Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2015 Vol II

WCE 2015, July 1 - 3, 2015, London, U.K.

Implementation of a Lean Six Sigma Project in

a Production Line
Valter R. Morais, Sérgio D. Sousa, Member, IAENG and Isabel Lopes

Strategic planning has an important role in running a

Abstract—Companies from the motorcycles components business and allows foreseeing future implications of
branch are dealing with a dynamic environment, resulting present decisions and prepare for the changes that occur in
from the introduction of new products and the increase of the political environment, economic, social and
market demand. This dynamic environment requires frequent
changes in production lines and requires flexibility in the
technological, seizing opportunities and meeting the unique
processes, which can cause reductions in the level of quality threats of these environments [3]. Making organizations
and productivity. This paper presents a Lean Six Sigma more efficient requires continuous planning and may require
improvement project performed in a production line of the investments to adapt processes to the company's strategy.
company's machining sector, in order to eliminate losses that These actions may not bring immediate results, but
cause low productivity, affecting the fulfillment of the differentiate them from competitors over time [4].
production plan and customer satisfaction. The use of Lean
methodology following the DMAIC stages allowed analyzing
Standardization is an important factor to reduce variation
the factors that influence the line productivity loss. The major and increase the efficiency of processes [5]. For Harrington
problems and causes that contribute to a reduction on [6], statistical process control is a source of information for
productivity and that were identified in this study are the lack the manager and assists in the continuous improvement of
of standardization in the setup activities and the excessive operations performance and processes in a sustainable
stoppages for adjustment of the processes that caused an manner. Organizations need to adapt to market needs and to
increase of defects. Control charts, Pareto analysis and cause-
and-effect diagrams were used to analyze the problem. On the
identify opportunities in order to maximize three factors:
improvement stage, the changes were based on the • Efficiency: producing with fewer resources;
reconfiguration of the line layout as well as the modernization • Effectiveness: achieving the desired results;
of the process. Overall, the project justified an investment in • Flexibility: Adapting to the market needs to meet
new equipment, the defective product units were reduced by customer expectations.
84% and an increase of 29% of line capacity was noticed.
The Six Sigma methodology is the basis for the
Index Terms— Continuous Improvement, Industrial development of improvement project, starting by defining
Projects, Lean Six Sigma what the Defect is. The goal of the project will be the
reduction of its occurrence, increasing the sigma level. The
methodology has a set of steps, namely, Define, Measure,
I. INTRODUCTION Improve and Control (DMAIC) and tools that contribute to

T HE Lean Six Sigma (LSS) method promotes, in the success of a project.

organizations, the continuous improvement of products The justification to combine Lean and Six Sigma can be
(and/or services) and processes that aligns with the business explained by its complementary advantages. According to
strategy to maximize the value of products [1]. The LSS can Werkema [7], Lean philosophy does not have associated
be defined as a work philosophy adopted by companies tools to carry out statistics analysis or a structured method to
using methods and tools to reduce the variability of solve processes’ variability problems. Six Sigma does not
processes to eliminate waste and improve the quality emphasize speed improvement of processes and the
perceived by the customer. This philosophy is aligned with reduction of lead time. Therefore, using the best outcome of
the strategic planning of the company, providing greater each methodology allows obtaining a method for process
opportunities in the market. It offers unique features improvement by reducing variation and lead time while
combining multiple tools, serving to support the improving quality and speed of processes [8].
development of business strategies. It also assists in the The work presented in this paper focuses on reducing
breakdown of steps in improvement projects and in the problems that cause unscheduled downtimes in machining
achievement of planned results [2]. operations line. Three issues considered relevant were
studied in its development:
1) The factors that influence the performance of operations
Manuscript received March 18th, 2015; revised April 1st, 2015. This on the production line;
work has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia 2) How these different factors affect the performance
within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013.
S. D. Sousa is with Centro Algoritmi, University of Minho, Campus de (efficiency) of the production line;
Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal, phone: +351 253 604 762; e-mail: 3) How to define and implement a solution to improve line
sds@dps.uminho.pt. efficiency aligned with strategic planning, and
V. R. Morais is with Centro Algoritmi, University of Minho, Campus de
Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal, e-mail: megavalter@hotmail.com.
considering existing restrictions.
I. S. Lopes is with Centro Algoritmi, University of Minho, Campus de
Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal; e-mail: ilopes@dps.uminho.pt.

ISBN: 978-988-14047-0-1 WCE 2015

ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)
Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2015 Vol II
WCE 2015, July 1 - 3, 2015, London, U.K.

The paper is organized as follows. Section II presents the the production line was analyzed using the process
organization and the production line of the case study. In efficiency calculation. This indicator measures the
Section III, the different phases of the project are exposed availability of the line and the production losses, resulting in
and last section draws the conclusions an efficiency ratio.
The efficiency index is the relation between the time
actually used to produce, which is the available time after
II. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION subtracting planned and unplanned stoppages, and the
The project focused a production line that manufactures available time. The unplanned stops are due to: equipment
in pairs (left and right) shock absorbers to two main failures; settings; lack of material; quality issues; other
customers: Moto Honda and Yamaha. The study aimed to (special meetings, lack of energy, etc.).
characterize, following the DMAIC methodology, the The collection of information for the determination of this
operation of the production line and evaluate the root cause indicator allows a detailed description of factors that cause
of the problem of lost productivity. To carry out the project, production interruption.
a team was constituted to address this problem over five
months. B. Measure
A SIPOC diagram was developed by the project team to
After collecting data on the above performance indicators,
characterize the manufacturing process of the production
the following information was obtained:
line.
• Available time: 21 hours/day
To better understand the problem, data were collected
• Efficiency index: 77.78%
about production in regular and overtime hours from the
Considering the efficiency index and a product cycle time
second half of 2013 to the first half of 2014, as shown in
of 25 seconds, the production line capacity is 2352
Figure 1.
units/day, since the available time is 75600 seconds
(21*60*60) and the time actually used to produce is 58802
seconds (75 600*0,7778).
Currently the daily production is approximately 2200
pieces. When comparing the 2200 units’ production plan
with the production capacity, it was found that it meets
production needs, and the use of overtime to meet demand is
not substantiated.
However, only planned stoppage and few losses were
considered in the efficiency index. Therefore, the
identification has focused on finding the losses that reduce
the productive capacity. The planning of stratification on
Fig. 1. Graph with the production plan and line production capacity collecting data for evaluating the production line efficiency
allowed the analysis of different categories of losses and its
The line used overtime in the production schedule to meet causes.
deliveries, during the first half of 2014. Despite the line has The collection of data was performed during 6 months.
used overtime to fulfill the production plan, its capacity The Information was collected about: quality, adjustments,
would allow meeting the production plan in regular hours. damage, material delays, others.
The study aims to identify the root cause of this problem. The project team developed the line efficiency chart, as
shown in Figure 2.
III. DMAIC APPLICATION With the characterization of the losses, the graph shows
the difference between the planned production time and the
A. Define
actually production time. The problems/failures encountered
The definition and quantification of the analyzed problem are related to production unplanned stoppages, contributing
could be made by different metrics. However, in terms of to a situation that compromises the efficiency of processes,
the customers who require these parts (shock absorbers), the reducing the line capacity. The failures or unplanned
relevant information which is directly associated with the stoppages are shown in red, totaling 2.69 hours/day.
problem is “planned unit not produced”. Therefore, the team
decided that this would be the defect definition for this Evaluation of operations with the greatest losses
project. After the evaluation of losses in the line operations, the
The production process of the machining lines is team identified the operation that has the highest number of
evaluated using performance indicators such as: Scrap (not adjustments using a Pareto diagram to analyze the data, as
usable material for the line), setup time and process shown in Figure 3.
efficiency. The latter is a time index established by the
engineering sector.
To identify the root cause of the problem, the capacity of

ISBN: 978-988-14047-0-1 WCE 2015

ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)
Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2015 Vol II
WCE 2015, July 1 - 3, 2015, London, U.K.

Fig. 2. Graph of the production line efficiency

A. Analyze
Identification of the problem Root Cause
In the previous phase, categories that impact the
efficiency of processes were identified: quality, adjustments,
failures and other stoppages. To identify the root causes of
the problem, a brainstorming was performed with
professionals whose functions are directly linked to the
production line (operators, leaders and the sector head).

Description of the main problems encountered

Fig. 3. Pareto chart of the biggest losses by operation The method used to list the causes was the cause-and-
effect diagram, since it facilitates the ordering of categories,
Based on the graph, it was concluded that the largest divided into six groups (Machine, Method, Measure,
losses of productive capacity arose in the drilling and Environment, Materials and Manpower). Table I presents
tapping operations. the problems observed on adjustments realization.
After verification of the losses, the productive capacity
TABLE I
was recalculated based on an efficiency index of 64.99%. CAUSES OF ADJUSTMENTS PROBLEMS
Considering the efficiency index and a product cycle time of
25 seconds, the production capacity obtained was 1965 Items Adjustments Problems
units/day. This production capacity justifies the need of Machine Lack of flexibility
overtime to fulfill the 2200 units/day plan. High setup times
Device fixation difficult to perform
To analyze how much of the production is "being lost"
Manpower Low precision in regulating devices
(units not produced), the initial planned daily capacity of Fatigue (overtime)
2352 units is compared with the actual daily production Method Adjustments method cause physical wear of
capacity (1965 units) giving a total of not produced units in operators
Missing pattern in the set of activities
the line of 387 units/day, representing approximately Materials Many materials lost in parameter settings
16.44% of the total capacity. Considering the first half of Measure Delay in the measurement of parts for machine
2014, the total number of units not produced was 54917. settings
To clarify the impact of these losses, the value associated
with this waste was calculated. Considering 6 Euros the cost Table II presents the analysis of the causes of quality
of not producing a planned unit, the total monetary losses problems and Table III presents the causes of equipment
relating to non-produced units in the first half of 2014 is failures.
329499 Euros. After identifying the factors that influence the process, the
team developed a Cause-and-effect matrix to characterize
Calculation of the current sigma level and target the potential impacts of improvement actions on the effects,
The sigma level is based on the ratio between the number which, in this case, is the excessive stoppages for
of non-produced units (387 units) and the total production or adjustments. The critical points will be the focus of study in
number of opportunities (2352 units). The sigma level the next phase, the improvement phase. The matrix in Figure
calculation, for continuous variables following a normal 4 was performed following the criteria:
distribution, considers that the process mean can shift 1.5 • Items: The causes identified in the cause and effect
standard deviations towards one specification limit. The diagram that are more likely to influence the process
sigma level is therefore 2.48. outcome;
• Rating variables: severity, need and benefits;
• Score: The score of each variable ranges from 0 to 5

ISBN: 978-988-14047-0-1 WCE 2015

ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)
Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2015 Vol II
WCE 2015, July 1 - 3, 2015, London, U.K.

(five is the most important). The total score is the product of • Performing the setups is difficult, requiring a variable
the variables’ scores. time for adjusting the repositioning after exchanging some
TABLE II model.
CAUSES OF PRODUCT QUALITY PROBLEMS

Items Adjustments Problems

Machine Setup excess causes many losses in dimensional test

Settings is performed using parts (technology
characteristic)
Heavy devices hinder accuracy in settings
Manpower Adjustments incorrectly made
Much effort of the operator on the device positioning
Operator makes the device adjustments manually
Method The accumulation of material causes finishing flaws
Adjustments precision dependent of operators effort
Transportation using metal carts
Materials Handling exec causes failure on the parts
Accumulation of material causes finishing flaws
Fig. 4. Cause-effect matrix
Measure Adjustments are low when they require three-
dimensional measurement Due to the recent increase in the number of the line
Environment Layout allows moving the product on carts
models, there is an increased in time spent on these
activities, reducing the availability of the work machines
and dependency on the human factor and on its accuracy.
TABLE III
CAUSES OF EQUIPMENT FAILURE Therefore, the process needs to be more flexible to perform
frequent model changes.
Items Equipment failure

Machine Too many changes in the machine parameters Comparison of improvement opportunities
Technology keeps values parameters Two improvements were proposed and compared:
Natural wear of the devices due to excessive
adjustments
• The application of single minute exchange of die
Manpower Adjustments incorrectly made by operators (SMED) methodology - SMED is used to reduce setup
Low motivation times, working in machine preparation activities, before
Method Failure to observe the changes in parameters before
setup
turning off the machine, reducing the total time. However, it
Adjustments on processes without verification of is limited since it only reduces a percentage of the time and
machine condition does not act in machinery start-up waste;
Measure Long time to stoppage registration • Exchange of technology - the model exchange is
Environment Long distance from maintenance to the line performed only by exchanging software programs. The new
computer controlled machine performs the tasks with greater
productivity and lower setup times.
B. Improve
Traditionally the improvement phase of DMAIC Results
methodology relies on creativity of the project team to As a result from assessment of the two alternatives (Table
things better, cheaper or faster [9], evaluating the data IV), the new technology is the one that best meets the
collected in the process. It is not provided guidance on project requirements, since it not only allows reducing the
observing the performance of other opportunities outside the time used in the setup, but reduces also other activities that
studied context such as new technological developments. In the customer does not pay, such as adjustments, failure to
this case study the project team looked outside the studied execute operations and movements.
process, to find potential solutions and by analysing their The main impacts of the proposal on the system are: the
impact on the performance of operations and alignment with exchange of faster models, better working environment,
strategic planning. elimination of the physical efforts of operators in the
regulations of the devices, greater precision in machining
Analysis of the characteristics of bottlenecks operations operations, reduction of quality defects and grouping
As shown the data collected in the measurement phase, operations, reduction of the number of devices on the line.
the main source of the problems encountered is related to
the drilling and tapping operations. An analysis to Planning the implementation of the selected improvements
understand the technical characteristics and working The project team sought not only to use the new
patterns of such equipment was performed. The relevant technology, but also standardize the activities of processes.
points associated with drilling and tapping operations and The implementation was carried out according to the
respective equipment are: following sequence:
• Machines whose main function is to do holes, using a 1) Grouping operations: Design a new layout for the
high-revving engine with one or more bits, removing the machining process.
desired material; 2) Redo the line balancing and provide training to
• Equipment is used for various operations such as employees.
drilling, tapping and slotting, involving the replacement of 3) Assess the new line capacity and performance.
tools;

ISBN: 978-988-14047-0-1 WCE 2015

ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)
Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2015 Vol II
WCE 2015, July 1 - 3, 2015, London, U.K.

TABLE IV Performance after improvement

COMPARISON OF IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES A reduction in the settings from 72 minutes to 12 minutes
Items SMED CNC technology was achieved. The rejection decreases from 3,9% to 1.9%.
Figure 7 shows the new values of process efficiency.
Advantages Reduce setup times Reduce setup times
Standardizes activities Reduces the rejection
indices
No investment Reduces the duration of
processes
Offers greater operating
range
Allows grouping
processes
Disadvanta Only act on setup High investment
ges Devices changeover Hand labor training is
conditions not changed required
Condition of the other
lines problems not Fig. 7. New line efficiency
changed
There is a significant reduction in losses due to
Grouping of operations unscheduled stops with increased availability of operation
Without the need to group processes by families, it and consequently an increase in the line efficiency, allowing
became possible to group processes by operations. Thus, the the sector to comply with delivery deadlines. With the new
operations defined for equipment were hole and screw. balancing of 17 seconds and 84.31% efficiency, the new
Grouping is made to assure that all holes and screws are production capacity is 3035 units/day.
made in new equipment, as shown in Figure 5. With the new capacity of 3035 units/day, in two shifts,
the demand of 2200 units was fulfilled. This has eliminated
the need of the third shift, also reducing the total number of
employees in the line from 21 to 16. Although the capacity
is higher than current needs, the company’s strategic plan
had the goal of increasing production volume, to meet an
increase in demand of approximately 9% every year for the
last four years.
Other positive results were also achieved, as shown in
Table V.
TABLE V
OTHER PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Fig. 5. Grouping of operations at CNC Item Initial New Unit

WIP 190 84 Parts

Hand Labor 21 16 Operator
Line balancing and new job positions Capacity 2 352 3 035 Parts/day
The minimum number of equipment that ensures Productivity 112 190 Parts/operator
productivity consists of three pieces of equipment. However, Lead time 418,5 226,5 Seconds
if four equipment is used, it enables to expand the capacity
of these operations and form two production lines,
C. Control
significantly increasing productivity. Figure 6 illustrates the
new distribution line. 3.5.1 Impact and effectiveness of improvements
The implementation phase ended in June 2014. The
number of non-produced parts reduced from 387 175 in
2352 opportunities to 78 in 3035 opportunities. This
corresponds to a new sigma level of 3.45.
This represents a reduction on DPMO from 164429 to
25581 representing a reduction on defects (units not
produced) of 84.4% (from its original value). This was
achieved together with an increase in line capacity of 29%,
from 2352 units/day to 3035 units/day and a reduction in the
number of defective products from 3.9% to 1.9%.
Fig. 6. New times of the line operations
The new times redefined the productive capacity, for now Process monitoring
the line presents another bottleneck. The Blank and Shiro For the monitoring of the new times of operations and
are the largest operating time with 34 seconds on the job. confirmation of stabilization, graphs were established. A
However, two lines are now realizing production. With the registration system for faults and errors of procedures
new balance, the cycle time of the line decreases from 25 to performed by operators was also implemented.
17 seconds.

ISBN: 978-988-14047-0-1 WCE 2015

ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)
Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2015 Vol II
WCE 2015, July 1 - 3, 2015, London, U.K.

Return on investment units/operator by day. Overall the sigma level increased

To demonstrate the monetary results achieved with from 2.48 to 3.45. The investment on new equipment was
improvements, it is necessary to measure the cost savings, also studied. The ROI is 14 months despite its contribution
increased productivity and improved performance. This to other company’s strategic objectives.
study will be based on three factors: hand labour, number of It can be concluded that the development of the project
devices used and reduction of stoppages. Table VI shows contributed to the achievement of sector goals and improved
the cost savings of € 365904/year. the company's competitiveness in the market.
The team calculated the potential payback of the This work reports a Six Sigma project carried out to
investment in new equipment. Table VII shows the return justify investment in new technology. That was achieved by
time of the investment (ROI). the acquisition of a new technology instead of implementing
TABLE
improvements in the use of existing equipment.
TABLE VI
VI
T
TOTAL
OTAL ACHIEVED
ACHIEVED WITH
WITH IMPROVEMENTS
IMPROVEMENTS
Future works could test, through different cases, the
impact of using Six Sigma projects to justify investment in
Description
Description Values
Values new equipment.
Loss
Loss reduction
reduction €
€ 325
325 259
259
Hand
Hand Labor
Labor reduction
reduction €
€ 40
40 645
645 REFERENCES
Reduction
Reduction in
in devices
devices maintenance
maintenance €
€00
Total
Total €
€ 365
365 904
904 [1] George, M. L. (2002). Lean Six Sigma - Combining Six Sigma
Quality with Lean Speed. USA: McGraw-Hill Professional.
[2] George, M. L. (2005). The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook: A
Quick Reference Guide to Nearly 100 Tools for Improving Process
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RETURN ON INVESTMENT [3] Drucker, P. F. (1992). Administrando para o futuro. São Paulo:
Pioneira, 4ed.
Description Values [4] Porter, M. E. (1996). What is strategy?. Harvard Business Review,
Boston, v.74, n.6, p.61-78.
Investment € 419 355 [5] Hopp, W. J. & Spearman, M. L. (2004). To Pull or Not to Pull: What
Return € 365 904 Is the Question? M&SOM Manufacturing & Service Operations
Return time (year) 1,15 Management, Vol. 6, No. 2, Spring, pp.133–148.
[6] Harrington, H. J. (1997). Business process improvement workbook:
documentation, analysis, design and management of business process
improvement. New York: McGraw-Hill.
The ROI is 1.15 years or about 14 months. The project [7] Werkema, M. C. (2008). Integração Lean & Seis Sigma: muito
barulho por nada? Banas Qualidade. São Paulo, ano XVII, n 192,
proved to be viable, with significant gains to the company. p.48-54.
[8] Ferguson, D. (2007). Lean and six sigma: The same or different?.
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Services, United Kingdon, p. 12-13. 01 out.
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machining line that produces shock absorbers for expanded, McGraw-Hill, New York.
[10] Abreu, Patrícia; Sousa, S. D. and Lopes, Isabel, “Using Six Sigma to
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analyse the problem. The analysis revealed excessive stops Engineers and Computer Scientists 2013 and World Congress on
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for adjustments in operations, reducing the efficiency of Hideki Katagiri Li Xu, CRC Press pp. 161–170.
processes and compromising the delivery. The improvement
actions were carried out in order to correct these problems,
standardizing the setup of activities, increasing the
availability of equipment and improving the productivity of
the line.
The changes implemented in the production line, resulted
in a reconfiguration of the production system, modernizing
operations that cause major losses of productivity. To
perform the actions the project team developed a new
layout, improving the provision of equipment and
facilitating the flow of materials.
The implementation of actions brought positive impacts:
the reduction of settings stops from 72 for 12 minutes, the
reduction of defective units by approximately 50% (from
3.9% to 1.9%). The new working conditions led to a
reduction in the number of operators from 21 in three shifts
to 16 in two commercial shifts, also contributing to the
increase in production capacity of 2352 to 3035 units/day
and the system productivity increased from 98 to 152

ISBN: 978-988-14047-0-1 WCE 2015

ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)