Factors that hinder Six Sigma implementation in manufacturing SMEs

  Anil Jacob,  M. Parameswaran

Six Sigma is a business improvement strategy adopted by companies all over the world which will reduce the process variation and enhance product quality. Since its inception, Six Sigma has been mostly confined to the area of bigger companies with plenty of resources. But, this promising methodology is equally applicable to the small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) for improving their bottom-line. The purpose of this study is to identify the main factors that hinder Six Sigma implementation in manufacturing SMEs and to test if the level of importance attributed to those factors differ according to firms’ size. The methodology includes conducting a survey through questionnaire based on previous deep literature review and analysing the responses using Microsoft Excel’s statistics and SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) software. Findings reached from this research, highlighted five different factors affecting six sigma implementation: top managerial strategy, time and expected result, cost, complex procedures and employee involvement. Furthermore, results suggest that top managerial strategy assume greater importance in small size firms whereas cost assume greater importance in medium sized firms. The research focused specifically on the manufacturing firms in Kerala: thus, attention must be paid in attempting to generalise results. Understanding the main barriers that hinder six sigma implementation in SMEs may allow practitioners to plan more effectively their quality management system, especially faced with scarce resources.

Keywords- Six Sigma, SMEs, barriers, firms' size

Unique Identification Number - IJEDR1603072
Page Number(s) - 439-446
Pubished in - Volume 4 | Issue 3 | August 2016
DOI (Digital Object Identifier) -   
Publisher - IJEDR (ISSN - 2321-9939)

  Anil Jacob,  M. Parameswaran,   "Factors that hinder Six Sigma implementation in manufacturing SMEs", International Journal of Engineering Development and Research (IJEDR), ISSN:2321-9939, Volume.4, Issue 3, pp.439-446, August 2016, Available at :http://www.ijedr.org/papers/IJEDR1603072.pdf