Reduction of Defects in Latex Dipping Production: A Case Study in a Malaysian Company for Process Improvement

--------------------------------------------------------ABSTRACT----------------------------------------------------------Six Sigma is based in large measure on creating a closed-loop business system to reduce company’s inconsistency or “variations” of business system and keep it staying on the path to performance and success. Defects, which are the bad variation that have a negative impact on customers and the approaches used to monitor and improve them, can be defined as “process improvement”. This paper presents the implementation of process improvement in a latex production company in Malaysia. The Six Sigma Way is proposed and DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) phases are developed to accomplish the process improvement efforts. These phases had been applied in latex dipping production line that identified as the most critical area of cost compelling to the company.