Development of a Six Sigma Framework for Food Manufacturing Industry

Abstract

It is evident that the food industry is of a great importance to human life. In fact, it is considered as an essential sector in economies around the world as it renders great contributions to GDP in different countries. However, it has been observed that the food manufacturing is a critical activity that needs control to produce robust and high-quality food products. Recently, the food manufacturing industry has faced many challenges in terms of providing high-quality products that can meet the needs of customers due to globalisation which has increased the competitive nature of the market. Fortunately, Six Sigma has emerged as a powerful quality initiative that can be applied in manufacturing industries including the food manufacturing industry. Therefore, this study focused on proposing a Six Sigma framework for implementation in the food manufacturing industry. The study followed a literaturebased approach to identify main concepts and principles of Six Sigma and analyse benefits, challenges and limitations associated with Six Sigma implementations in the food manufacturing industry. In this regard, it was found that Six Sigma can provide significant benefits in terms of reducing the existing quality issues in the food manufacturing industry by enhancing quality, reducing costs, reducing time, reducing waste and loss, and increasing customer satisfaction. However, there are some challenges and limitations of Six Sigma application in the food manufacturing industry such as lack of training, technical knowledge constraints, cultural issues, and food manufacturing process disruptions. It was observed that due to these challenges and limitations, many companies in the food manufacturing industry are still not being able to adopt Six Sigma practices in their organizations. To overcome this, a comprehensive Six Sigma framework is proposed that can be standardised for implementation in companies within the food manufacturing industry. Consequently, the proposed framework includes three main stages: pre-implementation stage, implementation stage and postimplementation stage. The pre-implementation stage is suggested mainly to ensure proper preparation before the project implementation to mitigate challenges and problems related to management, technical knowledge, and resources. The implementation stage is mainly focused on the Six Sigma DMAIC procedure where several tools are suggested for each step in the procedure. To be specific, DMAIC is demonstrated in phases where each phase includes examples from the food manufacturing industry of companies who applied DMAIC for successful Six Sigma implementation, as well as some exemplary illustrations of the suggested tools. The post-implementation stage is mainly focused on the Six Sigma project sustainability strategies that can help the companies continue to benefit from the impact of the Six Sigma implementation on their manufacturing process, and thus ensuring its effectiveness for a long period of time. Consequently, different companies of the food manufacturing industry can implement such a comprehensive framework effectively by following the demonstrated stages and proposed tools according to their financial, time and technical knowledge constraints, core objectives, requirements, and food regulations.