Date of Award

2-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Engineering Management (MSEM)

Department

Engineering Management

First Advisor

Diane Evans

Second Advisor

Craig Downing

Third Advisor

Jay McCormack

Abstract

This project was completed at PPG Brazil, a paint manufacturing plant in Brazil, Indiana. The purpose of the project was to reduce the number of Quality Control (QC) adjustments made per batch of paint produced. When a batch of any paint product is manufactured, the batch is tested to ensure that it meets required customer specifications. If the batch fails any QC test, the batch is adjusted to pass that specification test and then re-tested until it meets all other required specifications. Sometimes in adjusting for one specification, the batch may then fail a different specification and would require another adjustment. The project applied Six Sigma techniques in attempting to reduce the number of adjustments per batch.

The project followed the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) methodology. This paper discusses a specific improvement measure that was implemented, and the pre- and post-improvement average daily number of QC adjustments per batch were compared. The improvement measure resulted in a statistically significant reduction in the average number of daily QC adjustments per batch after its implementation.

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