Application of a sigma assessment on the production and packaging process of quinimix mixture

Abstract

Six Sigma is a well-consolidated approach for improving processes which involves use of statistical tools. The aim of this project is to illustrate the use of Six Sigma tools in the production and packaging process of quinimix mixture at Medipharm Industries. During the production process, the automatic filling machine had leaks which led to deviations in the production yield from the theoretical yield (15000 bottles per batch). The inefficient packaging process caused a mismatch in the packaging materials. This was caused by the defects in the issued packaging materials. These inefficiencies led to high costs in terms of work-in-process and re-inspections of the products. The objectives of this study were defect analysis, sigma assessment and quality control recommendations to the company for improvement. A typical define-measure-analyse-improve-control (DMAIC) six sigma methodology was used to analyse the quantity of the packaging materials used and the production yield as the critical to quality characteristics (CTQs). The root causes of the variability of the CTQs were identified through a cause-effect diagram. The collected data was discrete. Excel calculations were used to find total defects, defects per opportunity and sigma value for each packaging material and the production yield. Quinimix mixture inserts had the highest sigma value of 1.9 followed by labels which had a sigma value of 1.8. Thus, the inserts had the lowest defects per million opportunities. The average sigma value for 14 days was 1.8. This implies that the production and packaging process was inefficient. This is attributed to leakages on the automatic filling machine, manual packaging process and failure to follow standard operating procedures Afterwards, recommendations for improvement were suggested to remove the root causes and improve the CTQs which will reduce the variability and increase stability of the process. The customer benefits from the implementation of Six Sigma in the pharmaceutical industry because of higher quality and better control of quality.