Sustainable Business Growth Through Process Capability Enhancement: A DMAIC Framework for Defect Reduction in Drum Packaging

Company X operates as an asphalt production and distribution facility that manufactures drums used for asphalt in drum packaging. Quality inspections indicate that a portion of the drums still fails to meet specification requirements. The drum production process has an average defect rate of 7.17%, which remains above the company’s target of 5%. To evaluate the current quality control mechanism and pinpoint areas for enhancement, this research utilizes Statistical Quality Control (SQC) integrated into the Define–Measure–Analyze–Improve–Control (DMAIC) methodology. The analysis reveals that welding and double seamer processes are the primary contributors to drum leakage defects. Maintaining an average defect rate of 7.33% above the permissible threshold demonstrates that a statistically stable process does not automatically guarantee alignment with required quality standards. Root cause analysis reveals that material variability, inconsistent work methods, and operator skill levels as major contributors to defect occurrence. Improvement actions were developed through FMEA and translated into a comprehensive control plan to support systematic implementation. This study contributes to the company by utilizing Statistical Process Control (SPC) supported by data analysis enables companies to proactively identify process variations, generate more accurate quality improvement decisions, reduce potential waste, increase product reliability, and accelerate the achievement of zero-defect production targets.