290 Int. J. Productivity and Quality Management, Vol. 3, No. 3, 2008 Copyright © 2008 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Improving productivity and profitability through Six Sigma: experience of a small-scale jobbing industry Darshak A. Desai Department of Mechanical Engineering, G. H. Patel College of Engineering and Technology (GCET), Vallabh Vidyanagar 388 120, Anand, Gujarat, India E-mail: darshak301@yahoo.com Abstract: For global competitiveness, Indian industries need overall operational excellence by implementing the proven breakthrough strategy, such as, Six Sigma. It is one of the most effective breakthrough improvement strategies having direct impact on bottom line of the organisation. This quantitative approach aims at improving efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation, which helps in improving productivity and profitability as well. From the researches and surveys published so far, it appears that Six Sigma is not being explored by the Indian industries to its full potential. On global scenario also much is available regarding techniques of Six Sigma and its success stories at various multinationals, but very less is reported regarding step-by-step implementation of Six Sigma in small-scale jobbing industries. This paper illustrates a real life case study of practising Six Sigma at small-scale jobbing engineering concern. This paper explains phase wiz application of all the phases of Define-Measure-Analyse-Improve-Control (DMAIC), and ultimately shows how Six Sigma can help improving productivity as well as profitability. Keywords: productivity; profitability; Six Sigma; Define-Measure-Analyse- Improve-Control; DMAIC; small-scale industry; Jobbing industries; Indian industries. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Desai, D.A. (2008) ‘Improving productivity and profitability through Six Sigma: experience of a small-scale jobbing industry’, Int. J. Productivity and Quality Management, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp.290–310. Biographical notes: Darshak A. Desai is an Academician with a rich industrial background. His area of interest is operations and quality management. Apart from the project in question, he has also successfully undertaken the projects of implementing Cost of Quality (COQ) System and Six Sigma in other small-scale industry. He has delivered talks on Six Sigma at Polytechnic as well as National Institute of Technology. He has presented and published 17 papers at national and international levels. He has published, as a co-Author, four books for polytechnic students and one for graduate engineering students, in regional language and English. He has also made contributions in international book publications.