What are some best practices for Root Cause Analysis and Preventive Action?

BySylvie

Our recommendation in terms of effective corrective and preventive action plans is to be very systematic in every step….

1) First of a all VERY good definition of the defect…. If not defined correctly the action plan will not be effective.

2) Define corrections and containment actions. Make sure everybody understands the difference between those actions. Verify all action taken.

3) Root Cause Analysis: the technique to be used to find the potential root causes can vary. I recommend using combined 5 Whys, Brainstorms, and Ishikawa Diagrams.

4) Corrective Actions for all verified root causes, or from decision matrix outputs.

5) Preventive Actions as a standard, making sure we ask ourselves wether the same kind of defects, root causes, etc could happen to other products, processes, etc…

6) Verification of effectiveness: with data !!!! Make sure you know in advance how you are going to verify that your actions were effective and apply your plan with enough feedback and data.

We mentioned decision matrix. As we work on global issues, complex data, we often use pareto diagrams to define what we are going to be working on. But they may be other important parameters that paretos will not show like how effective the actions will be, how long it will take to implement, how many resources are needed, etc… That’s where decision matrix are greatly helping, giving us mathematical data to present to management for priority confirmation.

Another extremely important aspect, is the redaction of the action plan, making sure any employee, auditor, etc can understand what has been done and why, where it has been recorded and how it has been approved and/or verified. It helps for best practices recording, and also to make sure that nobody is going to undo something that has been done and proven as being effective.

Root cause analysis has to be done in a pluri-functional group, it ensures acknowledgment of the issue itself, but also about the ownership of the future actions to be taken. Quality dpts do not have all skills to solve all problems. Make sure you have proper level of decision makers when working on corrective actions, you want your agreed actions to be accepted and not rediscussed again and again…

Do not hesitate to contact us about our Effective Action Plan Training !

http://www.symaconsulting.com/Products.php

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