5 why concept of lean problem solvingLean manufacturing has a unique way of solving problems. They do not just look at the effect of the problem and try to plaster it. Rather the root causes of the problems are identified and those root causes are eliminated from the system in order to solve the problems. What is the difference in these two approaches? Simple, when you find and rectify the root causes the problem will be solved for ever. Even other problems occurring due to these root causes will be eliminated in this effort. It is very clear now that we must find out the root causes of the problems before we think about rectifying them in lean manufacturing environment. So how we should do this? What are the tools available to perform these tasks? Toyota has a simple tool to identify the root causes of problems. This is the 5 why technique of problem solving. When you have a problem go to the place where the problem occurred and ask the question why five times. Then you will find the root causes of the problem and you can start treating them and rectifying the problem. For an example if you find a machine breakdown, you will ask why the machine has broken down. Then you will find that the oiling hasn’t happened in a timely manner. Then you will ask why the oiling hasn’t happened in a timely manner. The mechanic has not done the routine oiling operation. Then why he hasn’t followed the routine job of his. It is because that this new person and he doesn’t know the routines of his duties. So why he doesn’t know the routines of his duties? This is because there is no proper training program fro newly joined people. So what is the solution? First the machine will be fixed to facilitate the continuous operation of the manufacturing units. Then the root causes will be attacked by formulating a new training program for all the newly joined employees on their tasks and expectations. They will be given the required knowledge to their jobs. In this way there will not be any machine breakdowns due to the maintenance problems. In some cases a problem can be due to more than one root causes. Even there this problem solving method is still valid. Go through the same routine and find the root causes and solve the root causes. The pictorial representation of this root cause analysis can be achieved using an Ishikawa diagram or a fishbone diagram. This will help people to communicate the root causes very easily. And this method is very clear way of representing the relationship between the root causes of the problem with the problem. |
|
5 why concept of lean problem solving | PDCA cycle in problem solving |
| Copyright | Copyright 2008©leanmanufacturingconcepts.com |