Six sigma in textile industry:

Textile industry being a field dealing with a lot of variations and defects in each
process is the ideal place for six sigma application, and speedy implementation of
the right method will make a significant and successful difference in many of the
companies future, assert R Senthil Kumar and S Sundaresan.
Textile is among the leading sectors in the Indian economy in terms of production,
exports, employment and contribution to the exchequer. India needs to reform its
laws, modernise machinery and scale up capacities to global level to exploit this
opportunity. Apart from the above factors, the application of management
techniques in the business will bring long-term stability in the market and better
company reputation. The paramount need for a paradigm shift is essential for
todays business scenario. Six sigma is such a management tool is viewed as a
systematic, scientific, statistical and smarter approach to create quality innovation
and total customer satisfaction. This paper emphasises the six sigma concepts and
possible area of six sigma applications in textile industry.
Six Sigma Definition:
Six Sigma may be defined in several ways:
Tomkins defines Six Sigma to be A programme aimed at the near-elimination of
defects from every product, process and transaction.
Harry defines Six Sigma to be A strategic initiative to boost profitability, increase
market share and improve customer satisfaction through statistical tools that can
lead to breakthrough quantum gains in quality.

Way of Approach in Traditional (old) and Six Sigma (New) methods:

The essence of Six Sigma is the integration of four elements (customer, process,
manpower and strategy) to provide management innovation. Six Sigma provides a
scientific and statistical basis for quality assessment for all processes through
measurement of quality levels. The Six Sigma method allows us to draw
comparisons among all processes, and tells how good a process is. Six sigma
provides efficient manpower cultivation and utilisation.
3 Cs in Six Sigma Concept:
Change: Changing society
Customer: Power is shifted to customer and customer demand is high
Competition: Competition in quality and productivity
The pace of change during the last decade has been unprecedented, and the speed

of change in this new millennium is perhaps faster than ever before. Most notably,
the power has shifted from producer to customer. The producer-oriented industrial
society is over, and the customer-oriented information society has arrived.
Competition in quality and productivity has been ever-increasing. Second-rate
quality goods cannot survive anymore in the market.
Six Sigma Process Models:
Six sigma facilitated proactive approach through rigorous measurement. Some six
sigma models are given below. DMAIC is used to improve the existing process and
DMADV is used to employ the new products.
1. DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control)
Define - Define the project goals and customer (internal and external)
deliverables.
Measure - Measure the process to determine current performance.
Analyse - Analyse and determine the root causes of the defects.
Improve - Improve the process by eliminate defects.
Control - Control future process performance.
2. DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify)
Define - Define the project goals and customer (internal and external)
deliverables.
Measure - Measure and determine customer needs and specifications.
Analyze - Analyze the process options to meet the customer needs.
Design - Design (detailed) the process to meet the customer needs.
Verify - Verify the design performance and ability to meet customer needs.
Critical Success Factors of Six sigma
The system needed to achieve Six Sigma creates a culture characterised by:
Customer centricity
Financial results
Management engagement
Resource commitment
Execution infrastructure
Six Sigma - Organizational Structure
Seven Steps for Six Sigma
When a company intends to introduce Six Sigma for its new management strategy,
the author's would like to recommend the following seven-step procedures:
1. Top-level management commitment for Six Sigma is first and foremost. Then
organise a Six Sigma team and set up the long-term Six Sigma vision for the
company.
2. Start Six Sigma educations for Champions first. Then start the education for
White belt- WBs, Green Belt-GBs, Black Belt-BBs and MBBs in sequence.
3. Choose the area in which Six Sigma will be first introduced.
4. Deploy Critical to Quality - CTQs for all processes concerned. The most important

is the companys deployment of big CTQy from the standpoint of customer

satisfaction. Appoint BBs as full-time project leaders and ask them to solve some
important CTQ problems.
5. Strengthen the infrastructure for Six Sigma, including measurement systems,
statistical process control (SPC), knowledge management (KM) and database
management system (DBMS).
6. Designate a Six Sigma day each month, and have the progress of Six Sigma
reviewed by top-level management.
7. Evaluate the companys Six Sigma performance from the customers viewpoint,
benchmark the best company in the world, and revise the Six Sigma roadmap if
necessary. Go to step 1 for further improvement.
Possible Areas in Textile Industry for Six sigma application:
Textile/Fashion Houses/Export Houses or Buying Houses have potential of applying
Six Sigma in following improvement projects:
1. Reducing rejections in shipments.
2. Improving first sample approval percentages while working with buyer.
3. Improving supplier evaluation processes.
4. Improving AQL performance in shipments.
5. Improving merchandiser performance.
6. Reducing non conformances in audits by buyer.
7. Improving processes at the source (including fabric purchase and inspection,
stitching, embroidery, packing and shipping) to reduce rejections at later stages.
8. Eliminating manufacturing errors/defect.
Convincing apparel executives to accept the process, other than as a selling tool,
has been a difficult task. About the only agreement reached is that every garment
cannot be manufactured to the perfect specification. However, the typical
manufacturing plant is producing apparel at about a 3 sigma level with 2.5 to 4%
defects. That is 4 defects per 100 not the 3.4 defects per 1,000,000 produced by a
Six Sigma manufacturer. The gap is wide enough that significant improvement can
be made in any such plant. Two financial facts are important to note.
Historical studies have shown overall savings in the $10,000 to $20,000 range for
an improvement of just one Sigma. Apparel managers are generally astounded by
the True Cost of Quality in their manufacturing facility. Typically, these costs are
hidden in overhead but include inspection and marking, sorting, transport,
reinspection, supervisor time, downstream operator repair, cleaning, and irregulars.
Therefore, any improvement in quality has a triple effect of reducing indirect labour,
lowering total fabric cost, and improving customer satisfaction.
DuPont uses the programme for its productivity and quality improvement strategies.
It considers Six Sigma a business-management process that concentrates on
eliminating defects from work processes. The company now has more than 4,000
completed or in-process Six Sigma projects. Other textile companies, such as
Burlington Industries, Collins and Aikman, and PGI have also started Six Sigma

initiatives.
Seven basic SQC tools used in Six Sigma process:
1. Cause and effect diagram
2. Check sheet
3. Control chart
4. Histogram
5. Pareto chart
6. Scatter diagram
7. Stratification
Conclusion
Six Sigma is a new strategic paradigm of management innovation for company
survival in this 21st century which implies three things such as statistical
measurement, management strategy and quality culture. Six Sigma with its 4S
(systematic, scientific, statistical and smarter) approaches provides flexibility in
managing a business unit. Textile industry being a field dealing with lot of variations
and defects in each process is the exact place for six sigma application. The speedy
implementation of the right method will make a significant and successful difference
in many of the companies future.
References
1. Sung H Park: Six Sigma for Quality and Promotion, Asian Productivity
Organization, 2003.
2. Michael L George: Lean Six Sigma, McGraw Hill Publication.
3. Six Sigma for the Apparel Industry by Richard Atwell, Manager of Education and
Engineering Textile Clothing Tech. Corp in Techexcange.com
4. Timothy G Clapp PhD, A Blanton Godfrey PhD, Dale Greeson, Roy H Johnson PhD,
Coleman Rich and Cliff Seastrunk: Quality Initiatives Reshape the Textile Industry,
Quality Digest.
Note: For detailed version of this article please refer the print version of The Indian
Textile Journal July 2010 issue.
R Senthil Kumar
Department of Textile Technology
Kumaraguru College of Technology, Saravanampatty Post
Coimbatore 641 006. Email: sen29iit@yahoo.co.in.
S Sundaresan
Department of Textile Technology
Kumaraguru College of Technology,
Saravanampatty Post
Coimbatore 641 006.