Process performance enhancement in cable manufacturing based on the synergetic integration of LSS-DMAIC approach and knowledge capturing mechanisms

Abstract

In cable manufacturing, product quality is essential and variation in product is a critical issue, but in most cases results from solutions to cable defects identified during process improvement projects are not sustained. This anomaly is likened to the outsourcing of improvement functions to external professionals most of the time and also due to absence of knowledge-based solution, robust enough to solve most of the real-life quality problems that prevails in a dynamic cable manufacturing environment. Hence there exists a need for an efficient deployment strategy applicable in cable manufacturing that will aid organizations in their improvement studies to solve real life problems as well as to become a knowledgeable organization. The goal of this study is to improve cable manufacturing process performance by utilizing the complementary ideas of Knowledge Management (KM) and Lean Six Sigma-DMAIC (LSS-DMAIC). The conceptualized model also provided an environment for the development of employee capability while preventing excessive financial losses for the cable manufacturing sector through the careful identification of knowledge domains, retention of previously learned information, and the development of strong social capital within the organization. Finally, this study added a type of integration strategy that would help process improvement practitioners in cable manufacturing companies to the body of existing process improvement studies. It focused on the complementary benefits of these two different disciplines, "LSS and KM," which have been rarely discussed in Nigerian process improvement studies