6. Six Sigma implementation
Numerous authors have reported on the positive roles of SMEs in the regional as well
as global economy. Antony et al. (2005) “suggests that SMEs are the very lifeblood of a
modern economy”. This implies that the sustainability in the SMEs sector is
warranted. Hence Six Sigma implementation is a major concern and in view of this the
findings as well as suggestions offers by the authors for possible implementation of
Six Sigma in SMEs is given below.
Husband and Mandal (1999) stressed on the need to develop a SME centric model
for Six Sigma implementation, because of its uniqueness in manufacturing operations.
Country Reference Salient issues regarding Six Sigma implementation in SMEs
India Kumar (2000) The benefits of Six Sigma implementation:
Improved product reliability, capacity and customer satisfaction
Reduced cycle time
Faster return on investment
Lakshmikanthan
(2002)
Use of statistical tools that are part of Six Sigma methodology
Data driven decision making in SMEs
Dalu and Deshmukh
(2005)
Low awareness and implementation of TQM hampers quality
management in SMEs
Sharma and
Bhagwat (2007)
Strategizing the Six Sigma implementation process in view of
competitive priorities, benefits observed/perceived, effective
management
Radhakrishna and
Dangayach (2007)
Use of DMAIC for improving process efficiency
Deshmukh and
Lakhe (2010)
Majority of SMEs located in central India is aware of Six Sigma;
however most of them have never used it
Taiwan Cheng (2007) Importance of organizational culture for Six Sigma implementation
DMAIC has significant influence on quality performance
Yang et al. (2008) Correct identification of critical success factors for Six Sigma
implementation
Using advanced statistical tools
UK Thomas and Barton
(2006)
Identifying critical to quality issue
Thomas and Lewis
(2007)
Optimum parameter settings and the maintenance activities are
critical for significant improvements in product quality
USA Motwani et al. (2004) Six Sigma training
Turkish Koh et al. (2007) Role of information system
Australia Chung and Tibben
(2006)
Proposed use of Roger’s Innovation Theory to explore the processes
involved in the adoption of SMEs cluster by SMEs
South
Africa
Merwe et al. (2002) New product development in SMEs
Czech
Republic
Mach and Guaqueta
(2001)
Statistical process control and Six Sigma
Table III.
Salient finding of
Six Sigma studies in
global SMEs
Six Sigma
and SMEs
163
They also state that the model should posses a sequence of dimensions that are unique
to SMEs or else there lies a risk of compromise to achieve significant advancement in
terms of the quality. Furthermore, Tennant (2001) argues that:
[. . .] in small companies, the top management team needs to be visibly supportive of every
aspect of Six Sigma initiative and they must demonstrate by their active participation,
involvement and by their actions that such support is more than lip service. In SMEs, he stated
that Six Sigma implementation was directly associated with the management strategy, culture
change, and the organization needs to build all of this into a sound corporate strategy plan.
In addition to this, Wessel and Burcher (2004), identify the specific requirements in
their study for Six Sigma implementation in the SMEs of Germany. This study also
showed that many SMEs either do not know about the Six Sigma or do not believe their
organization is suitable for its implementation. The salient findings of studies
concerning literature of Six Sigma implementations carried globally are presented in
Table IV.