In lean
manufacturing, root cause countermeasure tools are often used to help perform
the necessary discovery and analysis, and to provide the insight needed to
develop an effective and permanent solution.
Good problem
solving is an iterative effort that requires strong leadership, good teamwork
and relentless follow-through. If it were easy, you wouldn’t need to spend time
diving deep in an effort to understand the root causes and solutions. You’d
simply solve the problem.
The DIVE
acronym (Define, Investigate, Verify, and Ensure) outlines the key elements of root
cause analysis problem solving.
Root cause analysis requires taking the necessary time to both analyze and affect change deeply so that we achieve a permanent positive outcome. Here is a high-level outline of the DIVE process:
D – Define the
Problem consists of narrowing and then accurately articulating a problem
statement based on real data trends, determining if the performance gap is a
“caused” or a “self-created” problem, and understanding clearly why the problem
needs solving. The mnemonic image used
here is a tree, where the branches represent symptoms and the roots represent
the problem’s true source. A team
approach is critical at this stage – all interested parties need to gather and
agree or affecting change may be difficult later.
I – Investigate
Root Causes includes going to the actual location of the problem to focus
further our attention. We then use the
“5 Whys” questioning framework (creating a casual chain) to dive deeply and
thereby form a hypothesis about possible root causes. Next, we gather data at the problem source
and compare this data with our initial hypothesis. Put simply, it’s the scientific method; and
the mnemonic image used here is a funnel, aka deductive reasoning that drives
our thinking ever downward to the fundamental causes of our problem. What’s fun about this stage is that we get to
use math and draw histograms!
Specifically, we deploy the Pareto method, i.e. 80% of an issue
typically results from only 20% of its root causes. Pareto analysis allows us to make the biggest
(and quickest) impact to our problem with the least amount of energy. Remember to spend most of your time in the Define
and Investigate phases, so you don’t waste resources later “fixing” a mere
symptom instead of a root cause.
V – Verify and
Implement. This stage is where we evaluate possible (realistic)
countermeasures. Verification includes
testing these countermeasures and validating their effectiveness. Once we’re satisfied that our get-well plan
might work, we implement our countermeasures and then watch. We need to confirm through monitoring that
the previously identified problem or gap is closing.
E – Ensure
Sustainment. A few of our
countermeasures will be more effective than others. Let’s keep the effective countermeasures in
play because they had the greatest impact.
We’ll also need to rebuild any standard work processes that relied on
the older (less effective) process and deploy additional resources to sustain
the change we’ve just implemented. Long
term, we’ll return to the source of the problem to ensure results consistently
improve over time.
The goal of the
DIVE method is to provide a reliable and robust way for people to analyze
problems in a structured and consistent manner, identify causes, and develop
and implement preventative actions that can be sustained over time to keep the
problem for recurring.







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