Problem Statements: A ‘problem’ is the gap between current condition and desired goal. Once you have really understood your data you can write a focused problem statement.
· A problem statement concisely and accurately describes the problem in a way that is easy to understand.
· When you are writing your problem statement:
·Define the problem in specific terms that present facts such as the product type and the error made.
·Identify where the problem is appearing as specifically as possible. This helps the team focus its improvement efforts.
·Describe the size of the problem in measurable term.
What you see as a cause of a problem probably might not be the actual cause.
For an example we consider that getting a new team member trained in a certain process takes time as a cause contributing to delay/high time consumption in delivering BAU however analyzing it might reflect that training took more time as trainers were also occupied in delivering BAU and other jobs during that span which served as a primary cause for delay in training.
So, RCA caters as a problem-solving methodology that focuses on resolving the underlying problem instead of applying quick fixes that only treat immediate symptoms of the problem. RCA comes into play when we are either not sure of the cause of the problem or the countermeasure/solution to the problem.
The start of root cause analysis is a creative stage. You start by using your team members to brainstorm all the possible causes of your problem. It is also preferred to include someone who is not a part of team/does not know the process to get generic opinions on the causes.
Brainstorming (thought-showers) - Use brainstorming to generate a lot of ideas in a short period of time.
• Structured brainstorming – ask participants, in turn, to put forward an idea or skip their turn
• Unstructured brainstorming - Ask the participants to express ideas as they come to mind, at random
Note: Remember to capture all ideas – there are no bad ideas in brainstorming. Don’t paraphrase – use the person’s own words. Go for quantity over quality.
The RCA Tools
1.5 Why’s: The Five Whys strategy involves looking at any problem and drilling down by asking: "Why?" or "What caused this problem?". 5 Why is an interrogative method for digging into the root cause of an effect. you should be getting more specific with each why – if you find you are becoming vaguer with each why start again.
After each why collect data to prove the causes you have identified – otherwise the 5 whys become based on opinion only. One can drill down to 5 times to find the actual cause.
For example:
·Problem statement – your car gets a flat tire on your way to work.
1.Why did you get a flat tire? • You ran over nails in your garage
2.Why were there nails on the garage floor? • The box of nails on the shelf was wet; the box fell apart and nails fell from the box onto the floor. *
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3.Why was the box of nails wet? • There was a leak in the roof, and it rained hard last night. (Root cause=leak in the roof)
*IF YOU STOPPED HERE AND “SOLVED” THE PROBLEM BY SWEEPING UP THE NAILS, YOU WOULD HAVE MISSED THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM.
2.Fish Bone
The Cause-and-effect diagrams (also known as fishbone or Ishikawa) is a tool to help you identify and jot down multiple potential causes of a problem. These are divided into the 6 M’s: Man, Machine, Method, Material, Measure and Environment. The headings should cover all potential issues you have and by placing your ideas on the fish you can check if there are any obvious areas you have missed. We should use issues you have focused in on in your data collection rather than trying to have one fishbone for your entire problem. We use a fishbone method when the frequency of all the causes is same.
Below is an example of a fishbone that I had prepared to Identify the potential causes of a problem in one of my jobs. I had used four bone heads which cover the causes where the effect or the problem is High time consumption. It is always better to have a brainstorming session to capture or discuss all the contributing factors. In the below example Manpower = Man and Mother Nature = Environment.
3.Pareto Analysis
The pareto principle says that (around) 80% of problems are caused by (around) 20% of the contributing causes. Therefore, if we can solve the major factors causing the problem it would have the greatest effect, then we can solve the ones having lower impacts. This is also known as the “80-20 rule.
The below video will explain you to understand the concept of Pareto better.
These three are the most commonly used RCA tools. Apart from these we also have :
5S stands for sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain. We use it to
• Simplify the work environment
• Ensure work materials are readily available
• Reduce waste
• Eliminate useless activity
• Improve efficiency
• Increase safety
3C’s (Concern, Cause, Countermeasure) action planning is used for issues / bugs identified as controllable by the team with known actions to resolve.
5W2H stands for Why, Where, Who, What, When, How, How many. This is used for gathering information.
There are many other techniques as well however i have tried to list the one which are commonly used.
