Application of Six Sigma methodology to enhance the productivity and performance of a hotel in the UAE

Abstract

PurposeThe hotel industry is one of the primary sectors contributing to every country's economy by promoting and reinforcing tourism. The pandemic situation across the globe is forcing the hospitality industry to adopt a suitable operational excellence (OPEX) methodology and its associated tools to deliver quality service at an affordable cost. However, there is limited evidence of applying one of the prominent OPEX methodologies, such as Six Sigma (SS), to enhance the hospitality industry's productivity and performance. Thus, the purpose of the study is to explore the application of the SS methodology to reduce the cycle time of a pantry workstation in a United Arab Emirates (UAE) hotel sector.Design/methodology/approachThe research adopted a case study approach using DMAIC (define-measure-analyse-improve-control) phases to improve the performance of the minibar updating process attached to the hotel rooms. In addition, the study effectively used several tools, including normality tests, control charts, capability analysis, cause and effect diagram, failure mode effects analysis (FMEA), value stream mapping (VSM) and GEMBA, to validate the root causes and draw robust inferences.FindingsThe average cycle time and standard deviation of the pantry process were drastically reduced. Further, the analysis showed that the process capability index was substantially improved. Consequently, a notable improvement in the process performance was witnessed, which has resulted in a profit of $50,000 per annum in the hotel.Practical implicationsThe article provides a structured and disciplined approach of SS in a hotel which can be used as a benchmarking document by the academicians, practitioners and policymakers for OPEX within the hospitality industry. Further, it paves the way to develop a road map for applying SS in the hospitality sector.Originality/valueAs per the authors' knowledge, to date, no case study has been reported in top tier refereed journals regarding the application of SS in the hotel sector. Thus, the current case study bridges this gap and reiterates that SS can be effectively used with meticulous planning and deployment in the hospitality industry.