Six Sigma is a widely known and acknowledged program for improving processes. Moreover, the increase in performance, and decrease in process variation, helps lead to defect reduction and improvement in profits, employee morale, and quality of products or services.
Six Sigma identifies and removes defect-causing elements while reducing business and manufacturing processes’ changeability to improve the quality of outputs from a manufacturing process.
The role of masking in many manufacturing sectors like aerospace and medical instruments is crucial to increasing longevity and efficiency of a product. Masking is historically performed by an individual cutting the custom mask by hand, potentially causing several significant issues for all parties.
This post will explore how integrating custom masking kits can work within the Six Sigma process and ultimately improve a company’s ROI.
How Six Sigma Works
In the 1980s, Motorola – the company where Six Sigma originated – recognized an association between a decrease in production costs with an increase in product quality through testing. Until then, the disproved common assumption was that higher-quality increases the cost of production.
According to the basic Six Sigma doctrine, the success of a company vitally depends on continuous efforts for achieving stable manufacturing processes. It is essential to measure these factors statistically so that they can be improved through analysis.
Once a project and its actionable goals are defined, the business will follow the Six Sigma process defined by four phases:
- Measure. A business will need to examine its current system to understand benchmark measurements and improve from that point. Current masking processes can often cause delays in turnaround time or instances of human error or injury.
- Analyze. The next step is to analyze the system and identify areas of improvement. The process can be done through statistical analysis to determine the root cause of an issue. Suppose the masking process becomes an issue within a manufacturer’s process. Integrally testing custom masking kits can determine improvements in time, cost, and reduced risk of injury.
- Improve. According to the analysis, teams need to seek optimal solutions and then develop and test the plan of action. Implementing custom masking kits are proven to provide several benefits during the improvement step:
- Eliminate human error with precisely die-cut masks
- Reduce the risk of employee injury from sharp instruments
- Improve product quality and longevity
- Increase product lead times
- Improve cost-effectiveness with increased production levels
- Control. This step is ongoing as teams consistently re-evaluate operating instructions, policies, and procedures to prevent future defects.
The Ultimate Goal of Six Sigma
Six Sigma in the manufacturing industry maintains a clear focus on quantifying and measuring any project’s financial returns. Therefore, an organization needs to clearly define the responsibilities and roles of every individual and step within the process to optimize.
The prime goal of Six Sigma production is to ensure the occurrence of 3.4 defects per million chances. This low measurement may seem to be an unachievable task—but custom masking kits can significantly help through smooth process integration and increased production line consistency.
Learn more about AIM’s custom masking kits and receive a free sample customized to your exact specifications and needed materials.
