Define the DMAIC in as much detail as possible. Please emphasize the Define step.

Taking the case study below. Outline what elements of the case would be slotted in the Define step ONLY and explain why it would be done in this step.

Texturing is one of the intermediate processes between POY spinning and textile weaving that imparts bulkiness and a cotton-like feel to the polyester yarn. The texturing industry caters to this step and is the next customer for POY manufacturers in the value chain. Uninterrupted productivity is a desirable condition for any industrial operation. It is learned that the texturizer - our customer - uninterrupted production on his machine can be obtained

with the presence of a visible and pick-able end of the continuous filament yarn at the bottom- a most layer of the POY spool wound on the paper-tube core is defined as a 'transfer tail'. In this

technique, the top-end of the spool running into the texturing machine can pick and tie to the bottom-most end of another spool placed in the creel and that would come in continuation with the exhausted earlier spool. This way, the yarn on two different spools is set to run in tandem, thereby avoiding a production interruption, loss of time, waste generation, and, of course, additional cost too at the customer end. Thus Six Sigma methodology was used to improve transfer tail availability, through the improvisation of POY winder hardware design by in-house innovation. This led to preferential demand for the studied site's POY vis--vis that of competitors. Subsequently, there was a significant increase in customer satisfaction reported on the overall performance of the yarn.

Problem Low tail-end availability in POY

Introduction It is learned that the efficiency and productivity of Texturizing process can be enhanced by a process called splicing. In this process tail of the running POY is knotted to a standby bobbin in the creel so as to avoid interruption of the feed yarn. This could be possible only when the POY bobbin is having a good-quality tail.

The Challenge We have Barmag SW-06 winders which are 20 yrs old and are the only running machines of its kind in the world. The challenge faced is from state-of-art technology in new generation machine

Strategic Challenges

Customer expectation of tail transfer above 95%

Threat

Possible only in new generation winders

Opportunity

Innovate and improve tail transfer in existing winders without much capital cost.

Outcome (Strategic Advantages)

Innovative design upgradation of the existing winders done. Today, Transfer Tail availability is consistently maintained at >98% (long-term plan).

Innovation The old winder engineering design was upgraded to yield quality of new generation winder. This studied company aimed to develop an innovative model using Six Sigma methology. This is a breakthrough process, utilizing series of systematic innovations never done before in the World.

Statistical Solution Identification: Cause 1: Low suction pressure of gun A pressure gauge developed to measure the suction pressure. All guns were checked for suction pressure and found varying from - 0.4 to - 0.6 bar. Those guns having suction pressure of -0.4 bar were cleaned and refitted with new ceramic tips and -0.6 bar suction pressure achieved. With the available guns maximum suction pressure achieved is -0.6 bar.

Cause 2: Low capacity of Doffing Buggy Low Capacity of Doffing Buggy resist the flow of waste from the gun after certain no. of positions were doffed, which results on reduction of suction pressure also. Reduction in suction pressure may affect the threading and tail availability. Capacity of the buggy increased to its maximum by modifying the same. Modified buggy used for doffing full machine along with gun having -0.6 bar suction pressure. Two full doffs each were checked for tail availability with normal and modified buggy as shown in figure 5.

Cause 3: Transfer Tail Pig tail guide misalignment There are 368 Barmag winders available. They are supplied in two lots. First Lot contains 263 winder supplied in 1989. Second lot contains 105 winders supplied in 1994. Spare winders from the two lots were compared for pigtail alignment. Those winders supplied in 1994 differs in Cam Profile. Same jig were used for setting the guide distance of both Cams.

Figure 6: Different Cam profiles with same guide distance and same Pig tail guide distance

Cause 4: Fast Transfer Tail Action Instrument air supplied through Logic box is 6.0 bar pressure. 6 bar pressure is acting on transfer tail and yarn shifter when both are in action. For Yarn shifter air supply through throttle valve is available to adjust/ reduce bunch size. There is no provision to reduce the air pressure supplied to Transfer tail to adjust coil. Higher the air pressure faster will be the action of transfer tail. Faster the action of transfer tail, lesser the chance of having good coil. Throttle valves developed and trial taken in few winders with different air pressures.

Evaluation of Results Higher tail-end availability facilitates in continuous package changeover without breaking the yarn and a key attribute to the productivity of customers' machines

Figure 12: I Chart of % Tail availability from Jan-09 to Dec-09

European Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences Vol. 3 No. 2, 2016 Benefits: For Plant Coil availability increased from 93.6 to 97.9% during the project duration. Good & distinct coils are available. No Threading failure. Reduction in threading failure improved yield 98.89 to 99.14 % Avg. Package weight improved from 14.45 during project to 14.64 kg after project. Reduced Paper tube consumption 69.2 to 68.3 No./MT For Customers Splicing efficiency improved from 82 to 90% Higher tail-end availability facilitates in continuous package changeover without breaking the yarn and a key attribute to the productivity of customers' machines. Texturizing machine efficiency is expected to improve

CONCLUSIONS In fact, the implementation of the Six Sigma organizational structure and methodology in the studied company has significantly improved the performance of CSR activities in all directions, while environmental protection is considered as an integral part of the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of all our projects. In this sense, the contribution of this research is to describe the impact of an organizational approach with Six Sigma methodologies to improve the performance of an improvement program in CSR activities. More precisely, this research provides evidence that in an analyzed company the Six Sigma methodology and organizational structure increased both CSR and EMS performance improvement program, ability to reduce the source of variation.