Operational Excellence = Safety Quality Productivity Continuous Improvement Customer Satisfaction

5 Whys? Training
12 OCTOBER 2011

Operational Excellence = Safety Quality Productivity Continuous Improvement Customer Satisfaction

5 Why Whys s
Problem Root Cause Corrective Actions

Root Cause analysis Tools: Ishikawa Charts (Fish Bone) 5 Whys y Cause & Effect Diagram. Statistical Data Analysis (Cpk, Pareto Charts,etc)

The 5 Whys? is an analysis tool to support root y cause analysis.

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5 Why Whys s

The desired outcome of a 5 Why exercise is

A root cause of a the defined problem, not the resolution of the p problem itself! 5 Whys is not a stand alone Problem Solving technique. It is a tool to aid in this process.

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Preparing p g for 5 Whys y

Gather background information Brainstorm with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) Investigate the facts deeply Go to the source, data

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Training g Exercise
Situation: There is oil in an aisle way of the factory.

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5 Whys y Problem Statement

A well defined problem statement is critical to finding the problems root cause It is very important to state the problem as clearly as possible. Define the problem in terms of the requirements that are not being met.

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Training Exercise Problem Statement

Complete p the Problem Statement for this exercise:

Problem Statement: There is oil in the aisle way which could present a safety and fire hazard.
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5 Whys Why s The 1st. Why?

Complete a clear statement of the reason for the d f t or failure defect f il to t occur
Must be able to be understood even by people that are not f familiar ili with ith th the operation ti where h th the problem bl occurred. d

Use a short, concise sentence that explains the reason.

It is Okay to write it down even if it seems too obvious for you. (It may not seem that obvious to other persons that will read the document).
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Training Exercise 1st. Why?

Complete p the 1st. Why y & its Cause:

Why is there oil in the aisle way? Cause: The machine is leaking.

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5 Whys Why s The 2nd. Why?

Complete C l t a concise i explanation l ti in i the th form f of f the th 2nd. Why? Wh ? statement to support understanding the cause in the 1st. Why?. Get into the technical detail
explanation can branch out to several different root causes here. It is OK to follow each of them continuing with their own set of remaining 3 whys and so forth.

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Training Exercise 2nd. Why?

Complete p the 2nd. Why? y & its Cause:

Why is the machine leaking? Cause: A seal is damaged.

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5 Whys 3rd. Why?

Do not jump to conclusions yet

f follow ll the th regular l thought th ht process even though th h some underlying root causes may start surfacing already.

3rd Why? is critical for a successful transition between the obvious and the not so obvious.
The first two whys have prepared you to focus on the area where the problem could have been originated; the last three whys will take you to a deeper comprehension of the problem. Visualize the process where the product went through (process mapping) and narrow down the most likely sources for the problem to occur.

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Operational Excellence = Safety Quality Productivity Continuous Improvement Customer Satisfaction

Training Exercise 3rd. Why?

Complete p the 3rd. Why? y & its Cause:

Why is the seal damaged? Cause: There are metal shavings in the machine coolant which damaged the seal.
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5 Whys y The 4th. Why? y

Clear your mind from preconceived explanations l ti and d start t t the th fourth f th why h with ith a candid approach.
May have two or more different avenues to explore now, explore them all. Even if one or several of them turn out not to be the root cause of the problem, they may lead to continuous improvements.

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Operational Excellence = Safety Quality Productivity Continuous Improvement Customer Satisfaction

Training Exercise 4th. Why?

Complete p the 4th. Why? y & its Cause:

Why are there metal shavings in the coolant? Cause: The screen on the coolant pump has been damaged.
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5 Whys y 5th. Why? y

At the 5th. Why?, it is likely that you have found a systemic cause cause.
Most of the problems in the process can be traced to them. Even a malfunctioning machine can sometimes be caused by an incorrectly followed Preventive Maintenance or Incorrect machine parameters setup.

Note: If you have reached the 5th. Why? and you are still dealing with process related cause(s), you may still need one or two more whys to deep dive into the systemic cause.
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Training Exercise 5th. Why?

Complete p the 5th. Why? y & its Cause:

Why y is the screen on the coolant pump p p damaged? Cause: The screen on the coolant pump is located where parts being machined hit and damage it it.
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5 Whys y Conclusion
Test to identify if the 5 Whys was done properly:
Try to organize the collected data into a series of therefore therefore statements that define the situation in an understandable manner.
If statements ar fragmented or meaningless, chances are that there is a gap between one or several of the why whys. s. You must revisit the 5 Why sequence and identify those gaps to fill them in. A coherence in the way that the statements are assembled y on the thought g p process. shows consistency Something like:

Problem Description occurred due to Fifth Why. Therefore, f this was caused by Fourth Why. Therefore, f because Third Why was allowed by Second Why. Therefore, this led to First Why.
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Training Exercise Conclusion?

Test the Conclusion by constructing a chronological series of therefore statements backwards:

Parts are hitting the machine coolant pump screen and damaging it. Therefore, the damaged screen is allowing metal shavings to get into the coolant. coolant Therefore, the metal shavings in the coolant are damaging a seal. Therefore, Therefore the damaged seal is allowing oil to leak from the machine. Therefore, this lead to oil leaking into the aisle way way.
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Conclusion Testing
It is recommended to actually conduct the conclusion type testing after each Why?/Cause is identified!

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Five Why Whys s Conclusion

Do not worry about Action plans, plans resolution and effectiveness verification during the 5 Why Exercise.
Focus more on identifying the reason that allowed the problem to happen and escape. If you can come up with a reasonable answer, the exercise would be successful.

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5 Whys? Documentation
A 5 Why y exercise should be clearly y documented by y the team conducting the analysis for historical reference. The next slide shows an example of documenting a 5 Why exercise from our training problem for oil in the factory aisle way.

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Coolant on floor at base of machine

Machine leaking

A sea seal was as da damaged aged

Metal shavings in coolant

Screen on coolant pump was broke

Screen is located where parts hit and damage it

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