SIX SIGMA AND PERFORMANCE OF MEDIUM SCALE MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN FCT ABUJA,NIGERIA

This study examines the effect of application of Six Sigma principles on performance of medium-scale manufacturing firms in Abuja. Using a cross-sectional survey research design, data were collected from 205 respondents in selected manufacturing firms through structured questionnaires administered to 370 participants through Goggle form. Six sigma was measured using it five dimensions — process definition, process measurement, process diagnostics, process improvement, and process control while performance was measured by customer patronage indicators. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis via SPSS Version 26. The findings of the study reveal that:application of process definition principles has a significant positive effect on the performance (R2= 0.163, F(1,203) = 39.574,p = 0.000< 0.05) with application of process definition principles explaining16.3% (R2= .163) variation in performance; Application of process measurement principles has a significant positive effect on performance (R2= 0.110, F(1,203) = 25.121,p = 0.000< 0.05) with application of process measurement principles explaining 11% (R2= .110) variation in performance.; Application of process diagnostic principles has a significant positive effect on the performance (R2= 0.161, F(1,203) = 38.853,p = 0.000< 0.05) with application of process diagnostic principles explaining 16.1% (R2= .161) variation in performance; Application of process improvement principles has a significant positive effect on the performance (R2= 0.252, F (1,203) = 31.400,p = 0.000< 0.05) with application of process improvement principles explaining 25.2% (R2= .252) variation in performance.; Application process control principles has a significant positive effect on the performance (R2= 0.154, F(1,203) = 36.965,p = 0.000< 0.05) with application of process control principles explaining 15.4% of variation in performance; and application of Six sigma principles has a positive significant effect on performance (Adj.R2= 0.350, F (5,199)= 22.927,p = 0.000< 0.05) with application of six sigma principles explaining 35% (Adj. R2= .350) variation in performance confirming that the combination of Six Sigma variables significantly predicts performance.Individually, process measurement (β = 0.280, t = 5.632, p = 0.000), process improvement (β = 0.806, t = 5.580, p = 0.000), and process control (β = 0.273, t = 1.997, p = 0.047) have significant positive effects on performance. However, application of process definition principles (β = 0.587, t = -2.003, p = 0.047) shows a statistically significant but negative effect on performance while application of process diagnostics principles (β = 0.138, t = -1.050, p = 0.295) was not statistically significant, indicating it does not contribute meaningfully to explaining performance outcomes. Therefore, in the combined dimensions of six sigma, the findings suggest that applications of process measurement, process improvement and process control are the key drivers of performance in the studied firms. Based on the findings of this study, application of the six sigma principles (including individual dimensions of six sigma) has significant positive implications for firm performance. It is therefore, recommended that small scale manufacturing firm operating in Abuja should implement the five tools of six sigma most especially process measurement, process improvement and process control tools to enhance performance of their manufacturing activities.