners Their preliminary reactions indicated WSS's practical validity

Web-based Six Sigma: a technique for zero defects manufacturing through global knowledge sharing

Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is a frequently employed technique to achieve continuous quality improvement through prevention of failures. Since the application of FMEA is largely restricted to design and production functions, an improved technique called Total Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (TFMEA) has been adopted in the research reported in this paper. Of late, organisations have been realising the importance of adopting Information Technology (IT) to enhance productivity in their operations. On realising its potential, IT has been tactically integrated with TFMEA to evolve a technique called Web-Based Total Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (WTFMEA). The functionality of WTFMEA has been explained using its screen outputs. The efforts made to practically validate WTFMEA are narrated. While concluding, the capabilities of WTFMEA in achieving continuous quality and productivity improvement through global knowledge sharing are enumerated. The limitations of WTFMEA and the ways of overcoming them in future are appraised.

C. Sudhahar

Papers

Performance analysis of 5‐S teams using quality circle financial accounting system

Web-based QFD: a collaborative technique for supporting the adoption of customers' voices

WQCOST: a web-based technique for quality cost management

Web-based Six Sigma: a technique for zero defects manufacturing through global knowledge sharing

WTFMEA: a technique for failure prevention through global knowledge sharing