8 D Problem Solving 8 D Problem Solving

8 D Problem Solving

8 D Problem Solving Lean Temple

Problem Solving History (8 D Process) The US government first standardised the 8 D process during the second world war, referring to it as the Military Standard 1520: “Corrective Action & Disposition System for Nonconforming Material” It was later popularised by the Ford Motor Company in the 60’s & 70’s and adopted by most major manufacturing industries. This training follows the same principles, but has made it a practical method and able to be used by all.

What is the Methodology It is a structured approach to problem solving using 9 steps to problem resolution (the original 8 D had 8 steps). It is a highly disciplined and effective scientific approach for resolving chronic and recurring problems. This approach uses team synergy and provides excellent guidelines to identify the root cause of the problem, implement containment actions, develop and then implement corrective actions and preventive actions that make the problem go away permanently. The 8 D: § Isolates and contains the most basic causes of any undesirable condition. § Identifies the factors that contribute to the problem. § Eliminates systemic factors that cause the condition. § Keeps teams from jumping to conclusions too early. § Prevents problem recurrence.

What are the 9 Steps The 9 DISCIPLINES D 0 D 1 D 2 D 3 D 4 D 5 D 6 D 7 D 8 • PROTECT THE CUSTOMER • ESTABLISH THE TEAM • DESCRIBE THE PROBLEM • DEVELOP AN INTERIM CONTAINMENT ACTION • DEFINE & VERIFY ROOT CAUSE • CHOOSE & VERIFY PERMANENT CORRECTIVE ACTION • IMPLEMENT & VALIDATE PERMANENT CORRECTIVE ACTION • PREVENT REOCCURRENCE • RECOGNISE THE TEAM

When is an 8 D used? The 8 D approach is used to solve critical, major, chronic and recurring problems The 8 D use is typical when: § The problem complexity exceeds the ability of one person (an expert) to resolve the problem. § Communication of the problem resolution (during & after) must go across company levels, other departments and/or to customers. § The customer or management requests 8 -D.

Where can it be applied? The 8 D problem solving process can be applied in many processes to: o o o o Increase Customer Satisfaction Increase Market Share Improve Delivery Times Increase Profitability Increase Efficiency Improve Morale Fix Quality Issues The goals of this method are to find the root cause of a problem, develop containment actions to protect customers and take corrective action to prevent similar problems in the future.

Ineffective 8 D’s However, the 8 D is not effective for: § Non-recurring problems or problems which can be solved quickly by individual effort. § Problems with known root causes. § Making a decision between different alternatives. § Problems where the simplest and most obvious solution is likely to be the best or adequate solution.

Why not apply 8 D to all problems? The 8 D approach takes several weeks to several months in order to solve a problem. It takes a minimum of (4) people from at least 4 different organisational areas to effectively apply the 8 D team problem solving approach. (Product Quality, Product Engineering, Product Marketing, Manufacturing, Supplier Quality, etc…). The 8 D team requires senior management support for allocated time/resources and the authority to make the appropriate and required changes.

What are the business challenges to 8 D? NO ACTION TO IMPLEMENT PERMANENT CORRECTIVE ACTION NO PROCESS TO MAINTAIN CORRECTIVE ACTIONS MANAGEMENT IMPATIENT FOR A QUICK FIX PROBLEM SOLVING STEPS SKIPPED OVER TO GET QUICK SOLUTIONS PROBLEM DEFINED INCORRECTLY CHALLENGES LACK OF TECHNICAL SKILLS OR KNOWLEDGE GO STRAIGHT TO FIXING PROBLEMS POOR TEAM INVOLVEMENT NO TIME ALLOWED TO FIX PROBLEMS NO LOGICAL THOUGHT PROCESS NO PRIORITIES OR RESOURCES ££

What are the Benefits? § Consistent approach to problem resolution. § Clear defined responsibility and ownership. § Immediate customer protection. § Clear decision criteria. § Verification and validation of all key decisions and actions. § Established & validated root cause. § Rapid controlled response to abnormalities. § Flexible, simplified, robust process.

Preparation for 8 D This is the preparation step that needs to be considered prior to starting the 8 D activity. What kind of preparation is required? A deeper understanding of the problem and its history are necessary to determine if the 8 D is the right method to be used for solving the problem. Recognising the problem: § § § Is it a new problem? Is it chronic? Has it occurred before? What is the history of the problem? How was it solved before? Why didn’t the solution prevent the problem from happening again? What problem solving method was used?

Preparation for 8 D Opposite is a typical example of a Problem solving Report. Each stage will be completed and shared by the leader of the 8 D activity.

0 D - Protecting the Customer Containment actions should be agreed that would quickly & practically contain / reduce the problem to protect the customer from further failures. Key Points: § Contain the problem and protect your customer first. § Communication. § Immediate containment actions need to be implemented even if we decide later not to launch an 8 D. Key Success Factors: § Focus on the effect of the problem (not its root cause). § Be reactive and pragmatic: action required immediately (e. g. 24 hours). § Communicate with your customer (when required) and within your organization.

1 D - Establishing the Team Establish a small group of people with the process and/or product knowledge, allocated time, authority, and skills in the required technical disciplines to solve the problem and implement corrective actions. Why is team approach important? § A team can perform more effectively than individuals trying to solve problems. § A group of people can communicate and think creatively. § Brainstorming as a group can stimulate ideas giving the team a better perspective of the problem.

2 D - Describe the Problem Describing the problem starts with a well-thought-out problem statement. The problem statement will: § Provide information relevant to the problem: data and information on what the problem is and what the problem isn’t. § Clarify the role the team should play § Lays down expectations from the team and deliverables that will be measured. § Determine the problem statement in terms of Who, What, Why, Where, When, and How Big ALWAYS START WITH THE PROBLEM AND NOT THE SOLUTION “The quality of the solutions we come up with will be in direct proportion to the quality of the description of the problem we’re trying to solve. “An undefined problem has an infinite number of solutions” Albert Einstein Robert A Humphrey

3 D - Interim Containment An interim containment action means that a “band-aid” is put in place to prevent the effect of the problem or to prevent the full effect from impacting customers and/or employees while a permanent solution is being developed and implemented. Why is interim containment necessary? While the problem solving team is trying to find the root cause of the problem and implement corrective actions, there will be some defective products produced by manufacturing. It is important to prevent these defective parts from reaching the customer. Interim containment guarantees that the defects are contained in the facility till the problem is completely solved. If defective parts make it to the customer, it may result in field failures, warranty claims and customer complaints.

4 D - Define & Verify Root Cause Defining the root cause is normally the toughest aspect of the problem-solving process; if the root causes of the problem were obvious, then the problem would have been solved already. There are usually two families of causes at work when we know there is a problem: § The first, the causes that appears to be the problem, are frequently symptoms, not root causes. § The second, the specific causes that allowed the apparent symptoms to occur, are the root causes and often buried deep in the process.

4 D - Define & Verify Root Cause The Most Common Tools include: Tools which can be used: Ishikawa (Fishbone Diagrams) § § § § § Pareto Charts, Affinity Diagram Brainstorming Session, 5 -Whys Process Fishbone Diagram (cause & effect) Fault Tree Analysis, Statistical Analysis, Regression Analysis GR&R Flow Charts Audits 5 Why Analysis

4 D - Define & Verify Root Cause & Effect: Also known as a fishbone diagram, or Ishikawa diagram Devised by Professor Kaoru Ishikawa, a pioneer of quality management, in the 1960 s Published in his 1990 book, "Introduction to Quality Control” Four steps to using Cause and Effect Analysis: • • Identify the problem Work out the major factors involved Identify possible causes Analyze your diagram

4 D - Define & Verify Root Cause Fishbone diagram- First Steps: § 1. Determine Team § 2. Establish cause categories to be included on the Fishbone § 3. Brainstorm all possible causes of the effect. § 4. Through open discussion agree most likely causes to be investigated further Hints: § At this stage it is important that the team has knowledge & experience of the cause to be analysed utilising the known facts § Do not dismiss any ideas put forward as to the potential cause § No more than 5 areas of possible cause to be investigated initially (Top 5) § For future tracking of possible cause(s) a yellow triangle to be used so the improvement story can be easily tracked throughout the 8 D Process.

4 D - Define & Verify Root Cause The issue or problem that is to be solved is written in the ‘head’ of the diagram Now brainstorm all possible causes and reasons leading to the issue or problem, under each of the categories. Show these possible causes as shorter lines coming off the "bones" of the diagram. Where a cause is large or complex, then it may be best to break it down into sub-causes. Show these as lines coming off each cause line.

4 D - Define & Verify Root Cause Hints: § Agree the problem § Use flip charts – create a permanent record § Write down every idea § Don’t change the way the idea is expressed 2 § Don’t criticise - quantity not quality § Be quick, 10 -15 mins § Collect ideas ‘round robin’ style then open forum 3 § Develop ideas – ‘piggy back’ § Use ‘pass’ if stuck for ideas § As a group select the Top 5 items that you believe have the strongest probability of being a root cause 1

Activity Please divide into your syndicate groups 30 Minutes Activity !! Complete the Fishbone Diagram

Bad Pint

4 D - Define & Verify Root Cause 5 Why Analysis: The 5 Whys is a technique used in the Analyse phase of the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control) methodology. . By repeatedly asking the question “Why” (five is a good rule of thumb), you can peel away the layers of symptoms which can lead to the root cause of a problem.

4 D - Define & Verify Root Cause 5 Why Analysis: § A tool for finding and fixing the root cause / causes of problems § Useful in troubleshooting and day to day problem solving § Can be completed quickly by one person, or a team of people § Find the root cause or causes by asking ‘why’ did the problem occur § Keep asking why did the problem occur to the previous answer § Five layers of ‘why? ’ is usually sufficient to find the root cause (but not always!)

4 D - Define & Verify Root Cause 5 Why Analysis Example: It was noticed by the National Parks group that the Lincoln Memorial had been showing an increasing degree of deterioration

4 D - Define & Verify Root Cause Thus a task force was established to understand how they could slow this deterioration. What they found was that most of the deterioration was caused by a weekly cleaning of the monument by use of high - pressure power washers. So now they had to understand what they could do to clean a different way. However, instead of looking for a different cleaning method they tried to understand the true reasons why they had to clean in the first place. Problem – Memorial is deteriorating at a fast rate. TEAM E CAUS FIX T ROO E S CAU

1. Why is the Memorial deteriorating? Due to the use of high-pressure water cleaning methods. 2. Why do we clean so often using High Pressure water to clean the monument? Because of bird droppings from a specific bird species. 3. Why does this specific bird species congregate in the monument? Because they have large food supply – they like the spiders that live above the monument. 4. Why are these spiders so plentiful? Because of a large food supply of an insects in the area. 5. Why are these insects so plentiful in this area? They hatch around sunset and are attracted to the lights in the Monument

4 D - Define & Verify Root Cause First Solution: Call in exterminators to spray for these bugs (flying insects and spiders) on a routine basis. But then someone had the bright idea to understand what else could be done rather than using chemicals. Second Solution: If they are attracted to lights, then why not delay the Monument lights 30 minutes after sunset and allow the bugs to relocate themselves by finding other lights in the area. National Parks implemented the second solution. The bugs and spiders were greatly reduced which causes the birds to no longer congregate in this area, leaving their droppings.

D 5 - Choose & Verify Permanent Corrective Actions Often the solution or solutions become obvious once the root causes are known. If solutions are not yet evident, follow the data trail. When solutions are not obvious, often the root cause has not been found. Operator/all operators retrained to SOP Operator reprimanded Poka yoke introduced Operator spoken to Revised/updated SOP procedure Operator error/fault Implemented visual controls Changed process to eliminate error

D 6 - Implement & Validate Corrective Actions § Once the solution and its implementation are approved, the next step is to create an Action Plan. § The Action Plan outlines what steps are needed to implement the solution, who will do them, and when they will be completed. § A Simple Action Plan merely documents what needs to be done, who will do it, and when will it be done by. A complex solution needs more thorough planning and documentation.

D 7 - Prevent Reoccurrence The job of a problem-solving team is not complete once the solution is implemented. Preventing recurrence is an important part of a problem’s solution. To prevent recurrence of the problem, the team must verify that the outcome of their Action Plan works and they must validate that the outcome is on-target. Verification is testing that the solution produces the desired outcome; validation is ensuring that the outcome really solves the problem.

8 D - Recognise the Team Once a team has completed implementing the solution and ensured that the solution works, all team members deserve to be congratulated. Team members need to know that their efforts are appreciated and that the organisation knows about their accomplishments. Celebrate Success

Post 8 D Once the problem has been resolved, the team should publish and release a final report along with lessons learned. The 8 D report gives a quick snapshot of what was done in the project and categorizes them under the 8 Disciplines. The report serves as a communication tool showing overall progress of the 8 D project along with actions taken. Also, a very useful tool to share is the "Lessons Learned" and project findings. Completed 8 Ds to be posted on the shared quality site (under 8 D reports).

Example of Completed Report

Questions