Structured Problem Solving

Quality Problems
Week 1
 Week 1 Agenda
• Understanding what makes a “Quality
Problem”
• What do we mean by “Structured Problem
Solving”
• Review Instructional Plan
Not all Problems are Quality Problems

Quality problems that arise in Industry are

not the same as other problems.

Let’s explore what we mean by

a “Quality Problem”
 Compare these Problems
1 of out 1 of my Visa applications were
rejected
vs
30% of the total student visa applications for
Canada were rejected in 2019

Both are real problems.

What is the difference?
Rawal, 2019, “Canada Student Visa Rejection” retrieved from https://collegedunia.com/canada/article/canada-student-visa-rejection-reasons-appeal-against-refusal-reapplying
 Compare these Problems
My Visa application was This problem is about 1 single case.
The impact is limited (1 person) and
rejected solving it will won’t have any impact
vs on other cases.

30% of the total student visa

applications for Canada This problem is about a large group
were rejected in 2019 of cases. The impact is significant
(~200,000 applicants) and solving it
could improve future cases.
 Compare these Problems
“The battery died on my cellphone.”
vs
“Upgrading to Apple iOS 14.6 is causing
extreme battery drain for a significant
number of users.”

What is the difference?

Source: Forbes, 04/2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2021/05/31/apple-iphone-ios-14-battery-drain-problem-free-iphone-upgrade/?sh=3df91dca4693

 Compare these Problems
As before, this problem is about a single
isolated case. The solution (replacing the
The battery died on my
battery) won’t fix the root cause (why the
cellphone battery failed). The only “diagnostic” will be
vs Apple confirming the battery is actually faulty
in this 1 phone.
Upgrading to Apple iOS
14.6 is causing extreme
This problem is about a large group of cases.
battery drain for a The impact is significant and solving it could
significant number of improve future iPhones. The root cause (why
users. is the upgrade draining batteries) is unknown
and will likely need a technical investigation
to find root cause and implement a solution.
 So, the difference a “simple”
problem vs a “industry quality” is:
1. The number of people affected
(number of parts or service instances)
2. Personal vs Company problem
(when the company has a problem, then the
company needs to solve it)
3. Finding the root cause is (generally) going to
need an investigation – collecting data, running
tests, etc.
Source: Forbes, 04/2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2021/05/31/apple-iphone-ios-14-battery-drain-problem-free-iphone-upgrade/?sh=3df91dca4693
 Industrial Quality Problems
In industry, a “quality problem” would typically
involve multiple parts – not just a single bad part –
or be a recurring issue, so that over time, it effects
multiple parts or people.

This raises the cost of the problem.

This cost (or embarrassment) will force companies
to launch some form of “Structured Problem
Solving”
 Industrial Quality Problems
1 bad part = minimal* cost
*unless it’s a part for a rocket, satellite, nuclear plant, airplane, medicine, banking system…
 Industrial Quality Problems
Multiple bad parts = potential for very high costs,
including product recall and loss of customers.

High volume producers are likely to launch more

formal investigations knowing that even a small
error multiplied 1000X per day will lead to
significant cost.
 Compare these Problems
The paint thickness on In industry, things go wrong all the time.
this door is too low If the cause is known – an “assignable
because the spray cause” – we would likely just fix it and either
rework the part or throw it away, and keep
nozzle was blocked the production line going.
vs
We’ve rejected 5 doors When the same or similar problem keeps
this morning, and a total occurring, we have a “real” quality problem.
of 28 this week for paint Why are so many doors being rejected?
What is wrong with the painting process? Is
thickness. This wasn’t a there a problem with the paint? The spray
problem last week. guns? The painters? The doors?
We can’t solve this by reworking the parts.
That doesn’t “solve” anything.
 Industrial Quality Problems
In addition to mounting costs, a recurring problem
is a concern in industry because it means there is
something fundamentally wrong with the process
that is creating bad product.
If it is not resolved, future parts will also fail.
Non-recurring problem = minimal cost
Recurring problem = need to factor in future losses
by over-producing, adding extra inspectors and
inspections, adds to job dissatisfaction, etc.
 Industrial Quality Problems
In a typical industrial operation, there are
(unfortunately for them, but an opportunity for you!)
many quality problems that involve multiple
products or are recurring.
 Raw material is found to be below some specification
 In-process inspection finds some non-conformance in
work in process components
 Some finished parts fail 1 or more performance tests
All of these happen on a daily basis in many operations.
Structured Problem Solving is needed to solve these.
 Industrial Quality Problem Examples
Brickmaking Grit size exceeds
standard by up to 12%

8% of
cut
bricks
over-
sized

5% of shipments Incomplete coating

15% of bricks
sent to wrong on 3 out of last 12
cracking in furnace
address batches
Image source:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304778779_Whole_System_Design_Textbook_-_Chapter_4_-_Elements_of_Applying_a_Whole_System_Design_Approa
 Quality Control Example

• Count the number of inspections this person does in a day.

• Why do you think there are so many tests being done?
• Do you think every batch passes every time?
 Quality Control
This QC person checks; If 1 batch fails 1 test, it’s
certainly a problem – but
1. Morning Moisture content in stone/sand might be resolved by a
2. Check job order details for proper mix spec simple adjustment, like
3. Air test of concrete mix, per job adding some water or
changing the mix ratios.
4. Slump test (workability) of mix, per job
5. Mix temperature, per job But, if multiple batches
6. Weekly gradation check have the same problem
over the course of a week
7. Compression strength tests per job
or month, this turns into the
8. Field test results (moisture & slump tests) kind of problem we are
talking about in this course,
requiring some
investigation to figure out
the root cause.
 Industrial Quality Problems

Have you experienced a Quality Problem in some

industry that you can share with us?
(Don’t name the company, or give out details they wouldn’t want shared)
 Structured Problem Solving
Now that we understand what kind of problem we
are talking about, it might be clearer why we need
to study Structured Problem Solving.
We don’t know the root cause of most quality
problems.
That means we can’t stop it from happening until
we conduct some sort of investigation.
Because production is sensitive to cost and
delays, we typically can’t afford to just “guess” and
hope to solve the problem.
 Structured Problem Solving
Structured Problem
Trial & Error Solving
1. Try some fix • Understand the problem
• Analyse the process
2. Run some parts
• Develop formal test(s)
3. Still bad based on expert opinion
4. Try something else • Check results and fine
5. Run some parts tune the solution
6. Still bad • Improve the process
• Parts are good
7. Repeat 4 more times
• Boss is happy
8. Get fired
 Structured Problem Solving
In the 1st half of this course, we will explore some of the
popular structured problem solving methods.
You may have encountered some of these in other courses
or in your own workplace experience.
• 8D is a classic “automotive” method
• DMAIC is used for Six Sigma projects
• PDCA is an older, simpler but still common approach
• Shainin Red X (and others) each introduce unique ideas
that are useful to know to build your problem solving skills.
 Structured Problem Solving
In the 2nd half of this course, we will explore some of the
popular problem solving tools.
You may have encountered some of these in other courses
or in your own workplace experience.
• Ishikawa
• Is/Is Not with Changes & Differences
• Pareto
• Flow Chart
• Histogram
• Control Chart
• etc
Structured Problem Solving

Review Instructional Plan