8D Problem Solving Technique & Tools

© Operational Excellence Consulting. All rights reserved.
8D:
Eight Disciplines
PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS

© Operational Excellence Consulting. All rights reserved. 7
Why Problem Solving…?
Tylenol recalled for musty odor
Oct 19, 2010 by Meagan Morris
FDA requests court-ordered action
over Tylenol facilities
FDA inspections at the three plants from
2009 to 2010 found violations of standard
manufacturing practices and led to several
extensive recalls.
March 10, 2011 by Andrew Zajac,
Washington Bureau
This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:
http://flevy.com/browse/document/8d-problem-solving-technique-and-tools-761

Overview of the 8D Problem Solving
Process
Plan
Establish the Team
Describe the Problem
Develop an Interim Containment Action
Define & Verify Root Cause
Choose & Verify Permanent Corrective Action
Implement & Validate Permanent Corrective Action
Prevent Recurrence
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 Recognize the Team
0

Role of the Facilitator
• Ensure that all members have the opportunity to
contribute
• Focus on how the team is working together
• Give and ask descriptive feedback
• Act as team builder
• Focus on team maintenance
• Draw attention to communication skills
• Ensure the team starts and finishes effectively
• Help team members to increase awareness of, and
make contact with, each other

Importance of an 8D Report
• The 8D report or storyboard serves as a checklist as
well as a means of tracking improvement measures
decided upon by the team.
• It also ensures that all steps are followed and
completed.
• The 8D report is a fundamental part of the 8D
problem solving methodology and must be updated
at the end of each step. Any documents completed
as a result of actions taken then become part of the
report.

D0: Plan
• Before you begin to assemble a
team to solve the problem, it is
important to plan your approach.
• Your 8D project plan is vital to
a successful start to the whole
process.
• You will need to consider:
who will be on the team
what your time frame is
what resources you will require

Discipline 1:
Establish the
Team
Plan
Establish the Team
Describe the Problem
Develop an Interim Containment Action
Define & Verify Root Cause
Choose & Verify Permanent Corrective Action
Implement & Validate Permanent Corrective Action
Prevent Recurrence
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 Recognize the Team
0

D1: Establish the Team
Checklist for Step 1
• Are sufficient resources available such as
meeting rooms, projector, flip charts, etc.
• Are the expectations such as objectives, scope,
time-frame, clear to the team?
• Are all members clear about the task, any
limitations, degree of urgency, etc.
• Are reporting issues clear such as how often, to
whom and who should be informed?

D2: Describe the Problem
• Use process sampling to define as accurately as
possible the issue that the internal or external
customer has.
• Get to the core of the problem and quantify it.
• Collect data and information: analyze using
statistical methods and root cause analysis
methods such as:
Cause & Effect Diagram
5 Whys

D2: Summary of Key Steps
1. Collect and visualize available data.
2. Define the process. Allocate the data or
information to the various steps of the process.
3. Assess if the problem needs to be re-scoped
or broken into smaller components.
4. Define the boundaries of the problem.
5. Carry out a problem analysis.
6. Get confirmation by the customer.
7. Update the 8D report.

D3: Develop Interim Containment Action
• Has the effectiveness of these measures been
ensured? How will this effectiveness be
checked?
• Are the various containment measures
documented and known to all parties involved?
• Are there mitigation plans for all risks?This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:

D4: Define & Verify Root Cause
• Start out by collecting as much data/information
as possible and making it visual in any way
possible.
• Some useful tools for analyzing the problem are
(see the next section on how to apply the tools):
Process mapping or flow charting
Graphs
Control charts
Trend or Run charts
Pareto diagrams

D4: Define & Verify Root Cause
• Is there data on these possible causes so that a
quantitative analysis can be carried out?
• Are the possible causes verified?
• Have the root causes been verified?
• Has all documentation been completed?

D5: Choose & Verify Permanent
Corrective Action
• Is there evidence that these measures are
effective, in particular, have field tests or
production tests been carried out?
• Is the documentation for this step complete?

D6: Implement & Validate Permanent
Corrective Action
• Are contingency measures determined in case
the original measures cannot be implemented?
• Is the documentation for this step complete?

D7: Prevent Recurrence
• Are the reasons for the problem occurring now
fully clarified?
• Are the influencing factors fully clear?
• Have all changes to the process, system or the
organization been carried out?

Examples of Mistake-Proofing (2)
Document control
Document control is critical to
mistake proofing because similar
to a checklist, it provides a
procedure to follow. Often the
absence of policy or procedure
leads to variation and different
customer experiences. Process
repeatability can be improved
after training and deployment of
the new procedure.
Trend prediction
Trend analysis can be explained
as the observation of history in
order to predict the future. The
use of trends can forecast failures
before they happen. This is a
control method called statistical
process control. It is effective in
anticipating errors before they
occur by measuring observed
variation versus expected
variation in the process.
5S workplace organization
By applying the principles of 5S to
an area, clutter and waste can be
removed, leading to fewer
mistakes. For example, in grocery
stores, perishable products are
constantly purged of old
inventory, arranged by first in-first
out, and kept fresh with sprinklers
and chillers. Labels and bins
prevent products from becoming
disorganized.

D8: Recognize the Team
• One of the most
important steps is that
Management play their
role in recognizing and
showing their
appreciation for the
work done.

8D Problem Solving Tools
• In this section, you will find some useful tools for
measuring and analyzing the problem.
• It is not necessary to use all the tools listed in
this section for every problem you encounter.
• Use appropriate tools in the appropriate steps.
• Tools must add to understanding of the
problem, not confusion.This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:

Flowcharts
• Purpose
To show the sequential steps in a
process
• When to use
Defining or analyzing a process
Looking for potential problem points
Investigating the performance of a
process.
Communication or training aid

How to Make an Inspection Check Sheet
1. Indicate the purpose of the data collection.
2. Decide on the inspection items.
3. Decide on the inspection sequence.
4. Decide on the weightage based on degree of
importance.
5. Decide on a format for the check sheet.
6. Try and use it experimentally.
7. Modify as necessary.
8. Obtain approval and register it.

Run Chart (a.k.a. Trend Chart)
• Purpose
To show patterns of change in a sequence of
measurements, i.e. data points plotted in chronological
order
To visualize how a process is performing
• When to use
To show changes across time for an item that is
repeatedly measured
To understand variation in process performance
When measuring progress towards a goal; to show
relative improvement

Pareto Chart – Data Collection
Pizza Defects Pizza Defects - Ranked
Category Frequency Category Frequency
% of
Total
Cum %
Wrong Toppings 29 Wrong Toppings 29 25% 25%
Tastes Bad 10 Pizza Cold 25 21% 46%
Forgot Breadsticks 7 Pizza Late 22 19% 64%
Wrong Price 2 Wrong Crust 13 11% 75%
Driver Had No Change 4 Tastes Bad 10 8% 84%
Pizza Cold 25 Forgot Breadsticks 7 6% 90%
Pizza Late 22 Driver Had No Change 4 3% 93%
Wrong Crust 13 Smashed in Box 3 3% 96%
Smashed in Box 3 Wrong Price 2 2% 97%
Driver Rude 1 Driver Rude 1 1% 98%
All other 2 All other 2 2% 100%

Cause & Effect Diagram
(a.k.a. Ishikawa Diagram, Fish-bone Diagram)
• Purpose
To identify and structure the causes of a given effect
• When to use
When investigating a problem, to identify and select
key problem causes to address
When effect of a problem is known, but possible
causes are unclear
To find other causal relationships, such as potential
risks or causes of desired effects

Cause & Effect: Considerations
• Differentiate between symptom, cause and
solution; only cause should be used to develop
diagram
Symptom: “We are way too busy”
Cause: “Lack of Documentation”
Solution: “Assign someone to do documentation”
• Think in negative terms when brainstorming
• Best used with team that has expertise to
represent entire problem

5 Whys – Key Points
• Do not forget that the sought outcome of a 5
Why exercise is a root cause of the defined
problem, not the resolution of the problem itself;
that will come later.
• 5 Whys is not a standalone Problem Solving
technique but more of a tool to aid in this
process.

Scatter Diagram

Brainstorming Considerations
1. Make sure everyone understands and is satisfied with the central
question before you open up for ideas.
2. You may want to give everyone a few seconds to jot down a few
ideas before getting started.
3. Begin by going around the table or room, giving everyone a
chance to voice their ideas or pass. After a few rounds, open the
floor.
4. More ideas are better. Encourage radical ideas and piggybacking.
5. Suspend judgment of all ideas.
6. Record exactly what is said. Clarify only after everyone is out of
ideas.
7. Don't stop until ideas become sparse. Allow for late-coming ideas.
8. Eliminate duplicates and ideas that aren't relevant to the topic.

How to Create an Affinity Diagram
• Step 4 - Create header cards for the groups
A header is an idea that captures the essential link among the
ideas contained in a group of cards
This idea is written on a single card or post-it and must consist of
a phrase or sentence that clearly conveys the meaning, even to
people who are not on the team. The team develops headers for
the groups by:
Finding already existing cards within the groups that will serve well as
headers and placing them at the top of the group of related cards.
Alternatively, discussing and agreeing on the wording of cards created
specifically to be headers.
Discovering a relationship among two or more groups and arranging
them in columns under a superheader. The same rules apply for
superheaders as for regular header cards.

Copyrights of all the pictures used in this presentation are held by their respective owners.

1
Flevy (www.flevy.com) is the marketplace
for premium documents. These
documents can range from Business
Frameworks to Financial Models to
PowerPoint Templates.
Flevy was founded under the principle that
companies waste a lot of time and money
recreating the same foundational business
documents. Our vision is for Flevy to
become a comprehensive knowledge base
of business documents. All organizations,
from startups to large enterprises, can use
Flevy— whether it's to jumpstart projects, to
find reference or comparison materials, or
just to learn.
Contact Us
Please contact us with any questions you may have
about our company.
• General Inquiries
support@flevy.com
• Media/PR
press@flevy.com
• Billing
billing@flevy.com

8D Problem Solving Technique & Tools

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (15)

More from Flevy.com Best Practices

More from Flevy.com Best Practices (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

8D Problem Solving Technique & Tools