Six Sigma Approach: A Pathway to Zero Waste Sustainable Apparel Industry

The main concept of zero waste management lies in considering waste as resources produced during the manufacturing processes and utilising them in further processes. This approach is based on the fact of reducing waste, minimising consumption, and concentrating on recycling, reusing, and repairing the resources. Achieving zero waste is possible by implementing some changes in some aspects like production, product usage, and product disposal. The fashion industry contributes about 10% of global greenhouse emissions, this alarming situation calls for some measures to be taken to reduce the emissions, one major measure is the zero-waste approach. Six Sigma, a continuous improvement methodology, is applied for the zero-waste approach, this uses data-driven tools and techniques to reduce waste and produce products with less or zero variability. This strategy aims to attain a better level of quality and get things done right the first time (RFT), which avoids the need for rework, thereby reducing the waste generated during rework. Six Sigma focuses on achieving a level of quality with only 3.14 defects per million opportunities. The use of methods like DMAIC (define, measure, analyse, improve, control) and VALS (value stream mapping) is common in Six Sigma, for continuous improvement and waste management. In this chapter, we are going to discuss the scope and applications of Six Sigma, its tools, its implementation in apparel industries, and DMAIC approaches used in the apparel industry to attain zero waste in further years. Six Sigma methodology can lead to process improvement, quality improvement, and effective supplier and inventory management, thereby leading to reduced wastage and sustainable apparel business leaning towards zero waste.