What’s in It for Me?: Work Instruction No. 3

Root-cause analysis

Published: Monday, June 9, 2008 - 22:00

ABC Company Work Instruction

Purpose: To determine root cause for external nonconformance (customer complaints), internal nonconformance (rework, sort, subcontractor), and quality audit nonconformance findings.

Work description: Nonconformance-generated CPARs and DMRs are analyzed for apparent causes and root causes to determine corrective and preventive action to eliminate the problem and continuously improve the manufacturing process.

Safety considerations: Observe all written and oral safety instructions, appropriate checklists, and guidelines. Follow safe workplace practices.

Maintenance: None

Special Procedures: Check previous customer, internal, and quality audit CPARs and DMRs before proceeding with root-cause analysis.

Unstructured Methods

Intuition

Networking

Experience

5-Whys

Structured Methods

Flow charting

Brainstorming

Histogram

Cause and effect diagram

Pareto graph

Control charts

Scatter diagrams

Cross functional team

Back to the article “What’s in It for Me?

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About The Author

Joseph J. Caylor

Joseph J. Caylor is principal of Ceethree Co., a management systems consulting, training, and auditing company. He’s a Six Sigma Black Belt, a quality engineer, a quality auditor, and a calibration technician. He’s also certified by the American Society for Quality as a manager of quality and organizational excellence, and by the Registrar Accreditation Board as a quality systems and environmental systems auditor.

Quality Digest