Abstract
A Design of Experiment (DoE) is a strategy for planning, conducting, analysing and interpreting the experiment so that valid conclusions can be drawn efficiently and economically. It has the ability to reduce product and process variability. Hence, this study examined if DoE is an appropriate tool to support Lean Six Sigma in selected automotive component manufacturing companies in South Africa. The automotive component manufacturing sector uses various tools aimed at reducing variability. This includes Lean Six Sigma. Consequently, companies that participated in the study have (over and above Lean Six Sigma) adopted a DoE strategy. Thus, the study was designed to establish if DoE is an appropriate tool to support Lean Six Sigma. Of the 123 participants identified, 107 completed the questionnaires. Middle managers of four automotive component manufacturing companies in the eThekwini District Municipality participated in the study. The study investigated production and the related experiences of the automotive component manufacturing companies. Descriptive and correlation were used to analyse data. Results indicated that the appropriateness of DoE to support Lean Six Sigma in various business activities (like finance, strategy and product development) has no relation to both product improvements through reformulation during product development and process optimisation using quality control tools. However, study participants provided a number of reasons for implementing DoE in the automotive component manufacturers. It is advised that the automotive component manufacturers develop a comprehensive variability reduction policy that aligns DoE tools to business performance.
Highlights
The Design of Experiment (DoE) is a powerful technique that studies the effect of several process parameters affecting the response or quality characteristic of a process or product (Johnson, Hutto, Simpson & Montgomery 2012)
The study indicated that the DoE variables for finance, strategy, product development, standardisation and customer service lack appropriateness to support Lean Six Sigma in the automotive component manufacturing companies of South Africa, management listed various benefits they get by implementing DoE tools
These include DoE as a management tool that helps to find the effects of variables when conducting a test, reduces product variation, assesses the significance of test results, optimises production costs, makes adjustments in order to improve performance and improves process capability
Summary
The Design of Experiment (DoE) is a powerful technique that studies the effect of several process parameters affecting the response or quality characteristic of a process or product (Johnson, Hutto, Simpson & Montgomery 2012). It was developed in the early 1920s by Sir R.A. Fisher at the Rothamsted Agricultural Field Research Station in London, UK. Sinha (2011) adds that the OVAT approach has limitations regarding experimentation It lacks reproducibility, the interactions among the process parameters cannot be studied or analysed, there is a risk of arriving at the false optimum conditions for the process and it is not cost-effective but time-consuming in many cases
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