Abstract—Six Sigma is one of the best emerging approaches for quality assurance and management in automobile parts manufacturing. In this research, Quality Management tools such as COPQ analysis, Data Analysis, Pareto charts, Cause and Effect diagrams, Process Capability Study, Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA), Design of Experiments (DOE), Visual and Control Charts etc. are used in defining the problems in order to find the root causes for the problem and carrying out experiments in order to suggest improvements, through which the company could bring in Quality and Stability in their process. Two main reasons that strongly effect the product rejections are discovered. The new improved process is validated through a Pilot batch run. Using the six sigma method, the rejection percentage is reduced by 13.2% from the existing 38.1% of rejection. Further improvement in the rejection is expected in the long run after the continuous implementation of all the solutions.

Index Terms—six sigma, piston rings, cost of poor quality, pilot batch

Cite: S. Suresh, A. L. Moe, and A. B. Abu, "Defects Reduction in Manufacturing of Automobile Piston Ring Using Six Sigma," Journal of Industrial and Intelligent Information, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 32-38, March 2015. doi: 10.12720/jiii.3.1.32-38