Quality Improvement Projects with the DMAIC Cycle Approach: A Case Study

Quality improvement projects provide great benefits if the results successfully reach the targets and increase customer satisfaction. However, there are still quality improvement projects that fail. The failure of a quality improvement project is very detrimental to the company because it wastes resources, while the quality improvement goals are not achieved. The purpose of this study is to determine the sigma level and increase the product yield value, as well as to provide alternative improvements for quality improvement projects. Sigma level values are important in quality improvement projects because they are used to measure the capabilities of a process by showing how well a process meets customer requirements. The method used is the DMAIC cycle (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control). The DMAIC cycle is applied through several stages. The first stage is defined by identifying problems or opportunities for improvement; the second stage is measuring by evaluating key process metrics to establish baseline performance. The third stage is analyzing the data to identify the root cause of inefficiency or defects. The fourth stage is improving by implementing solutions to address the identified problems, focusing on the most impactful improvements. Finally, the control stage aims to monitor and evaluate the results of the quality improvement project to ensure it runs well. The results showed an increase in the sigma level by 0.26 points from 4.51 to 4.77 sigma, an increase in the yield value of UKA products by 3.5% from 88.1% to 91.6%, and the priority improvement recommendations included the set-up sheet, adding parameters for the UKA product machine system, and adding tools to standardize the machine setting process.