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Performance improvement in Garment industries by reducing defects using

six sigma methodologies
Pritesh Kankariya1, Keshav Valase2
1
( Department of Mechanical Engineering, Walchand institute of technology, Solapur
[email protected])
(2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Walchand institute of technology, Solapur

ABSTRACT 5%.It plays a vital role in providing employment. It is

2nd largest employment providing sector in India after
Globalization and Quick access to information, agriculture sector. The textile industry is important in
products and services has brought world so closer that the business sector of India and it has to face cut throat
it is very difficult to sustain in the market without competition in market through international brands
making innovations in work practices to gain having cheaper rate with good quality products. The
competitive advantage over others. The purpose of this problem which Indian garment industry currently
study is to illustrate the application of Six Sigma facing are unskilled manpower, improper use of
DMAIC (define-measure-analyse-improve-control) resources.
methodology to reduce the defects which occur during This study presents the case of a garment
various processes in garment Industries. This research industry engaged in manufacturing of child wear in
also works to develop an application guideline for the India. The industry was suffering with huge production
assessment, improvement, and control of wastes in losses due to improper utilization of overall resources.
garment Industry. Improvements in the quality of The industry is suggested to adopt Six Sigma DMAIC
processes lead to cost reductions as well as service methodology to improve processes thus eliminating
enhancements. An attempt is made to introduce and reprocessing cost and delay in material delivery.
implement DMAIC methodology in garment Industry
located in Solapur. II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Keywords: six sigma, DMAIC, service enhancement, Mukhopadhyay& Ray (2006) illustrated the use of Six
Innovation, cost reduction. Sigma methods to solve the problem of high rejection
of yarn cones in a garment company. It was found that
variation in yarn length; yarn count, empty yarn
I. INTRODUCTION container weight, and yarn moisture content were the
root causes for this rejection.
The six sigma method is a project-driven management Brue and Howes (2005) mentioned six sigma as a
approach to improve the organization’s products, strategy for improvement and problem solving
services, and processes by continually reducing defects methodology that can eliminate root cause of effects.
in the organization. It is a business strategy that Kumar &Sosnoski (2008) highlighted the potential of
focuses on improving customer requirements DMAIC Six Sigma in realizing the cost savings and
understanding, business systems, productivity, and improving quality by using the case study of a leading
financial performance. It is accompany-wide manufacturer of tools. The study examined one of the
systematic approach to achieve continuous process chronic quality issues on shop floor by utilizing Six
improvements. Six sigma is not only a technique but Sigma tools. The study showed that DMAIC Six
also a philosophy, performing at Six Sigma means Sigma process is an effective and novel approach for
producing only 3.4 defects out of every million the machining and fabrication industries to improve
opportunities for a business process. the quality of their processes and products and
“Six sigma” is a strategic initiative to boost ensuring profitability by driving down manufacturing
profitability, increase market share and improve costs.
customer satisfaction through statistical tools that can Snee (2004) focused on process outputs that are of
lead to breakthrough quantum gains in quality. Six critical important to customer. Six sigma was
Sigma methodologies can be effectively applied to described as business improvement approach that finds
small, medium and large enterprises. The Six Sigma and eliminate defects or causes of mistake in
strategy works well in billion dollar corporations as processes.
well as $50 million privately held companies. In fact, it Macmanus (2007) analyzed that there would be team
has been experienced that the results are usually work in every organization for process improvement.
quicker and more visible in small manufacturing units. This kind of team approach is important for sustained
The contribution of textile Industry to GDP of India is progress toward process excellence to improve the
sigma level.

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Volume 6, Issue 3, March 2017

Kwak and Anbari (2006) discussed the obstacles and team for improving the garments manufacturing
benefits of six sigma. They also identified future of six process and reducing the defects.
sigma approaches. Each term of DMAIC methodology is explain below in
Gijo and Rao (2005) suggested that selection of brief.
suitable belt projects plays an important role in six
sigma implementation and six sigma projects should  Define phase
be selected on the bases of organization goal and
objectives. Research case: As quality plays important role in all
Sekhar&Mahati (2006) illustrated an integrated aspects of life reducing the number of defectives,
application of Six Sigma in order to improve the variations, and providing quality product is an
ambient air quality in foundry industries. The study important function of garment industry in India. Due to
used Six Sigma tools such as Cause and Effect rapid globalization and modern trends Indian Garment
Diagrams and Failure Mode and Effect Analysis to industries are facing tremendous competition from
explore the root causes responsible for the problem and Europe and China because of their quality product at
cost-effective remedies to solve the problem. cheaper rate. In this competitive market, it is essential
Joseph Staryarsky and Whitfield (2007) presented the for manufacturer to reduce defects in their products
building blocks necessary to help manufacturing and become more competitive.
organization to move towards “World Class” Safety
performance, which resulted in a major reduction in Problem statement: Garment industries are suffering
lost workdays due to on-the-job accidents. from high rate of rejection due to defects in products
Kumar (2004) state that although Six Sigma is and variations.
normally used in defects reduction (industrial
applications), it can also be applied in business Project Goal: To reduce the defect percentage to
processes and to develop new business models. minimum level and thereby improve quality, reduce
Banuelas (2005) claim that benefits such as an wastes and increase productivity of the garments.
increase in process knowledge, participation of
employees in Six Sigma projects and problem solving CTQ: (Critical to Quality Characteristic) :No of
by using the concept of statistical thinking can also be defective shirts
gained from the application of Six Sigma.
Tushar N.Desai & Shrivastava, R.L ( 2008) DMIAC
is adopted in manufacturing company to identify,
quantify and eliminate sources of waste in an
operational process, up to optimization usage of the
available resources, improve the sustain performance
of the production line improvement with well executed
control plans in future.

III. Methodology: Six Sigma DMAIC

In six sigma, DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analysis-

Improve-Control) methodology was adopted by our

SIPOC (supplier-Input-Process-Output-Customer)

Table: 1 SIPOC flow at garment Industry

Supplier Inputs Process Output Customer

Sahara Unstitched cloth. Cutting Stitched Shah Enterprises.
Textiles Machinery Fabric components T-shirt
Threads Stitching Baba suit
Needles Printing
Colour Pressing
Buttons Packaging

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Step 2- Baseline performance

 Measure phase
The company manufactures variety of garment
Measure is a step where a mapping process, systems products like T- shirts, Kurta, Shirt and Baba Suit .One
evaluation and assess the baseline performance of the product, i.e., Executive Shirt is inspected for defects
company's capabilities. since this was the critical product for the company as it
had lot of demand and the profit margin for this
Objectives of the “Measure Phase” were: particular product is high. Table.1.3 indicates the total
1. To prepare a data collection plan. number of shirts checked and the number of
2. To find out the baseline performance. defectives.
In this phase, the process was defined. Each process
step was detailed and the inputs ware categorized. The Table: 2 Demand of products per year.
Team made an initial assessment of critical inputs and
current performance of the organisation by discussing Products Demand/year
with the manager and the supervisor.
Shirt 25000
Step 1- Data collection T-shirt 20000

The team collected proper data for a period of three Baba suits 15000
months (from December 2016 to February 2017) for
Kurtas 8000
various product manufactured in the organisation.

Fig 1: Pie chart of demand of products per year.

Checking Defective Shirts

Table: 3 Inspections of Shirts

Batch Number Checked Pieces Defective

1 270 18

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2 275 20

3 260 22

4 280 16

5 275 18

6 265 16

7 275 20

8 280 22

9 272 16

10 265 18

Total-2717 Total-186

Fig 2: Capability study

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Table: 4 Calculations for defect per million opportunities

Sr no. Total Checked 2717

1 No. of Defectives 186
2 Percent Defective 6.84
3 Dpmo 68400
4 Sigma level 2.6

 Analyse Phase 1. To analyse the collected data

2. To find out the vital few contributor from the trivial
In the analyse phase, the data collected in the measure many
phase is analysed so that the root causes of variations 3. To find out the root causes of the problem.
in the measurements can be identified and their effects The collected data was analysed using Pareto chart and
can be subsequently validated. fish bone diagram
Objectives of the “Analysis Phase” were:

Table: 5 various Defects Occurring

Sr no. Defects Occurrence %Occurrence

1 Padlock 10 15.625
2 front and back Shoulder joint 5 7.81
3 Label match 7 10.93
4 Embroidery 3 4.68
5 Astin touching 6 10.00
6 Misprinting 7 10.93
7 Button miss 9 15.00
8 Broken 11 18.33
9 Shade variation 6 10.00
Total 64

Fig 3: The major causes or types of defects from Pareto Chart

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Table: 6 Major defects identified from Pareto chart

Sr no. Defects Types

1 Padlock
2 Broken
3 Misprinting
4 Button miss

Cause and Effect Diagram

Material Man

unskilled Operator
Defective raw material

Operator Negligence
Low Quality Material
Less Supervision

Mismatch shade
Skipping Process Step

All Defects

Running Machine at High Speed Chack Marking

Improper Maintanence Manually operated

Old Machine Improper Setting of

Screen

Machine Method

Fig 4: Cause and effect diagram.

Objectives of the “Improve Phase” were:

 Improve Phase 1. To find out the ways to eliminate the root causes.
2. To Give-up the causes where no solution exist.
The improve phase focuses on developing ideas to 3. To formulate implementation plan at full extent.
remove root causes of variation, Improve the process 4. To calculate the improvement.
and standardizing those solution.

Table: 7 Remedial Actions

Defects Action
Rundown The operators are trained to control the speed of the machine.
Broken The broken threads are due to the fabric and the initial swatch tightened so that wrong fabric
does not roll out.
Misprinting The operators are trained to place the screen properly and print shirt accurately.
Button Miss Operators are trained to check for the total number of buttons before passing the product.

Implementation

Table: 8 based on the Cause and Effect diagram, pareto chart, the operators are trained in all sections of their job and
after the improvement actions are taken, the products are checked for defects.

Batch Number Checked Pieces Defective Percentage

Defective
1 270 12 1.48

2 275 14 2.18

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3 260 14 2.30

4 280 12 1.42

5 275 10 2.90

6 265 8 9.23

7 275 14 2.90

8 280 12 2.14

9 272 10 1.47

10 265 12 3.01

Total=2717 Total=118

Table: 9 Types of Defects and occurrence after implementing actions

Defects occurrence % occurrence

Padlock 6 3.22
Broken 8 4.1
Miss printing 4 2.33
Button Miss 6 3.22
Total 24

Fig 5: Capability study

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Table: 10 Calculations for defect per million opportunities

Sr no. Total Checked 2717

1 No. of Defectives 118
2 Percent Defective 4.34
3 Dpmo 43400
4 Sigma level 3.2

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