Quality Improvement: Symptoms vs Root Causes

When your company resolves to achieve its "entitlement" level of Quality, your cross functional team's brainstorming sessions will uncover problems of first-pass yield, rework, and scrap that appear to be major barriers to improved performance and quality. These are the types of problems that total quality management programs try to address on all fronts.

However, for the most part, such problems are symptoms of poor performance, not root causes, and they should be dealt with accordingly. If the root causes of process dysfunction are treated, many symptomatic barriers will go away on their own.

The key to success is to learn the difference between a symptomatic barrier, and a root cause barrier - which is not always easy. The truth is that most managers, quality specialists, and consultants are unskilled at differentiating symptoms from root causes.

We like to take a list of barriers to achieving a company's quality entitlement, and categorize each barrier into one of three categories: Is is a cost problem, is it a quality problem? or is it a cycle time problem? Typically, most of the major problems on managers minds prove to be the "squeakiest wheels" and the most painful distractions: cost and quality issues, not cycle time. Then take the barrier list and ask the question "If cycle time were cut in half and your loop of activity could start later - how many of those cost and quality problems would simply disappear?" Some of the barriers on the list will do exactly that. These problems are symptoms of underlying performance barriers, not barriers themselves. The next question is "If cycle time were cut in half and your loop could start later, which barriers would not be affected?" Those are the real, root cause barriers.

Synchronous experts are well positioned to help you improve your quality performance, and to identify and address root causes without getting bogged down in symptoms. Send us an information request to Sales@SynchronousLLC.com or review our complete portfolio of service offerings at our web site www.SynchronousLLC.com