World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology

International Journal of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering

Vol:7, No:12, 2013

Analysis of Six Sigma in the Aerospace Industry

Masimuddin Mohd Khaled

Currently, the aircrafts are kept for longer time than the
Abstract—This paper subsidizes to the discussion of Six Sigma earlier times. As there will be requirement of more
in the Aerospace Industry. The main aim of this report is to study the refurbishment as well as maintenance work should be
literature review of Six Sigma emphasizing on the aerospace conducted on the aircrafts as they are getting old there is an
industry. The implementation of Six Sigma stages are studied and
importance for the aerospace industry manufacturers to design
how the improvement cycle ‘Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and
Control cycle’ (DMAIC) and the design process is ‘Define, Measure, aircrafts as well as provide manuals in such a way that it is
Analyze, Design and Verify cycle’ (DMADV) is used. The focus is easier to overhaul the components and conduct the repairing
also done by studying how the implementation of Six Sigma on an that is needed to be done without causing any damage to the
aerospace company has brought a positive effect to the company. other connected components of the aircraft. This has led to a
competition in the aerospace industry in order to satisfy the
Open Science Index, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Vol:7, No:12, 2013 waset.org/Publication/9996689

Keywords—Six Sigma, DMAIC, DMADV, aerospace. aerospace airline companies for better repairs of aircrafts as
well as providing safety to the passengers on board and this is
I. INTRODUCTION also one of the keen aspects of business activity conducted by

T HE organizations that are available presently in the world

are constantly trying to sustain the expenditure of quality
as low, reducing the amount of waste and also increase the
the aerospace industries. The aerospace airline companies
looks for early delivery dates of the aircraft as well as they
need services of higher standard from the aerospace
pace of manufacturing in order to accomplish and also manufacturing companies. The aerospace airlines prefer the
maintain the competition in the market. In the earlier years, aerospace companies which satisfies their needs. There is an
there was very little competition between the commodities and existence in the delay on the delivery of aircrafts from
services as there was minimum pressure for the continuous aerospace manufacturing companies. This delay increases the
work at enhancing the quality. In this case, one can look at the total overall costs of the aerospace manufacturing companies.
industry of aerospace which is a multi-billion dollar industry. This delay happens for a reason and the aerospace
Reference [1] claims that the air traffic is annually increased manufacturing companies want their customers to be happy
which is approximated to be about seven per cent involving with the aircrafts ordered which includes by providing them
the years 1995 and 2000 whereas involving the years 2000 and with a good quality aircraft in a long-term activity and also
2010 the percentage will almost be 35 per cent as the world providing safety to the passengers. The application as well as
population will increase and also there will be introduction of the importance of the principles of Six Sigma is considered at
many airlines. Reference [2] states the aviation market of the this stage [4].
Asian sector is projected to be the highest growth sector in the Over the years, elevated safety principles are pursued by the
commercial aviation which accounts in almost 28 per cent of aerospace industry to improve the composite products in order
the world population by the year 2010. In order to meet these to develop the processes involved [5]. Furthermore, the
percentages, the Asia Pacific region airlines are going through developments of the method in order to shape up intricate
widespread development of fleet as well as introducing products to the great safety standards are leaded by the
effective renewal programs. aerospace industries. The utilization of the tools that are
The economic life of an aircraft is to be about 25 years and currently being practiced by the modern enterprises of
for the aircraft to be in an operative condition there should be business such as TQM and Six Sigma have currently been
conduction of customary checks as well as maintenance are tested as well as espoused predominantly in the aerospace
needed to be conducted. In addition to, this refurbishment and industry [6]. There are plenty of case studies that have been
overhauling work engages in the removal of parts as well as provided on the implementation of Six Sigma principles in the
components from the aeroplane such as the turbine blades of aerospace industries. Reference [7] discusses which actually
the engine and the landing gear. The refurbishment actions are provides an ultimate difficulty that ascends in ABC Aerospace
specified by the manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing; in the attainment of a very high level stability levels in the
also, the manufacturers specify when the refurbishment should process of heat treating.
be conducted. Reference [3] provides on every 40000 to
45000 hours of time of flight the Boeing 737 aircraft is II. LITERATURE REVIEW
required to conduct the aircrafts maintenance. A. Concept of Quality
Quality is a substantial division of amenities and production
in keeping the consumers contented. There is an existence of
M. Mohd Khaled, MSc in Engineering Management, is with the University various explanations and challenging views of quality by
of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom (phone: +971-56-3484966; e-mail: numerous people and the co-operative section in the
[email protected]).

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 7(12) 2013 3072 ISNI:0000000091950263
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
Vol:7, No:12, 2013

descriptions of business is that the product or service quality ‘Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control cycle’
denotes to the degree of opinion which meets the consumer’s (DMAIC) and the design process is ‘Define, Measure,
anticipations of the product or service. Analyze, Design and Verify cycle’ (DMADV).
Reference [8] defines quality is that the agreement to the
necessities or the qualifications as well as to also be
recommended that the management of quality is done
effectively and need to be quantified. Reference [9] gives an
explanation that once the essential features are fulfilled by the
necessities than the degree of quality has reached. In addition
to, [10] suggests quality with numerous personalities having
their own individual view.
From the above explanations, the quality can be considered
in the consideration of features of the product or amenity
capability for the satisfaction of a particular need that avoids
any sorts of error. It is also said in the previous lines that there
are valid requirements which are defined as conditions so that
Open Science Index, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Vol:7, No:12, 2013 waset.org/Publication/9996689

there is a confirmation that they meet the needs of the Fig. 1 Differences between DMAIC and DMADV [17]
customers, the products are measurable as well as achievable
to a high quality. Reference [11] considers quality as a ‘magic 2. Roles of Staff
bullet’ which actually provides the cost to be lower, customer For the Six Sigma to be an effective action there is a need
service to be higher, manufacture of enhanced products as of precise important roles that is needed to be applied by the
well as attaining higher margins; the ‘quality is in the eyes of organizations staff members. By the help of maintenance,
the beholder’ this expression by him meant that to follow what resources and also tough leadership the high-ranking
the customer needs. By reference [12] quality is explained on management is eventually accountable for the project to be
the basis of the employee’s enablement. He also adds that the successful. The development of vision, tactic and also the
key purpose of a firm is to enable itself to the workforces as alterations that are needed in an organization is the key role
well as customers as attractive while the profits are made for played by the chief executive officer (CEO) and the other staff
the investors. members of the organization have specific roles. Reference
[18] provides details on specific roles in an organization which
B. Six Sigma
are discussed below.
In the mid-1980s, the methodology of Six Sigma was a) Champions: The term ‘champions’ is given to the senior
adopted first by Motorola [13]. As Motorola confronted strong managers, they are actually the project supporters and
competition from Japanese electronics industry, this led they are also accountable for the success efforts of Six
Motorola to create a strong development in the quality levels. Sigma. These senior managers encourage and lead the
A Six Sigma is focused in the manufacturing process, quality organization of Six Sigma projects as they are completely
of the product and also forms a cultural change in the qualified leaders of business.
organization by the conduction of certain enhancement [14]. b) Master Black Belts (MBBs): This term is used for the
Motorola dedicated the program of Six Sigma in all the trainers as well as consultants as they are the ones
actions within a procedure which led them to have huge accountable in the organization for the Six Sigma strategy
benefits. to be applied, training to be conducted, mentoring and
Reference [15] discusses that Six Sigma methodology was also obtaining the results.
later followed by Samsung, IBM, American Express, Sony, c) Black Belts (BBs): This term is used to the ones that have
Ford, Allied Signal, Honda and General Electric in the year the main effective part in the organization as full time Six
1995 which led to the enhancement of net revenues and also Sigma players. The ‘BBs’ are specialists in Six Sigma as
the margin of operation. Moreover, the Six Sigma has actually they are completely trained and also lead the teams of the
become the supreme noticeable trend in the management of organization for enhancement.
quality. d) Green Belts (GBs): The ‘GBs’ are controlled by ‘BBs’ in
Six Sigma can be implemented and is clearly discussed in an organization to work on the projects of Six Sigma.
the sections below:
3. Training Investment
1. Steps to Improve
Reference [15] discusses that training is the main element in
There is presence of many models of enhancement for the order to attain victory in Six Sigma. Reference [19] provides
improvement in process; moreover, these steps are based on with the complete training program of General Electric which
the ‘Plan, Do, Study and Act cycle’ [16]. Reference [15] they have designed for the roles of the staff. This training
discusses that there is an enhancement cycle for process and program developed by General Electric stretches towards all
design process of five-phase that is widely held in the the staff members of the organization as the program includes
organizations of Six Sigma. The improvement cycle is skills of leadership, measurement, enhancement and

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 7(12) 2013 3073 ISNI:0000000091950263
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
Vol:7, No:12, 2013

systematic tools, planning and implementation skills. The achievement of this aim, Six Sigma was espoused as an
details are shown below for the training programs that are organizational philosophy.
applied by General Electric. Reference [23] discusses in his paper, the program of
a) Champions: The staff members involved here has a week Boeing 777 had a fault as the re-circulating air fans were
training associated to Six Sigma improvement, leadership precluded during its testing on the assembly line. The data
and also the plan for implementation. gathered from this program concluded that there is in need of
b) Master Black Belts (MBBs): The staff members here are replacement, therefore this increases the overall cost and also
accountable for the training of all ‘BBs’ and ‘GBs’. needs further testing. The professionals from the various
c) Black Belts (BBs): The staff members here spend around departments of the company were integrated to a team for
four to five weeks in order to obtain highly quantitative investigation and the core cause was found to be foreign
and intensive training corresponding to the DMAIC or object debris. The parts that were designed and intended to
DMADV cycles. avert debris became debris themselves such as the caps of the
d) Green Belts (GBs): The staff members here are given ductwork and the plastic sheeting. The process was altered by
training for about six to ten days focusing on software’s the professionals by the help of Six Sigma and the problem
relating to statistics, new and enhancement tools and also was deciphered.
on the project management skills.
Open Science Index, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Vol:7, No:12, 2013 waset.org/Publication/9996689

III. CASE STUDY OF SIX SIGMA

Reference [24] gives detail about a machining company
possessed by a small family which grants machining services
to the aerospace industry actually wanted to reduce the cost of
manufacturing by the reduction of cycle time of machining of
a particular product. The company exposed themselves to Six
Sigma and shifts in theory in the procedures are required to
take place. The main Project Engineer decided to make use of
DMAIC enhancement procedure in order to reduce the time of
cycle. Each of the DMAIC phases are considered separately
and emphasis was done on each of them.
Fig. 2 The stages of Six Sigma [18]
a) Define: Currently the cycle time was surplus in 1200
seconds having a standard deviation of 31 seconds. It was
C. Critical Success Factors of Six Sigma decided by the engineer to set a target of 50 per cent to
Reference [20] discuss in their paper that there is in need of reduce the cycle time without the negative affect that will
resilient practical support with the resources required that is cause any sorts of variation; also, a sigma level of
delivered by the management of the top level. There is also in minimum three is set. There were several risks that were
need of approval as well as enactment of the basic disciplines taken in consideration like reduction in overtime, reduced
of Six Sigma’s by the staff members. Also, there should be a time for assessment and also a quicker pace for business;
relation between the innovative and substructure a process map was also developed.
accomplishments. Reference [19] says that there should be b) Measure: Input, process and output are the three metrics
complete obligation as well as support from the management, that were classified, from the three metrics there were
there should be training given to the staff members so that nine key metrics that were acknowledged. The operational
they perform the Six Sigma procedures without any flaws that descriptions were clearly noted and a fresh collection of
is familiarizing all the tools and techniques of Six Sigma, the data technique was put in a certain position. An analysis
communication must be well enough so that Six Sigma can of Gauge Reproducibility and Repeatability was
succeed, moreover, the firm must focus on the results that are conducted on the new system of measurement which
obtained and also on the customer’s needs. These are the resulted in less than five per cent in the discrepancy of
critical success factors for Six Sigma that should be study. The data gathered was investigated for stability and
considered by the firm. also illustrated no presence of special cause variation.
Moreover, the sigma value was clearly calculated for the
D.Six Sigma in the Aerospace Industry
procedure and the result was a large negative value.
Six Sigma is used widely in the aerospace companies for c) Analyze: The data gathered in the measure phase, the
the enhancement of design, business, supply chain procedures proficiency of the team member and also the statistical
and also manufacturing [21]. Reference [22] says that the investigation, four considerable ‘x’ factors were
aerospace company Lockheed Martin established a authenticated as basis causes for a longer phase time.
methodology called LM-21 which represents Lockheed Martin Furthermore, the data resulted in a prospective of over
in the 21st Century. The main aim of this methodology is to forty per cent improvement.
deliver the finest system for the attainment of superiority to d) Improve: There were prospective elucidations that were
the customers, staff members as well as shareholders. For the produced by the solution generation practices and also
models of Lean. The elucidations were later positioned

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 7(12) 2013 3074 ISNI:0000000091950263
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
Vol:7, No:12, 2013

and presented to the organization and then later piloted. [5] Kumar, U. D., 1999. New Trends in Aircraft Reliability and
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Ltd.
plans were developed as well as implemented. The [10] Timmerman, J. C., 2013. ASQ: The Global Voice of Quality. [Online]
potential difficulties were identified into three categories Available at: http://asq.org/index.aspx [Accessed 4 April 2013].
that are techniques, environment and human factors. The [11] Peters, V. J., 1999. Total Service Quality Management. Managing
Service Quality, 9(1), pp. 6-12.
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outcomes were calculated. [13] Wiklund, P. S. & Wiklund, H., 2002. Widening the Six Sigma Concept:
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Description Original New [15] Neuman, R. P., Cavanach, R. R. & Pande, P. S., 2000. The Six Sigma
Average Cycle Time (seconds) 1245 670 Way. 1st ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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Percentage Improvement (%) N/A 46 Education. 2nd ed. Cambridge: MIT Press.
[17] Cyger, M., 2013. DMAIC versus DMADV. [Online] Available at:
http://www.isixsigma.com/new-to-six-sigma/design-for-six-sigma-
As can be seen from Table I, there has been an dfss/dmaic-versus-dmadv/ [Accessed 20 April 2013].
[18] Evans, J. R. & Henderson, K. M., 2000. Successful implementation of
enhancement in the process after the implication of Six Sigma Six Sigma: Benchmarking General Electric company. Benchmarking:
with the help of DMAIC tool. There has been an improvement An International Journal, 7(4), pp. 260-281.
of 46 per cent on the overall procedure which have actually [19] Sorqvist, L. & Sandholm, L., 2002. 12 requirements for Six Sigma
benefitted the company in various ways as the cycle time was Success. Six Sigma Forum Magazine, 2(1), pp. 17-22.
[20] Chua, R. C. H. & Yun, J. Y., 2002. Samsung uses Six Sigma to change
reduced and the overall cost has reduced further. its image. Six Sigma Forum Magazine, 2(1), pp. 13-16.
[21] George, M. L., 2003. Lean Six Sigma for Service: How to Use Lean
IV. CONCLUSION Speed and Six Sigma Quality to Improve Services and Transactions.
New York: McGraw-Hill Professional.
In this paper, Six Sigma has been clearly outlined by [22] Schechter, B. & Joyce, M., 2004. The Lean Enterprise - A Management
focusing in the aerospace industry. The tools of each of the Philosophy at Lockheed Martin. Defense Acquisition Review Journal,
pp. 173-181.
Six Sigma were clearly provided thus giving a broad idea to [23] Roff, R., 2005. Fans of Six Sigma: Problem-Solving Approach helps
the reader. Moreover, it can be seen that in order to manage team Pinpoint Solution. Boeing Frontiers, 3(10).
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enhances the process and solves problem of the industry. [Accessed 15 August 2013].
Furthermore, the implementation and expansion Six Sigma
techniques are being conducted widely in the aerospace
Masimuddin Mohd Khaled (b. 1989) is currently pursuing
industry from the last couple of years. As it allows the Master of Science in Engineering Management degree from
industries to know the shortcomings and also work on the University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom. He has
shortcomings for a better development. As seen from the case his undergraduate degree in Bachelor of Science in
Aeronautical Engineering (2012) and also published two
study provided, the firm has benefitted by the implementation
papers titled ‘CFD Analysis of Wingtip Sails using NACA
of Six Sigma by the reduction on unnecessary costs and time. 0015’ in Paris, France (August 2012) and ‘Integration of
Also, the process of how the aerospace industry implemented Inter-organizational Learning with Supply Chain Management: A Literature
the Six Sigma was also clearly outlined. Review’ in Osaka, Japan (October 2013). He is focusing currently to move
into business; therefore he decided to move into engineering management so
that he enhances his business skills and publish papers involving the
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[4] Vassilakis, E. & Besseris, G. J., 2009. An application of TQM tools at a
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in Maintenance Engineering, 15(1), pp. 31-46.

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