Root Cause Analysis

In our journey of discovery about the topic of The Destructive Force of Failure, we have covered a lot of ground. We have discussed and dealt with Equipment Failure, Potential Causes, Failure Modes, and Trouble Shooting. Having identified all the potential issues and failures, it is about time that we now started to look for solutions. So in the remaining chapters, we will be discussing how to identify and implement solutions through the use of Root Cause Analysis.

Crisis in the Workplace

Have you ever arrived at work relaxed and feeling good and then almost before you have entered your office, all ***** breaks lose? Critical machine failure. The fail button lit up. Machine alarm going off. Huge crisis and pressure as critical production at a standstill. Production managers going red in the face. The poor operator with their head in their hands. Technicians running around trying to sort issues out.

Where do I start? How do I get back control? How do I get this fixed?

Well, some things just have to have a quick fix to get rid of the pressure but that does not always get rid of the problem. It may well get the machine up and running but for how long?

When will this issue raise its ugly head again?

This is exactly what we need to work through to try and not only find out what is wrong but to work out how we can prevent this crisis from happening again. Yes get things moving again fast but how can we get to grips with resolving this problem permanently.

How do we find out what the root cause of this problem is and get it fixed – Permanently?

Failure Analysis

Problems and failures occur every day but not every problem warrants a failure analysis tool. Usually, we only have the time and resources to provide quick relief. Our job is to separate problems and failures that require relief from those where we need to prevent occurrences in the future. To help separate these problems, we need to ask ourselves a few questions:

• What is the current actual impact of the problem?
• What is the potential impact if the problem is not solved?
• What level of risk can we live with that is supported from a moral/legal/contractual viewpoint?
• What is an acceptable outcome that balances risk, cost, and benefits?

When we focus on a response that provides needed relief and, as necessary, the discovery of root causes, we become more productive.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) – Definition

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a systematic process for identifying “root causes” of problems or events and an approach for responding to them. RCA is based on the basic idea that effective management requires more than merely ‘putting out fires for problems that develop but rather finding a way to prevent them from starting in the first place.

Analysis Tools

There are a number of failure analysis tools available to us.

We are going to concentrate specifically on

• Root Cause Analysis

We will move on to the three Statistical

Tools available to us:

• Pareto Charts
• Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF)
• Condition Monitoring

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) – Process

There are five elements involved in the RCA Process

• Define the Problem
• Cause and Effect Chart
• Effective Solutions
• Corrective Actions
• Future Issues and Follow Up

All of which we will work through in detail in the following chapters.

The following image illustrates how an investigation into why something failed should be undertaken, in order to identify the root cause and then find a solution to prevent that failure from happening again. If we start with the problem at the bottom of the stairs and then proceed to climb the stairs one step at a time, we can see exactly what we have just outlined in the RCA Process above.

• Evaluation and proof
• Investigate and understand
• Analysis and identification
• Corrective actions
• Implementation

As it states these are critical steps in the overall problem-solving process.

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