The Manufacturing Blind Spot
Problem-solving is the neglected superpower of manufacturing. We hire top talent for almost every position in our companies but when it comes to solving quality problems, we treat it as though it were an inconvenience. We look for someone with available time and hope they can figure it out. But this critically important function needs to be staffed with highly skilled problem solvers. These are the people who will take your company to world-class quality.
Investigative Problem Solving
The Most Important Skill
Problem-solving is the most valuable skill in manufacturing. It's how we find the weak points in our processes.
It is also the least developed skill in our companies. Many teams use brainstorming (eg. fishbone, five whys) but that's just guessing at root causes.
Every person in your Quality department works on making a good product. When failures show up, there are usually no people available who are qualified.
Make the important change to your Quality Department and add a small group to the role of problem solving.
Arm them with the skills of investigative problem solving. Schedule their training in advanced methods over the next year. You will soon have the best and brightest performing the most critical work.
Expert-led courses
Online
Explore our online courses and strengthen your problem-solving skills in manufacturing. Learn at your convenience from an industry expert and boost your career with practical knowledge and skills.
On Site Workshops
Training on-site with your team means all the discussions involve your processes. We can also tailor the material ahead of time using your data. Nothing enhances learning like relevant examples.
Investigative Problem Solving is a two-day workshop covering a forensic approach to problem solving with tools and methods you haven't seen before.
The Problem Solving Master workshop is a five-day intensive course of learning and practice. Topics include Investigative Problem Solving, advanced statistical techniques as well as learning open-source software for statistical analyses, generating graphs and creating reports. I use R and RStudio for this course and you do not need any background to get started.
Getting Started with R and RStudio
Free
This course is an introduction to R and RStudio for the problem solver. The purpose is to introduce new tools for statistical analysis. You will learn how to import a data file, such as .xlsx or .csv, and generate charts and graphs of the data. This skill alone enables you to better understand process behaviour and connect the dots between a test failure and some upstream variable(s).
Chris Butterworth, ASQ MBB
Manufacturing is a complex environment. There are many moving parts and multiple sources of variation. It's not surprising then, that occasionally, defects are generated.
Every manufacturer wrestles with quality problems. When the root cause is not obvious, we assign a team to figure it out. And for the most part, these teams start out with brainstorming. It's what we've been taught for many years. But it's a flawed approach.
These teams generate a flurry of root-cause ideas which then creates a lot more work in confirming or refuting each candidate. It feels productive, but when the real cause is hidden, brainstorming becomes just another form of guesswork. And guesswork, however energetic, has no place in a business activity as important as problem solving.
What’s needed instead is investigation. The kind that gathers evidence, follows the trail, tests hypotheses, and builds understanding step by step.
I learned this the long way.
Over a career in manufacturing quality, I’ve faced hundreds of problems that didn’t want to be solved. Early on, I was lucky to be exposed to some advanced methods. Each tough case taught me something new about how problems actually reveal themselves. Over time, that became my toolkit. A collection of approaches for uncovering root causes that don’t give themselves up easily.
And that’s what I offer to you.
I train teams to think and work like investigators. To develop the discipline and methods that real problem solving requires.
If you are seeing the same problems show up repeatedly, check out my course offerings on my web site or send me a note and let's chat about what we can do.
Add a Master Black Belt to your team
Accelerate your problem solving project by bringing in a Master Black Belt to lead, coach and support your team.
I have been involved in problem solving in Manufacturing all of my career and have gained a lot of insight. I can help your team with complex problem solving.
Problem solving is my business and I am continually developing these skills.