Lean Six Sigma applied to process performance and improvement model for the development of electric scooter water-cooling green motor assembly

Abstract

In response to the environmental issues triggered by global warming, worldwide companies gradually put the factor of carbon emission into the process of product lifecycle, developing green technology or adopting cleaner production aimed at sustainable development. Lean Six Sigma has advantages of cutting waste and facilitating process improvements as well as system analysis, helping enterprises create the overall business benefits in the value chain. Used in the renewable energy industry, it can promote the triple bottom line (TBL), the performance of sustainable production for corporate profit, social responsibility and environmental responsibility. Therefore, this work took the process performance of the electric scooter water-cooling green motor manufactured in Taiwan with the world’s highest density of scooters as a case study. The developed performance evaluation and improvement model for manufacturing scheduling and process quality achieved the goal of economic benefits of enhancing process quality performance by shortening manufacturing scheduling and reducing process variations with Lean Six Sigma. Besides, they could respond to the policy of energy saving and carbon reduction – replacing the traditional scooters of high-carbon emissions with the electric scooters of low emissions. Furthermore, they could bring enterprises into harmony with economic benefits, ecological benefits and social benefits.

Keywords:

• Electric scooter green motor
• energy saving and carbon reduction
• Lean Six Sigma
• sustainable development
• triple bottom line

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, Republic of China [grant number MOST 105-2622-E-167 -015 -CC3].

Notes on contributors

Ching-Hsin Wang

Dr. Ching-Hsin Wang is currently an Associate Professor of the Department of Leisure Industry Management at National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taiwan. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Institute of Manufacturing Information and Systems from the National Cheng Kung University in 2010. His current research interests include statistical process control, quality management, process capability analysis, lean six sigma and performance evaluation. His research has been published in Annals of Operations Research, Journal of Cleaner Production, Industrial Management & Data Systems, Expert Systems with Applications, Quality & Quantity, Microelectronics Reliability, Journal of Engineering Manufacture (Part B), Advances in Mechanical Engineering, etc.

Kuen-Suan Chen

Dr. Kuen-Suan Chen is currently a Lifetime Distinguished Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at National Chin-Yi University of Technology (NCUT), Taiwan. Dr. Chen received his Ph.D. degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from the National Chiao Tung University in 1995. His current research interests include statistical process control, quality management, process capability analysis, performance evaluation method, six sigma and service management. He has published in International Journal of Production Research, International Journal of Production Economics, Journal of Quality Technology, Quality Engineering, Quality and Reliability Engineering International, Applied Mathematical Modelling, and European Journal of Industrial Engineering.

Kim-Hua Tan

Dr. Kim Hua Tan is a Professor of Operations and Innovation Management at Nottingham University Business School and previously Head of the Operations Management and Information Management Division. Prior to this, he was a researcher and teaching assistant at Centre for Strategy and Performance, University of Cambridge. Dr. Tan spent many years in industry, holding various executive positions before joining academia in 1999. His current research interests are lean management, innovation management, sustainability and operations strategy. He has spoken on these subjects across the globe, including China, Taiwan, Japan, Latin America, Europe and other locales. Dr. Tan has consulted many Fortune 500 companies and appointed as Our Common Future Fellow by the Volkswagen Foundation in 2009.