The Presentation expounds on the unconventional application of Six Sigma aimed at reducing quality failures due to Aflatoxin (Carcinogenic) incidences in Chilli (Paprika) across the value chain. The Project is critical to meet the stringent food safety norms of US and Europe on Aflatoxin.

Aflatoxin is one of the mycotoxins released by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. It is carcinogenic and has stringent regulations in terms of residue limit across the globe. Various food commodities like chilli, groundnut, maize and nutmeg are susceptible to aflatoxin and face challenges in meeting the residue limits set by various importing countries.

India also faces severe aflatoxin issues and to compete in the world markets, especially with the likes of China, they have to be addressed efficiently.

ITC Limited, an FMCG Conglomerate in India, specializes in catering to the demands of the food safe spices across the globe. In previous seasons, it has been observed that a significant portion of the produce procured from farm fails to meet the set limits of aflatoxin. To leverage these opportunities, aflatoxin reduction has been one of the key focus areas, especially since rejection rate for crop is high historically. In addition to this, the produce passed during procurement fails to meet the specification after storage and drying operation.

Realizing the gap in efficiency a project was launched in August 2013 to statistically approach the problem with the aim to reduce the post buy failure due to aflatoxin (drying operation) from 7.59% to 2%.

In spite of having a positive release mechanism, where the material is tested before being sent for pre-processing, a failure rate of 7.59% is observed at the second node. The following approach was taken to achieve the target.

Stage 1:

Lot Size determination and establishment of sampling methodologies at pre - processing and processing nodes of Chilli for Aflatoxin estimations.

Stage 2:

Measurement system analysis and solution identification using the DMAIC approach
105 X’s identified using the Cause and Effect Matrix tool, actions taken to lend permanence to the solutions given during the project
Of the 105 X’s identified , 40 X’s were taken forward for the Failure Mode Effect Analysis
Either a new Standard Operating Procedure was introduced or the current one was modified
Solutions like training and competency building of quality inspectors and ERP mistake proofing was implemented.
4 critical X’s namely: Water-activity, Variety, Mould Infested pods (MIP), Storage time; with higher Risk Priority Numbers (RPNs) were taken forward for graphical and statistical analysis
DOE of the critical X’s conducted to find the main effects and interaction effects on Aflatoxin (Y).

The project was a successful exercise undertaken by the business as demonstrated by the achievement of the desired improvement in the primary metric without any negative impact on the other key metrics.

Learning outcomes/takeaways:

Learn to solve problems in commodity/food businesses which are fraught with environmental vagaries and external influence amidst the challenges of limited measurement systems, changing market dynamics and fluctuating Voice of Customers.
Appreciate how to crystallize a complex/vague business problem into objective Six Sigma Framework
Learn to employ Six Sigma for creating future ready food safe value chains.
Learn to translate a statistically validated solution into a practical strategy which is implementable on the ground and feasible for food business.
Learn to continuously improve measurement of quality parameters in agricultural produce with a certainty/accuracy commensurate to meet the demands of the increasingly stringent food safety norms

The paradigm shift is that it is possible to employ Six Sigma methodology in the Agriculture sector. Significant strides have been taken by the business to solve various problems for e.g.: Improving the product quality rating system for Spices- Turmeric and usage of statistical tools to develop a crop quality index. The learnings and approach used to solve this challenging problem can be adopted in other sectors as well.

Sally Eona Fernandes

Affiliation

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Reducing Aflatoxin Failures in Chilli across the Value Chain