Investigative Problem Solving
Brainstorming finds suspects.
Evidence finds the cause.
In-house root cause training for manufacturers. Your quality engineers learn to find the true cause with data, not guesswork, so problems stay fixed.
Why defects keep coming back
Your team ran the 8D. The defect was contained, the report was signed off, and a few weeks later it was back. That isn't a people problem. It's a method problem.
Most problem-solving starts with a brainstorm or a fishbone diagram. The team lists dozens of possible causes, agrees on the most likely one, and fixes it. When the symptom fades, the case is closed. But a guess that seems to work is not a root cause, and the real cause is still in the process.
Investigative Problem Solving: let the evidence lead
Problem solving is too important to be left to guesswork. It is a core business process, and it needs to be managed as one, not handled in an occasional meeting around a fishbone diagram.
Investigative Problem Solving starts from a different idea. Every defect is evidence. Somewhere in your process there is a weak point that created the defect or let it pass through, and the job is to find it. You approach it the way a detective solves a crime: gather the clues, rule out suspects with data, and prove the cause before anyone signs off.
I have been building and refining this method for many years, on factory floors in lithium battery, electronics, plastics and high-tech manufacturing. Much of what I teach comes directly from that work, so you won't find it in a textbook. Your engineers get the benefit of lessons that took decades to learn.
The training isn't theory, either. If you choose, we bring your top quality problem into the course, so your team learns the method while making real progress on the defect that costs you most.
A real result
A client's continuous process had an 11% failure rate for over- and under-weight product, and had for several years. After many unsuccessful attempts, they concluded the process was simply incapable: live with it, or buy a new million-dollar machine. My investigation uncovered patterns of process behaviour no one had seen, and a novel sampling method gave far better resolution on the measurement. We found two root causes, both easy to correct. The failure rate dropped from 11% to under 1%.
Training at your plant, on your problems
5-day in-house course: hands-on training in Investigative Problem Solving, sampling, applied statistics and R, delivered at your site. Your team works on real defects from your line, so you get results while they learn.
Your instructor
Chris Butterworth, Six Sigma Master Black Belt
I have 35+ years in manufacturing, leading quality and continuous improvement in lithium battery, electronics, plastics and high-tech plants, including Northvolt, EaglePicher Energy Products and Ballard. I taught Lean Six Sigma at BCIT for 13 years and hold five ASQ certifications: CMBB, CSSBB, CQE, CMQ/OE and CRE.
I teach what I've done on the factory floor: finding the real cause of stubborn defects, and making sure they don't come back.
Free guide: Why 8D Misses the Real Root Cause
A short, practical guide for quality and plant managers: why defects keep coming back after an 8D, and how to find the real cause with evidence. Enter your email to get it free. You'll also receive my occasional email on root cause problem solving. Unsubscribe anytime.