Analyzing root causes

The Root Cause Analysis tool (RCA) helps you to identify the root causes of nonoptimal performance in a product or a process.

The Root Cause Analysis tool comprises the following steps:

Entering the cause-effect model name and description
Building a cause-effect model
Identifying core problems
Solving problems

Example

To analyze root causes, you start by identifying an undesirable event. For example, you might start with the undesirable event car collision.

Next you ask, “Why do the cars collide?” and you identify a causal event: for example, because of slow reaction of the driver.

Next you ask, “Why did the driver react so slowly?” Because he could not see the oncoming car. You could formulate the causal event as poor visibility.

“Why was the visibility poor?” Because the windshield has condensation on it—excess condensation on the windshield.

“Why is there excess condensation on the windshield?” Because the temperature difference between the inside of the car and the outside air is too great—large temperature gradient.

You can continue analyzing causal events in this way until you develop a chain of causal factors that leads to the undesirable event that you formulated initially.

Because one event in the chain causes the next, solving any of the causal events solves the problem. The problem that you choose to focus on in your project, identified from Root Cause Analysis, can be very different from the one that you identified at first. This core problem can also be more cost-effective to solve. For example, you can prevent car collisions either by reducing the reaction time of the driver or by removing excess condensation from the windshield. Although resolving either of these situations solves the undesirable event, one resolution might be more practical to address than the other.