Greater heed has been paid to the matter of maritime security since the tragedy in the U.S.A. on 11 September 2001. A number of measures have been put into practice by ports to enhance security. More regulations and measures sometimes imply an increased probability of influencing port operations. Thus, the quality of the port security process regulated by measures is becoming essential. In this paper, the quality control in the port security process is demonstrated using the Six Sigma concept. It is concluded that it is crucial to distinguish each step of a security process clearly from the outset, furthermore, gathering quantitative data at each stage is the first priority. Although the demonstration has been based on a test case, the objective can be seen very clearly that by introducing this approach, the customer satisfaction (i.e. the time saving) will be achieved thus improving the efficiency of port operations. In order to attain this positive result, it is crucial that in the outset the mission of each step of a security process should be identified clearly irrespective of the measuring index. The application of sensitivity analysis in the Analyse stage is also highly recommended since it enables the management to identify the preferable solutions of quality improvement based on the available resources. In addition, since Six Sigma is based on statistical analysis, the incorporation of this quality assurance tool into port security studies may not be as easy as it was with the manufacturing industries where there is already a tradition of recording data on each stage of a process. Nevertheless, the difficulty could be overcome as long as a measuring index such as time or frequency associated with the on-site survey and investigation is determined. Therefore, if any port authority intends to apply Six Sigma to its quality of security or other operation process, the information and data from each stage must be carefully and quantitatively gathered.
The application of the six sigma concept to port security process quality control
Die Anwendung des Six-Sigma-Konzeptes auf die Prozesssteuerung bei der Hafensicherheit
Quality and Reliability Engineering International ; 23 , 5 ; 631-639
2007
9 Seiten, 5 Bilder, 5 Tabellen, 4 Quellen
Article (Journal)
English
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