Integration of the DMAIC Approach and Lean Six Sigma Methodology in a Sausage Factory

This investigation details a case study on implementing the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology in a sausage processing plant to reduce waste and eliminate processes that do not add value to the production chain. Initially, an analysis was carried out to identify the product that generates the greatest utility in the organization, in this case, the cooked ham. Then, it was necessary to identify possible failures in the production process, by applying the value flow mapping (VSM). It was concluded that, in the cooking and cooling process, there was a greater amount of product on hold due to poor distribution of personnel and the lack of production planning that allows adjusting the production chain concerning the process that takes longer. Hence, the production flow is constant and the organization can make decisions based on customer demand. By taking random samples of the cooked ham, a histogram was developed to observe how much variability there was in the final weight of the cooked ham. The cooked ham lost weight, after the cooking and cooling processes, was 8% which represents 8000 g in each production batch. Therefore, with the LSS implementation proposal, the results showed an annual saving of USD 8775 in the factory because the weight loss was reduced by 6%. The LSS methodology uses the DMAIC approach to reduce the product’s weight loss, in addition to an improvement in the production line, obtained with a good distribution of the personnel.