Ground Rules
Problem Solving Tools
A Practical Approach for Problem Solving
Content
• Introduction to Problem Solving
• Problem Solving tools
1. Brainstorming
2. Cause & effect diagram
3. Pareto Diagram
4. 5 Why analysis
• Problem Solving Culture
What is a problem ?
• A problem is defined as:
– The discrepancy between the current situation and
the standard for that situation
– A standard is a specific established “KNOWN”
expectation of what should be for a given situation
Are we Solving Problems in this way ?
NO
YES
THINGS ARE
WORKING WELL?
DON’T TOUCH IT
YES
HAVE TOUCHED IT?
IDIOT
NO
SOMEONE YES
YOU ARE LOST YES IS IT GOING
KNOWS? TO EXPLODE IN
YOUR HANDS?
NO
NO
NO CAN YOU BLAME
HIDE IT SOMEBODY ELSE ? PRETEND YOU HAVEN”T
SEEN IT
YES
SO, THERE IS NO PROBLEM
Is this Structured ?
Structured Method
Getting to Root Causes
Understanding the “Big Picture”
Problem
1. BRAINSTORMING
• Alex [Link]- The Father of Brainstorming
• Brainstorming is simply listing all ideas put forth by a group in response to a
given problem or question. In 1939, a team led by advertising executive Alex
Osborn coined the term "brainstorm." According to Osborn, " Brainstorm
means using the brain to storm a creative problem and to do so "in
commando fashion, each member bravely attacking the same objective.
• Tools : Mind Mapping
Uses:-
• Identification of the most possible causes
• Get everyone’s viewpoint of the problem/
countermeasures
• Use the brain power of a team towards same
problem to find solutions
Rules of Brainstorming
• Generate maximum number of ideas possible
• No criticism in any manner
• Explanations are possible but no discussions
• Record everything, even repetition
• Built on each others ideas
• Money no object
• Look outside your environment
Every One is Equal !
Sequence of Brainstorming
1. Set or Review the Ground Rules
2. Set a time limit for the session
3. Clearly State the Problem for everyone
4. Collect ideas
1. Structured - Formal Approach – Each person in turn
2. Unstructured – Informal Approach -Ideas at random
5. Record everything, even repetition
6. Clarify the meanings
7. Combine ideas
8. Verify the outcome with data whenever possible
In God we trust, all others must bring data !!!
- W. Edwards Deming
Brainstorming - Activity
How can we practically apply Brainstorming
technique @ your organization?
2. CAUSE & EFFECT DIAGRAM
• Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa
• Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, amongst other things, gave his name to the
Ishikawa diagram. The Ishikawa diagram is also known as the
“fishbone diagram” or “cause and effect diagram” and is an
effective problem-solving tool.
• Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa led the concept and used it in Quality Circles.
The intended purpose of a Quality Circle is to;
– Support the improvement and development of the company
– Respect human relations in the workplace and increase job satisfaction
– Draw out employee potential
Uses:-
• Identification of the most possible causes
• Identification of the root causes
• Broader idea of the process
• Controlled discussion
• Identification of countermeasures
Cause & Effect Diagram
INFORMATION MATERIAL METHOD
EFFECT
ENVIRONMENT MAN MACHINE
Construction of a Cause & Effect Diagram
1. Define the effect or problem you wish to analyze.
2. Write the problem on the right side then draw an arrow from the
left side to the right side.
EFFECT
1. Write the main factors as branches to the main arrow.
INFORMATION MATERIAL METHOD
EFFECT
ENVIRONMENT MAN MACHINE
Fishbone: what labels to use?
Production process Service process
• Machines • Policies
• Methods • Procedures
• Materials • Plant
• People • People
• (Environment) • (Environment)
• (Measurement) • (Measurement)
Alternatively, can use steps of process as first ‘bones’ on fish
Construction of a Cause & Effect Diagram
Contd..
4. Conduct a brainstorming session to list all possible causes.
5. Assign ideas to major grouping and draw them as side branches.
6. Ideas originate from the existing ideas draw as branches to initial
branch.
7. Decide on the most possible causes through discussion and voting.
8. Prioritizing the causes.
9. Perform tests to verify relationships.
Cause & Effect Diagram - Activity
• For last two weeks, line no 01 efficiency dropped by
20% @ Your Organization.
3. PARETO ANALYSIS
Pareto Analysis
• VILFREDO PARETO
• In 1906 he made the famous observation that twenty percent
of the population owned eighty percent of the wealth in Italy
• A Pareto chart is a special type of bar chart where the values being plotted are
arranged in descending order
• A Pareto diagram is used to determine what characteristic is the major
contribution by ranking the data in frequency of occurrence and plotting the
bars in descending order
80% of problems, losses, defects
Caused by
20% of people, material, method, equipment etc
USES :-
• Prioritizing the problems.
• Graphing the frequency of problems.
• Separate the major problems and the minor ones.
Example Pareto Chart
Pareto Example: Reasons for Pizza
Sales Drop
Raw Data
Pareto Table
Pareto Chart
Pareto Chart - Activity
Customer Purchase Analysis of XYZ shop for
Monday
Purchase Value
Customer (US$) Do a Pareto analysis using this data
A 20 to identify the vital few customers
B 5
C 5
for the shop
D 24
E 14
F 2140
G 420
H 590
I 50
J 1340
K 1670
L 120
M 312
N 5
O 2659
P 6
Q 8
R 810
S 19
T 25
4. 5 WHY ANALYSIS
“The Important thing is not to stop questioning”
- Albert Einstein
“Three, four, five. One more shot and his gun will be empty.”
Using 5 Why for Root Cause Analysis
Down with Dengue fever
Mosquito Bite
There Mosquitoes in the surrounding environment
There are lot of Mosquito breeding grounds
People don’t maintain there environment neatly
5 why Method - Example 1
Time which can stay
Cause Countermeasures
out of the problem
Can get infected again when
Suffering from Dengue fewer Admit to Hospital come back home
Do not give protection for
Dengue mosquito bites Use mosquito nets and coils 24 hrs
Give protection till new
adult mosquitos are
Mosquitos are there in the develop through life
environment Smoking out mosquitos cycle
There are mosquito breading Protected till new breading
grounds in the environment Destroy breading grounds grounds are created
Develop the culture among
No continuous effort to keep people to keep the A permanent solution for
the environment clean and tidy environment clean & tidy the problem
continuously
5 why Method – Example 2
Time which can stay
Cause Countermeasures
out of the problem
Till oil drop on the floor
There is a oil puddle on the floor Wipe it out again
Start leaking again after
Silicon peel off from the
surface'
There is a oil leak in a machine Apply Silicon on the leak
Start leaking after a time
Oil is leaking from a Gasket Change Gasket period
There could be other bad
quality material
There is a crack in the Gaskets Start buying a new brand purchases
A permanent solution for
Poor quality in the gasket
the problem
Develop a policy in purchasing
Root Cause of a problem
• Single Root Cause problem
– Single why why analysis will find the root cause
– Easy to solve
• Can’t fix a USB cable to a slot wrong side
• Multi Root Cause problem
– Few PDCA cycles needed to solve the problem
• Down time due to material delays to the line Less RMOTD, Request
Delays, Delivery Delays to prod
• Combination of multi Root Cause problem
– Effect of root causes on problem are complicated
– Advanced analysis like PM Analysis needed in solving the problem
completely
• Colour Shading in fabric Dye Absorption of yarns, Dying cycle, Recipe,
finishing
5 Why Analysis – Things to Remember
1. Focus your attention on one matter
2. List all factors which occur to you
3. Repeat “Why Why Analysis” until you make the plan for preventing
the recurrence
4. Avoid investigating the causes to human’s psychology
5. Do not investigate the personal responsibility. Investigate the real
factor and prevent the recurrence.
6. Inspect the actual working place and process firmly.
7. Always validate the root cause using “Therefore Analysis”
Remember: The Objective of 5 Why
analysis is to find the “root cause”
not the “root blame”
5 Why Analysis - Activity
• Do a 5 Why analysis to the most probable
cause identified through the Case & effect
Diagram & Come up with both short term &
long term countermeasures.
Three Stages of Problem Solving
Maintenance Kaizen Kaizen
New GOAL
Raising
GOAL
Maintaining
Reaching
Problem solving that
focuses on increasing the
Problem solving that capability beyond the goal
Problem solving that focuses on maintaining the or to achieve a new goal
results in getting to the goal ( Establish system\ “kaizen” (Make effort to
goal (Must establish procedure to maintain the challenge and improve
standards and train to the Standards) upon the standards)
standards – FOLLOW UP
"Problems give you a chance to use your brains,
Take the opportunity! "
Individual Assignment
• Each participant should individually do the following
activities in relation to their work area.
– Identify a problem in your work area and define the problem.
– Do a brainstorming with the team to identify potential causes
– Use a fishbone diagram to summaries & record
– Gather data and do a Pareto analysis for the causes identified in
the fishbone and find the vital few
– Find the root cause for the major cause using 5 Why analysis
• Provide documentation for all four activities
• After completion, participants should submit the project to
the relevant fulltime member