Applying Lean Six Sigma in the wood furniture industry: A case study in a small company

摘要

The concept of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) integrates two continuous improvement strategies - lean manufacturing and Six Sigma. Though LSS has been successfully implemented in organizations of different natures, not much work has been done on the use of LSS in the wood furniture industry. Therefore, the article studies the implementation of LSS in a small wood furniture industry. The framework, based on the DMAIC (define, measure, analysis, improve and control) cycle for LSS implementation in the case company, is presented. Using the DMAIC framework, various manufacturing process problems are quantified by which the main problems are identified and are concentrated for improvements. In addition, the key challenges to applying LSS in the case firm are discussed.