Seven simple rules for solving problems

It may seem obvious, but root cause analysis should lead to answers for manufacturers

By Daniel Sims

Over the past 50 years, the manufacturing industry has spawned many well-known strategies intended to provide a logical and scientific approach to root cause analysis in manufacturing. These strategies include Six Sigma, total quality management, Shainin’s methods and numerous others. Often in the startup or small-scale production environments common to domestic manufacturing today, these institutionalized approaches are not implemented, usually due to the constraints of finances or resources.

Many would argue that a healthy dose of common sense with a sprinkle of “trial and error” can remedy almost any problem that is likely to present itself. Too often, however, the sense isn’t all that common, and the trials just lead to more error.