Six Sigma for the Apparel Industry

By Richard Atwell Manager of Education and Engineering Textile Clothing Tech. Corp. [TC]

The trade agreement are pa ing! the "u##word are flying! and e$ery manufacturer i loo%ing for the next certification to u e a a "adge of honor. And o enter &'ix 'igma( to the re cue. The 'uperhero i really the mild mannered Clar% )ent in *uatemalan manufactured tight and cape. The & upercharge( come from computer oftware that allow the a$erage apparel engineer or +uality manager to perform analy e that pre$iou ly were done only "y college educated tati tician . Ta%e away the computer and there i a olid "a i of tati tical method that ha$e "een in the &"ag of tool ( for decade . The pre$ailing motto for 'ix 'igma i &,erfection i ,o i"le(. The u"title would "e &E$en when thing go wrong! the product i till good(. There are two ma-or +ualifier to the concept of perfection. The ma-or concept i that perfection pecifically mean that the product meet the cu tomer. accurately determined pecification. Therefore perfect production of a i#e &large( hirt! which ha a pecification of /0 inche 123 4 inch! doe not mean that all hirt produced mea ure /0( "ut rather that all hirt mea ure "etween /5 6 inche and /0 4 inche . The econd ma-or concept of 'ix 'igma i that the $ariation of the output i $ery light. Thu ! when i#e &large( hirt are produced the mea urement of multiple hirt will "e o clo ely gathered around /0 inche that when omething goe wrong! uch a "ad cutting or a gauge "eing mi ad-u ted! the end re ult i that hirt till mea ure within the tolerance. The re t of the 'ix 'igma proce i under tanding the tati tic "ehind the chart and control ! learning the method to determine what i wor%ing properly! and how to identify and fix pro"lem that do occur. The concept a a tati tical term ha "een fre+uently u ed ince the 5789. and gained popularity in :apan and the ;'A "eginning in the 57<9. with Cro "y! =eming! and :uran. >owe$er! Motorola i credited! "y mo t! for "ringing the term to the general pu"lic in the 57?9. . @h ye ! the tati tical term. 'ix 'igma manufacturing ay that the $ariation in the product i o light that 77.A8 B of the output fall within the tolerance . Actually! the +uality i o good! and multiple mea urement o clo ely centered around the pecified num"er! that e$en when the mea urement i off "y three time the tandard de$iation! in either direction! it i till within tolerance. Thu the mea urement fall within 'ix 'igma or ix tandard de$iation of the mean and the +uality yield i 77.A8B. Becau e many companie are ee%ing "adge or medal to how to pro pecti$e client ! fre+uently the manager are di tur"ed that 'ix 'igma certification i for indi$idual people rather than companie . The green "elt and "lac% "elt de ignation are award for proficiency in u ing the tool of the program. The 'ix 'igma methodology i a tructured

program for impro$ing +uality through a proce with the acronym of =MACC. =efine! Mea ure! Analy#e! Cmpro$e! and Control. ,ortion of each of the e tep can "e performed u ing manual techni+ue that are found in any tati tic text"oo%. The computer program included in many of the certification cla e pro$ide much more powerful tool and the capa"ility of calculating in minute what might ta%e day to calculate manually. Con$incing apparel executi$e to accept the proce ! other than a a elling tool! ha "een a difficult ta %. A"out the only agreement reached i that e$ery garment can D@T "e manufactured to the perfect pecification. >owe$er! the typical manufacturing plant i producing apparel at a"out a 8 igma le$el with 0.< to / B defect . That i / defect per 599 not the 8./ defect per 5!999!999 produced "y a 'ix 'igma manufacturer. The gap i wide enough that ignificant impro$ement can "e made in any uch plant. Two financial fact are important to note. >i torical tudie ha$e hown o$erall a$ing in the E59!999 to E09!999 range for an impro$ement of -u t one 'igma. Apparel manager are generally a tounded "y the &True Co t of Fuality( in their manufacturing facility. Typically! the e co t are hidden in o$erhead "ut include in pection and mar%ing! orting! tran port! rein pection! uper$i or time! down tream operator repair! cleaning! and irregular . Therefore! any impro$ement in +uality ha a triple effect of reducing indirect la"or! lowering total fa"ric co t! and impro$ing cu tomer ati faction. =irect Ga"or ,roducti$ity will normally how a 59 to 5<B impro$ement due to le repair time! correction of im"alance ! and higher throughput. Hithin the =MACC proce ! the management team mu t =etermine the actual +uality re+uirement through di cu ion with the end cu tomer. 'uch determination mu t eliminate the &*i$e them an inch3 they will ta%e a mile( attitude. Record the needed re ult! train "oth operator and auditor ! and then hold the appropriate people accounta"le. The mea urement and analytical proce e u e tool and chart that are already a$aila"le in many plant . The e include ome capa"ilitie within "a ic pread heet computer program uch a Chec% 'heet ! >i togram ! ,areto Chart ! and 'catter =iagram . Ilowchart and Ii h"one diagram are ea ily drawn "y hand. The actual analy i and impro$ement come through human interpretation of the information and a logical thought proce . There are two area within thi ection that can "e greatly a i ted "y the newer computer program a$aila"le. The fir t item i the determination of whether change o" er$ed are tati tically rele$ant! thu a$oiding unnece ary ad-u tment to a exi ting proce . The econd area! with le u e in the apparel indu try! i the =e ign of Experiment capa"ility to ee what com"ination of change will gi$e the "e t end re ult. Experienced and moti$ated people gi$en the time for thought and experimentation are the critical re ource for analy i and impro$ement. Controlling the change i often a matter of &Hhat get Mea ured and ,o ted i Hhat Cmpro$e (. Hhile computer program can calculate the control limit re+uired to %now when a proce i out of control! the limit ha$e le $alue in an en$ironment utili#ing

human operator . Manual calculation and charting will allow +uic% recognition of change in the a$erage apparel plant. 'hould a company ha$e people certified a *reen Belt or Blac% Belt J The an wer i &KE'! CI(. Cf the company need the computer program! need a how of management upport for Fuality Cmpro$ement! or lac% per onnel with Engineering or Fuality Management training. >owe$er! any company can reap ignificant financial "enefit from a focu ed +uality program utili#ing the tati tical tool that ha$e "een a$aila"le for year . The re+uirement i to pro$ide a moti$ated team of people with a tructured proce ! an agreed upon et of tandard ! an expectation of continuou impro$ement! and then hold them accounta"le.