Effective Root Cause Analysis / Corrective Action - Managements root cause ideas

[Tom W]

WARNING



Am I the only one that gets so frustrated about managements idea of effective root cause analysis and effective corrective actions.

I get sick and tired of effective root cause analysis and effective corrective actions being restated subconsciously as:
Cost effective root cause analysis or cost effective corrective actions.

To tap dance around the real issues becuase it might take some money to fix it right, or to admit that we are going to cut some corners because we are to busy to do it right. AAAUUUHHHGGG. I get sick of it.

Do it right because it is the right thing to do only means something when there is money to make or money to save in the short term. When we all know that most likely by fixing the problem right the first time we will save or make more money in the long-term.

Maybe it is just me; maybe I am a big picture kind of thinker, but does it not make sense to do things right; to fix things right and not put a bandaid on it and hope we can get away with it.

Effective corrective action is taken to not only fix the initial problem but to eliminate it from happening again. Correct??

Why do we have to dance around production and management when it comes to doing things right? WHY WHY WHY WHY?





Thanks I feel much better now.

So have you given management examples of some internal problems that would be better addressed by really addressing the root cause(s)? e.g., a benefit/cost analysis

I find management quite logically understands that money spent will often return much greater than the original investment. However, it is necessary that the benefits be real ... not soft money. For example, in a manufacturing company real money means spending less on labor (e.g., less overtime) or raw materials (e.g., less scrap). Saying that money will be saved because of less time isn't meaningful if the company still has to pay the same wages & material costs.

[Wes Bucey]

I sit on both sides of the desk. Sometimes, I'm the Quality wonk arguing passionately for leeway to "get to the bottom of this." Most times, though, I buy into the management side of the equation and declare like Cuba Gooding's character, "Show me the money!"

Most of my seminars and workshops on problem solving for the last 20 years have stressed setting and staying within a budget for solving a problem. Without that budget, you have a possibility of becoming a monomaniacal "Captain Ahab" who chases the white whale, Moby Dick, without regard to the consequences.

I recall one instance where we had a limited run of a special order, but the cutting tool insert was breaking long before its projected life span. One of my Quality guys wanted to stop production and conduct tests to determine the cause. I vetoed that and merely tripled my budget for cutting tools on the job from $100 to $300 and finished out the job in 2 days, rather than shutting down the job at $200/hour (machine billing rate) for 10 to 20 hours to learn how to save that $200 in extra tool insert costs. I could still make a profit spending $200 extra for inserts, but I couldn't recover $2,000 in machine downtime, let alone a potential $4,000, with no guarantee of finding a solution.

Dokes has hit the nail on the head by asking, "So have you given management examples of some internal problems that would be better addressed by really addressing the root cause(s)? e.g., a benefit/cost analysis"

[Claes Gefvenberg]

In Reply to Parent Post by Wes Bucey

Dokes has hit the nail on the head by asking, "So have you given management examples of some internal problems that would be better addressed by really addressing the root cause(s)? e.g., a benefit/cost analysis"

That he did... and if so, the next question is: How was it presented (Since it obviously didn't "get through")? Managers get inundated by a torrent of information. As a rule they cannot wade through it all. They have to choose. How do we make them chose to review and act on our data?

First of all we need to speak the correct language: $. I would like to suggest a look in a brilliant old thread started by Bruce Epstein in 2002: The Elusive Culture Change.

It may also be a great idea to go to the marketing department and ask for their advice. We "quality types" are good at many things, but promoting the QMS and its benefits is not usually one of them. We need to sell our product just like everyone else (I nicked this from something I wrote in the thread Management commitment - Lipservice - Delegation in 2003).

/Claes

[Tom W]

In Reply to Parent Post by dokes

So have you given management examples of some internal problems that would be better addressed by really addressing the root cause(s)? e.g., a benefit/cost analysis

It seems to be a constant struggle with mid-management. Upper management tends to lean on the side of what will be the right thing to do business wise and customer wise. There is a greater focus on the customer at higher management. Mid-management tends to just focus on the next five minutes and not long-term outlooks. Of course that is a perception. So I guess my frustration is more with midlevel management that does not think it is necessary to fix lingering problems all the way - they can tend to look at it as an acceptable loss as long as we are pushing product. Then hope that it never gets bigger or that we get caught with our proverbial pants down by a customer.

[Greg B]

In Reply to Parent Post by Tom W

Effective corrective action is taken to not only fix the initial problem but to eliminate it from happening again. Correct??

Tom,

Have you ever seen the movie 'A Time to Kill' by John Grisham? At the end of the movie Mathew McConaughey's character (a lawyer) asks the jury to close their eyes and he takes them through the shocking ordeals of a young black girls torture and abuse...before they open their eyes he says to, the all white, jury 'Now imagine she's white’ . It is a riveting piece of film and stays etched in my mind today. It is, as you have probably gathered, about prejudices (both hidden and open). I think there are also prejudices between Safety and Quality.

My point is that if we could get all management to close their eyes and talk about a Quality Issue but before they open their eyes say 'Now imagine it is a Safety Issue’ would they have a similar reaction as the jury from the movie?
In my company, ANY safety issue is immediately dealt with. A posse of experts is gathered and the issue looked at from every angle, money is thrown at the problem like their is no tomorrow, people are retrained and the event highlighted thru all types of media. Quality issues are left to their own devices or ME. I just want my fair share!!!
I'm with you Tom rant away.

[ben]

I do understand your frustration because right now I am addressing same issue of lousy root cause analysis. And I see the same response I saw two years ago, ten years ago, etc.

About five years ago, I accepted the fact that this response is normal and would never go away. I now try to find leverage points within the organization to get things done -- the young QE on a mission, the team leader who is fed up, etc.

There is an article by David Schmaltz that addresses this issue in the project management world. It's called Lessons in Leverage. Here is a nice quote from that article.

"The eternal dilemmas (lack of resources, lack of management support, etc.) facing every project organization . . . require a delicate, deliberate, understanding response, one that fully acknowledges the way things are and takes full responsibility for succeeding anyway. This is, of course, a fool’s mission, sure to fail sometimes, but equally certain to inform with every engagement."

Another excellent article, The Necessary Art of Persuasion, is available for download from the Harvard Business Review for $6.

Good luck

Ben Royal

[Bill Pflanz]

In Reply to Parent Post by ben

"The eternal dilemmas (lack of resources, lack of management support, etc.) facing every project organization . . . require a delicate, deliberate, understanding response, one that fully acknowledges the way things are and takes full responsibility for succeeding anyway. This is, of course, a fool’s mission, sure to fail sometimes, but equally certain to inform with every engagement."

Ben's quote is a good one but we may be cursed to keep going on a fool's misson because that is our nature. Here is another quote that notes the need for management support to succeed.

The Quality Champion

The champion is not a blue-skydreamer, nor an intellectual giant. The champion might even be an idea thief. But, above all, he’s the pragmatic one who grabs onto someone else’s theoretical construct if necessary and bullheadedly pushes it to fruition . . .
Champions are pioneers, and pioneers get shot at. The companies that get the most from champions, therefore, are those that have rich support networks so that their pioneers will flourish. This point is so important it’s hard to overstress.

No support system, no champions. No champions, no innovation.


Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman, Jr. In Search Of Excellence