Why Is Root Cause Analysis so Important?

Root cause analysis can single-handedly eliminate an issue; and by eliminating the issue your business will run more efficiently. You’ll be able to give more focus to your customer base, because the issue that was causing issues for your business is gone.

A Simple Basic Step-by-Step Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

• Define the Problem: Be specific and as detailed as possible.
• Understand the Problem: Use actual data having to do with the problem. Make sure you have a clear understanding of the problem; this will ensure the correct root cause will be found and eliminated.
• Immediate Action: The most obvious issue is usually located close to the “effect.”
• Corrective Action: Identify the most likely underlying causes of the problem, and prioritize action taken from that point.
• Confirm the Solution: After you’ve done all the preliminaries and have implemented the solution, make sure you confirm the success of the solution.

This would ensure that the new rules and methods would be established, thus avoiding the same problem from recurring.

So, What Tools Are Needed in Conducting a Root Cause Analysis?

Fishbone (Ishikawa) Diagram: This can help identify causes of the issue

Pareto Chart: This is a bar graph that visually shows significance of the elements involved.

Scatter Diagram: This graphs numerical data to help look for a common link.

5 Whys: This is by far the most creative and a very simple tool to use. You state your problem and start asking why until you get to the root cause. The simplicity is what makes this a genius tool.

We offer root cause analysis training in several cities. It is the most comprehensive course to date. Among many topics, you will learn:

• The Problem-Solving Process Flowchart (8D Roadmap)
• Flowcharts
• Problem vs. Opportunities
• Cause & Effect Mapping Methods
• Using Facts, Evidence, and Assumptions

For more information about our root cause analysis coursework, please visit 6sigma.com.

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The 7 quality tools include:

1. Stratification (Divide & Conquer): Here data is divided into smaller subcategories. These subcategories are divided into groups based on the information that they most cover, and the specific information given in these subgroups help solve an existing issue.
2. Histogram: These contain information on the frequency of specific occurrences that have to do with the issue needed to be resolved.
3. Check Sheet: An easy way to display both qualitative and quantitative data that is gathered for analysis; also called a tally sheet. This is great in understanding where in the progress that defect patterns happen.
4. Cause & Effect Chart (Fishbone or Ishikawa Diagram): This diagram is extremely useful in problem solutions as well as identifying the root causes for an issue.
5. Pareto Chart (80-20 Principle): This chart is based on 20% of causes resulting in 80% of effects. The Pareto charts help us visualize through the chart that the majority of end results come from a minority of actions or causes for defects.
6. Scatter Diagram: This is a mathematical chart that correlates a set of two variables for specific data.
7. Control Chart (Shewhart Chart): This is a great tool for observing all pertinent processes over time. This tool makes it easy to see the variation and pinpoint its occurrence.

These quality control tools help in gathering important data that will make quality improvement based on facts and not on arbitrary guesses. Keep in mind that the Voice of Customer (VOC) is of utmost importance since fulfilling the customer’s requirements is the reason you are in business, and without your customers, you won’t have a business or company.

For more information on our Six Sigma training courses or services, please visit 6sigma.com.

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The scatter diagram is one of the most prominently used tools in modern companies, despite its somewhat aged nature. It’s clear that it still has a lot of potential for providing a deep insight into the way a company operates, especially with regards to drawing up the relationships between its different entities and giving you an adequate overview of how everything is linked together. One of the best benefits of a scatter diagram is that it gives a lot of correlation data, allowing you to use it as a solid foundation for good correlation analysis in the future.

What Does a Scatter Diagram Show?

At its root, a scatter diagram shows the distribution of certain variables’ values across their corresponding ranges. However, by plotting the appropriate variables, interesting links may start to emerge. A properly designed scatter diagram can show you correlations between variables both positive and negative ones and when applied correctly, it can even be used to determine how these correlations have changed over time.

This mostly comes down to looking at the best fit line, and choosing the right procedure for coming up with the line is a crucial step in ensuring that the scatter diagram can give you enough viable data to work with. For example, linear regression can work well when you have a guarantee for certain constraints, such as the time duration of the whole project. On the other hand, there might be more appropriate methods for your particular data set, which may not even be among the commonly used ones.

Stacking Data for Proper Quality Control

A great way to use scatter diagrams is to stack their data over time in order to see how certain relationships between variables have evolved. Depending on the frequency of your data collection, this may or may not require a significant change in your collection practices, but as long as you’ve got the fundamental underlying system functioning correctly, you should be able to see good results.

Make sure you have a proper system for keeping track of past iterations as well. A good database for this purpose should provide you with proper access to historic data, and the ability to compare previous sets properly. This may sometimes be complicated when working with more complex data sets that span across multiple variables, but even if you need to come up with a custom in-house solution for the job, it should still be worth the effort in the long run once you start getting good results.

Using All Available Tools

An important point to understand about correlation analysis is that it can be done with a multitude of tools, and scatter diagrams are just one of many. There are various utilities that can give you an adequate overview of your current operations and the way your business is evolving, especially with regards to the relationships between certain variables. Remember that scatter diagrams can work great for some companies and their situations, but they are not so well-suited for other applications. So, for example, just because your main competitor is using scatter diagrams as the main tool for their analysis, this doesn’t mean that you should be doing the same.

On the other hand, if you still haven’t tried integrating scatter diagrams into your analytical workflow, this should definitely be at the top of your priorities list. There is a lot to gain from a proper implementation of this particular tool in most modern organizations, especially those that frequently have to deal with the relationships between the different variables involved in their operation.

Conclusion

Scatter diagrams can assist you in correlation analysis quite well, but they are just one of many tools that can be helpful in this area. It’s important to develop a solid understanding of all aspects of correlation analysis and to familiarize yourself with the full toolset as best as you can, because this is one of the easiest ways to ensure your organization is moving in the right direction in the long run.

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Top 7 Six Sigma Quality Tools –

1.     Control Chart – One of Your Essential Control Tools

Quality improvement involves a lot of testing and documentation. As such, a control chart is a highly effective method by which to monitor and maintain statistical control. Control charts will help you remain aware of your measurements and limits, as well as pin down the causes of variation.

2.     Cause and Effect Diagram

Also known as Fishbone or Ishikawa Diagrams, CEDs give your employees the freedom to interrogate problems for their possible causes. Every fishbone branching off the spine of the diagram represents a different category, allowing you to question multiple lines of inquiry at once.

3.     Histograms – For Graphical Data Display

One of Six Sigma’s most commonly used tools, histograms display and make sense of data. You should use them to show probability distribution in graph form. Histograms are also useful for indicating the frequency with which factors affecting quality or process improvement appear. Histograms, like Pareto diagrams, represent data vertically and horizontally.

4.     Check Sheet – Asks the 5 Whys

Another frequently used quality tool, you should use check sheets for data collection. Check sheets collect and collate data in real time, when and where your data is located. You can spot problems and highlight trends with ease, as check sheets make analysis simpler. Taking the form of a physical document or as a computer program, check sheets allow you to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Check sheets become tally sheets when dealing with quantitative data. Check sheets involve collating all relevant project or process information. Questions of Who, What, When, Where, and Why are used to measure probability distribution and quantify variation.

5.     Stratification

Six Sigma practitioners use stratification to classify data systematically. Stratification arranges information according to suitable categories, which you should devise for yourself, such as process, time, place, frequency, etc. Stratification is sometimes known as a flowchart and provides a visual template for how processes work. They can also identify your process customers.

6.     Scatter Diagram – Critical Quality Tools

A critical quality tool in Six Sigma, scatter diagrams allow you to show how two factors are related. Like cause and effect diagrams, scatter diagrams can display both causation and correlation, as well as the degree to which both appear. You can also test potential cause and effect relationships between multiple variables.

7.     Pareto Chart

Known as ABC analysis, Pareto charts are a classic of quality improvement work. Pareto charts are one of Six Sigma’s most highly utilized tools and used by companies all over the world. Pareto charts enable you to prioritize your most critical problems and the factors contributing to them. If a factor affects your business in a negative way, Pareto charts can help distinguish between the vital few and your trivial many are useful for identifying the most significant issues to tackle first.

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