Free tool · Root cause
5 Whys
Start from what happened, not from who did it. Ask why until the answer is something you can change in the process, then agree one countermeasure and one owner.
From the essays
Read the st ory behind this t ool
- People · 6 minHow
t o talkt o someone who made a mistakeThe point of the conversation after a mistake is not that the employee leaves afraid of the next one. It is that they leave knowing what to do differently.→ - Operations · 5 minThe scanner is a witness, not a judgeA scan shows that an action was recorded. It shows neither the whole history of the product nor who is to blame.→
- Operations · 6 minThe
t our the driver does not understandThe system plans the tour with its data; the driver drives it in real conditions. The problem starts when the organisation does not learn from the driver.→ - Operations · 4 minDMAIC without a black beltYou do not need a Black Belt certificate to ask good questions. But knowing the name of a method is not enough to claim you have applied it.→
From the field notes
- “Fixing fast is not learning fast. The same repair twice is the same mistake twice.”
- “If we look only at the person, we risk leaving untouched a process that will produce the same problem again.”
- “The point of the conversation after a mistake is not that the employee leaves afraid of the next one. It is that they leave knowing what to do differently.”
The guide · Edition 8 · Page 54
How t o use this t ool, in the guide
Why each tool exists, which family it belongs to and how to use it step by step, in one book you can leaf through.
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- Six Sigma · 5 minSigma & Control Cha
r tTurn defects into a sigma level, combine on time, undamaged and complete into perfect delivery, and see whether a bad day is a signal or noise.→ - Root causes · 15 minFishbonePut the effect at the head and collect causes with the team on the 6M, 4P or hotel bones, each with its why. Votes and likely causes rank them, the likely ones become actions to verify, and the top one goes to 5 Whys or the causes to Pareto.→
- Risk · 30 minFMEAWrite down how each process step can fail, rate severity, occurrence and detection, and get the RPN and the AIAG-VDA action priority. A heat map, the top ten risks and the actions with owners until the re-rating shows the risk is gone.→
- Six Sigma · 10 minProcess LabPaste measurements and get the right control chart (I-MR, Xbar-R/S, np, c, u) with Nelson rules and before/after phases, Cpk, chi-square, regression and a Gage R&R or attribute agreement study. Every number in plain words.→
- Lean · 20 minTime StudyTime each element over five cycles with a stopwatch, space bar as the lap key. Get the standard time per station, takt from demand, a Yamazumi against it and the first element to move.→
- Lean · 30 minValue Stream MapMap one flow from supplier to customer with the pieces waiting between the steps. Get the lead-time ladder, PCE, takt and the bottleneck, then draw the future state and send its kaizen bursts to the Action Tracker.→
- Standard · 20 minStandard WorkOne job as a TWI breakdown: major steps, key points marked Safety, Quality, Technique or Cost, and a reason for each, with the time per step against the takt. Versions with change notes, print on A4, Word.→
- Lean · 15 minSpagh
e t ti DiagramDraw the walking paths of one job over the floor plan, tap by tap, in metres. Get the metres and minutes walked per shift, the stop visited most and the longest repeated leg, then compare the layout after the change.→ - Six Sigma · WeeklyProject Po
r tfolioEvery DMAIC project on one page: phase, status, the next tollgate and its checklist, days in the phase, sigma before and after, and savings planned against realised. Each project keeps its charter, SIPOC, CTQ tree, RACI, Kano, RTY, COPQ and control plan.→ - Inventory · 15 minABC/X
Y Z Invent oryClassify every SKU by annual consumption value and by how steady its demand is, and get the nine-cell matrix with its policies, the cycle counts per week, safety stock and reorder points at your service level, and the SKUs for the golden zone.→ - Lean · 30 minSMED ChangeoverTime one changeover element by element, split it into internal and external work, convert and streamline by Shingo's steps, and see the minutes and euros freed and the new changeover standard.→
- Quality · Per problem8D Repo
r tThe Global 8D for a problem a customer saw, D0 to D8: containment within a day, 5W2H and IS / IS NOT, the root cause and the escape point both verified, corrective actions validated with data. Days open and to containment against targets, every action to the tracker, print and Word.→ - Strategy · MonthlyHoshin KanriThe site's strategy on one X-matrix: breakthrough and annual objectives, improvement priorities, metrics and their owners, with the gaps listed. Catchball notes per priority, a bowling chart month by month, and a countermeasure when a metric misses twice in a row.→
- Overview · WeeklySite CompareThe sites you look after side by side, each read from its read-only team code without joining: damage and incomplete rates, routes on time, OEE, 5S, safety, actions, maintenance and the hotel rates, best and worst named, ranked by a rule you can see.→
- Lean · 3–5 daysKaizen EventPlan, run and follow up a rapid improvement event: the charter with goals in numbers, preparation counted back from the first day, the standard 3–5 day agenda, ideas by waste on an effort and impact matrix, goals before and after, and the 30-day follow-up list. Report-out in A4 and Word.→
- Six Sigma · 20 minCost of Quali
t yList what prevention, appraisal, internal and external failure cost, as hours, counts or amounts for any period, and get the cost of quality a month and a year, the cost of poor quality as a share of revenue, the largest items and what a cut in failure would save.→ - Lean · 20 minHeijunkaTurn a batched schedule into a levelled mix: takt, pitch, load and EPEI, the day's heijunka box with clock times, and the changeovers it costs against the finished stock it saves.→
- Inventory · 15 minKanban SizingWork out how many kanban cards each supermarket or two-bin loop needs, by Toyota's formula or a statistical safety stock, see the cards to add or take out and the stock value at maximum, and print the cards eight to an A4 sheet.→
- Quality · WeeklyPoka-Yoke RegisterEvery mistake-proofing device in one register: the error it prevents, Shingo's method, control or warning, prevention or detection. Test each on schedule with a deliberate error; see what is overdue or failed, verification compliance, effectiveness per device and a checklist to print.→
- Lean · QuarterlyLean AssessmentScore how mature an area's lean system is in ten dimensions, from 5S to kaizen, with up to five assessors: the spread shows where they disagree, the radar the change since last quarter, and the three weakest dimensions link to the tools that close them.→
- Course · 45 minSix Sigma in the WarehouseDMAIC in five steps on one warehouse case, with the tool to use at each step, three questions per step, the eight wastes and a project charter.→