Problem Solving

Six-Step Problem-Solving Process Step 1: Identify and Select the problem Step 2: Analyze the problem Step 3: Generate Potential Solutions Step 4: Select and Plan the Solution Step 5: Implement the Solution Step 6: Evaluate the Solution

Step 1: Identify and Select the problem Question to ask: What can you see that causes you to think there’s a problem? Where is it happening? When is it happening? With whom is it happening? Why is it happening? Problems may be tied to emotional issues, egos attached - so since emotions are attached to the problem people can miss read the problem. Various of tools and/or data can you be used to identify a problem happening.

Step 2: Analyze the problem Look at potential causes for the problem. QFD Charts and Graphs Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Using the 5 Whys method Fishbone diagram Process control charts Definition – RCA An identified reason for the presence of a defect or problem. 5 Whys - Can peel away layers of symptoms

QFD – Voice of the Customer One of the key distinctions about QFD is it focuses on "positive quality" – things that delight a customer. It looks at the items that please the customer and expands upon them. QFD is useful for cross-functional teams which have to agree on what is important.

Four Steps of QFD Key elements that are critical to completing the first house are: Customers' needs. Measurable characteristics of the customers' needs. The relationship between items 1 and 2 measured in high, medium or low. An understanding of how the company compares to competitors (from the customers' perspective). Competitive benchmarking. Preliminary measurement targets that will meet the customers' requirements. Once the company has identified the key elements above, it can perform a correlation between the measurable characteristics of the customers' needs and their relative strengths. Finally, the company should analyze this first house to determine what improvements can be made. Second House of Quality – House 2 is the company's house. This house is typically constructed during the Measure and Analyze phases. The goal of completing the second house is to determine specific action items that the company can take to meet the requirements of the customer. Third House of Quality – House 3 is the process house and is typically constructed during the Analyze phase. The goal of completing the third house is to determine which processes (that have data) can be used to meet the customers' needs. It is possible that the process does not exist, so it may need to be developed. Fourth House of Quality – House 4, the process control house, is typically constructed during the control phase. The purpose of constructing this house is to identify the control variables that are being used to meet the customers' needs. It is not necessary to construct all four houses every time that a QFD is performed. Judgment is needed to determine which houses are needed.

Pareto Chart Identify Problems What Questions The Pareto Chart Answers What are the largest issues facing our team or business? What 20% of sources are causing 80% of the problems (80/20 Rule)? Where should we focus our efforts to achieve the greatest improvements? A pareto chart can be constructed by segmenting the range of the data into groups (also called segments, bins or categories). For example, if your business was investigating the delay associated with processing credit card applications, you could group the data into the following categories: · No signature · Residential address not valid · Non-legible handwriting · Already a customer · Other The left-side vertical axis of the pareto chart is labeled Frequency (the number of counts for each category), the right-side vertical axis of the pareto chart is the cumulative percentage, and the horizontal axis of the pareto chart is labeled with the group names of your response variables. You then determine the number of data points that reside within each group and construct the pareto chart, but unlike the bar chart, the pareto chart is ordered in descending frequency magnitude. The groups are defined by the user. Identify Problems

Histogram Chart Use if you want to determine which category of item, you focus your efforts on. How To Construct A Histogram A histogram can be constructed by segmenting the range of the data into equal sized bins (also called segments, groups or classes). For example, if your data ranges from 1.1 to 1.8, you could have equal bins of 0.1 consisting of 1 to 1.1, 1.2 to 1.3, 1.3 to 1.4, and so on. The vertical axis of the histogram is labeled Frequency (the number of counts for each bin), and the horizontal axis of the histogram is labeled with the range of your response variable. You then determine the number of data points that reside within each bin and construct the histogram. Study current conditions – problem identification

5 Whys Method Benefits Help identify the root cause of a problem Determine relationship between different root causes of a problem One of the simplest tools; easy to complete without statistical analysis

Cause Chain Root Cause Contrib . Direct Event Direct Cause: The cause the directly resulted in the event; the first cause in the chain. This is the answer to your first “Why?”. Contributing Cause: The cause(s) that contributed to an event but, alone, would not have led to the event. (The causes after the Direct Cause.) Note: For a simple problem there may not be a contributing cause. Root Cause: The fundamental reason for an event; if corrected will prevent recurrence. (The last cause in the chain.)

How to complete the 5 Whys Write down the specific problem. Ask Why problem happens and write down the answer If the answer doesn’t identify root cause then repeat. Keep repeating until team is in agreement that problem’s root cause is identified. 1. Write down problem as concise as possible. If you can not explain in 20 minutes what is the problem you have not a clear idea of the problem.

Fishbone Diagram One way to capture these different ideas and stimulate the team's brainstorming on root causes helps to visually display the many potential causes for a specific problem or effect. It is particularly useful in a group setting and for situations in which little quantitative data is available for analysis. Another benefit We like to get right to determining what to do about a problem, this can help bring out a more thorough exploration of the issues behind the problem - which will lead to a more robust solution.

Construction for Service Industries 4 Ps To construct a fishbone, start with stating the problem in the form of a question, such as 'Why is the help desk's abandon rate so high?' Framing it as a 'why' question will help in brainstorming, as each root cause idea should answer the question. The team should agree on the statement of the problem and then place this question in a box at the 'head' of the fishbone. The rest of the fishbone then consists of one line drawn across the page, attached to the problem statement, and several lines, or 'bones,' coming out vertically from the main line. These branches are labeled with different categories. The categories you use are up to you to decide. Infers causes

Statistical Process Control Methodology for monitoring a process which can identify special causes of variation and take corrective action when appropriate. Standardize improvements

SPC Metrics Attribute - performance characteristic that is either present or not Mistakes per week Number of complaints Variable – degree of conformance to specifications Time waiting for service

Control Chart Simply a run chart with an upper horizontal line called upper control limit and lower horizontal line called lower control limit In a control chart, control limits are calculated by the following formula: (Average Process Value) (3 x (Standard Deviation))

Standard Deviation 1 σ away from mean in either direction accounts for approx. 68% of readings in the group (red area) 2 σ away from mean in either direction accounts for approx. 95% of readings in the group (red and green area) 3 σ away from mean in either direction accounts for approx. 99% of readings in the group (red, green, and blue areas)

Constructing Run Charts Draw and label the vertical (y) axis using the measurement units you are tracking (e.g., numbers of defectives, mean diameter, number of graduates, percent defective, etc.) Draw and label the horizontal (x) axis to reflect the sequence in which the data points are collected (e.g., week 1, week 2, ... or 8AM, 9AM, 10AM, etc.) Plot the data points on the chart in the order in which they became available and connect the points with lines between them. Constructing Run Charts A run chart is a line graph that shows data points plotted in the order in which they occur. They are used to show trends and shifts in a process over time, variation over time, or to identify decline or improvement in a process over time. They can be used to examine both variables and attribute data. Steps in Constructing a Run Chart Draw and label the vertical (y) axis using the measurement units you are tracking (e.g., numbers of defectives, mean diameter, number of graduates, percent defective, etc.) Draw and label the horizontal (x) axis to reflect the sequence in which the data points are collected (e.g., week 1, week 2, ... or 8AM, 9AM, 10AM, etc.) Plot the data points on the chart in the order in which they became available and connect the points with lines between them. Calculate the average from the data, and draw a horizontal line across the chart at the level of the average. Interpret the chart and decide what action to take. Are trends present? Would the chart look different if everything were perfect? The key is to look for trends, and not focus on individual points.

Constructing Run Charts Calculate the average from the data, and draw a horizontal line across the chart at the level of the average. Interpret the chart and decide what action to take. Are trends present? Would the chart look different if everything were perfect? The key is to look for trends, and not focus on individual points.

Variable Chart – Xbar chart in control

Variable Chart – Xbar chart out of control

3. Brainstorm for solutions to the problem. Appoint facilitator/recorder Allow the group a few minutes to record first thoughts silently Go around one at a time record each idea/phase. “PASS” if nothing comes to mind. Classify ideas then pick 4-5 top ideas. Discuss the ideas and come to consensus

4. Select an approach to resolve the problem and . . . Which approach is most likely to solve problem long term? Which approach is the most realistic to accomplish for now? Do have the resources? Are they affordable? Do you have enough time to implement the approach? Prioritize the solutions into what would work the best.

Plan your action plan What are the steps to implement the best alternative? Don’t resort to solutions where someone is “just going to try harder”. Write a schedule that includes start and stop time, and when do you expect to see certain successes. Who will primarily be responsible.

5. Implement plan Are you seeing what you would expect? Will the plan be done according to schedule? If the plan is not being followed, should it be changed? This is the DO stage of Plan-Do-Study-Act and STUDY so you can track solution progress.

6. Evaluate the solution Measure results.

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