Action Research Proposal for Defects

Defects in Quality Service within the Distribution Center

Reducing Defects through Six Sigma
While working for a large company, the demand to provide quality service to customers has grown over the last decade. The supply chain is the heart and soul to providing quality customer service not just to the consumer, but to our stores as well. Processes vary throughout the course of the year from down time to peak seasons

Problem Statement
During our peak seasons, there are defects in how the Distribution Centers processes receivable products to shipping products to the stores. The defects that seem to occur deal with large volumes of receivables where little space is available to large quantities of products being shipped where little room is available. This has caused lost time of production resulting in wasted labor hours. This project will explore how the supply chain in the distribution center can improve customer quality by reducing defects in processes within the DC. (Distribution Center) day-to-day operations
Research Questions
The following is the primary research question:
" How to reduce defects in the process system through six sigma"
Follow-up questions are:
1) To research why defects continue to occur in D.C. process operations.
2) To evaluate six sigma as a tool to reduce the defects.
3) To give recommendations.
4) Does management understand what chronic defects in processing orders cost in customer satisfaction?
"Six Sigma is a methodology that provides businesses with the tools to improve the capability of their business processes. This increase in performance and decrease in process variation leads to defect reduction and vast improvement in profits, employee morale and quality of product Six Sigma helps in defect prevention."(Unknown, 2011). With Six Sigma, the objective is to look for opportunities in the process to reduce or eliminate defects. Using Six Sigma Will Guide Your Firm to:"(Unknown, 2011).
- Improve Customer Satisfaction
- Increase Profit Margins
- Shorten Cycle Times
- Reduce Costs

Rationale
Defects in processes arise when the actual result is varying from the planned result. The planned result within the distribution center varies from day-to-day, only adding confusion as to the root problem that leads to a negative variation in the actual results. There is no solution to eliminate all the defects, but with research, the idea is to reduce the amount of defects in the process to provide quality service and to allow for a smoother transition from receiving the product, picking the orders, and shipping the orders to the stores. There are different tools that can lead to reducing the defects. My research will explore how Six Sigma can focus on those defects that are chronic and has negative impacts on the process.

References:

Unknown. (2011). Six Sigma Methodology. Retrieved on June 19, 2013 from
http://www.ssqi.com/six-sigma-library/methodology.html.
Soni, M. (2010). Defect Prevention: Reducing Costs and Enhancing Quality Retrieved on
June 19, 2013 from http://www.isixsigma.com/industries/software-it/defect-prevention-reducing-costs-and-enhancing-quality/.

Develop the action research project proposal. The proposal should be professional and be written for presentation to those who would be responsible for reviewing and/or approving your proposal. It should include:

A summary of the problem to be addressed by the research project.
A description of the action research project.
A rationale for the proposal (description of why the study is important and/or relevant to business and/or management).
One or more hypotheses and/or predicted goals or outcomes.
Definition of important or relevant terms.
Statement of assumptions.