Global 8D – D5: Choose and Verify Permanent Corrective Action (PCA)

Having determined the root cause/s of the problem and the escape point you are now in a position to determine and choose the most appropriate Permanent Corrective Action (PCA).

PCA’s need to be considered for both the root cause and the escape point.

The PCA needs to meet several requirements that satisfy both customer and business needs.  Given that there may be a number of possible permanent corrective actions that may be applied, I will describe how the most appropriate PCA is arrived at.

The process for determining the possilbe PCA's will be driven by the nature of the root cuases and the business objectives.

The final choice of which PCA's to implement will be determined from:

• The best interest of the customer

• The needs of the business

Define Permanent Corrective Actions

Having identified the root cause of the problem under investigation, the team will have the data and information at hand to determine what corrective action options there might be available to implement. These are all considered and articulated in such a ways as to ensure that all the necessary steps needed to remove and protect against the route cause have been considered.

As stated above, the process for determining the possilbe PCA's will be driven by the nature of the root cuases and the business objectives.

Chose The Permanent Corrective Action

For this activity we will consider two levels of needs: 

• Givens – those criterion that must be met (mandatory) and that are measureable and realistic to achieve and satisfy both customer and business needs

• Wants – those criterion that are nice to have but not necessarily critical and also cover both customer and business aspirations

Examples

Givens could be: 

• Must be implemented within three months

• Must not cost more than £25,000 to set up

• Must be able to continue delivering product during implementation

• Must solve the root cause of the problem permanently

Wants could be: 

• To be cost effective in the first year of operation (Set up costs plus running costs within the first year)

• To be introduced as soon as possible

• To be implemented without overtime

• To have zero impact on energy consumption

• To work on both lines simultaneously

There are two worksheets that are used in this process, the Criteria Worksheet and the Decision Making Worksheets.

Criteria Worksheet

Using the Criteria Worksheet on the right, the Wants are scored in terms of relative importance, 10 being the highest. This score will be used as part of the "choosing" process.

The Givens are not scored, these are things that must be achieved by the PCA

This is worksheet used for recording the givens and wants. These are normally populated by the business management team.

A copy of this can also be downloaded free, accessed via a 'button' at the end of this article.

Decision Making Worksheet

Having established the Givens and Wants, you can now rank each proposed PCA against these criteria. To help this process we use the Decision Making Worksheet.

NOTE: the number of Givens and Wants worksheets used will depend upon the number of proposed PCA's. One complete section must be recorded for each proposed PCA

The Decision Making Worksheets are used to rank each of the PCA’s by first determining if the PCA meets all of the givens.

If the PCA does not meet all of the givens, then it cannot be progressed in its current form.

Then the wants are scored as to how well the PCA achieves each criteria.10 is completely and 0 is not at all.

The scores are added up to and this summative score is used to rank the PCA’s

The highest scoring PCA option is normally the one chosen to move forward with.

Verify The Chosen PCA

Before the PCA is fully confirmed, the Global 8D team need to verify that the PVA will actually meet all of the givens and the wants are achieved at the level declared in the decision making worksheets

The Team must verify that the PCA will eliminate the root cause permanently for both the root cause and the escape point.

When verification testing is carried out, it is critical to remeber that an Interim Containment Action has been put in place. Verification must be carried out in such a way that there is no influence on the outcome of verification testing. e.g remove the ICA for testing purposes.

Complete The G8D Form (Template)

Complete the Global 8D form and circulate. Remember to update team composition for any changes that are made at the end of this stage.

The G8D form is a summary of the problem solving activity and is suppoirted by all of the other worksheets, data and supporting information. At this stage the report should include the decision making worksheets, verification testing process and data generated as a results of the problem solving activity.

Graham Cripps 

Results Consortium Ltd

Global 8D – D1: Establish the G8D Team

In this article I will look at teamwork and how to establish a problem solving team that will be effective and cohesive.

Having an effective team is crucial to the success of the problem solving effort. We need a multidiscipline and experienced team to be able to provide the effort needed in getting to the root cause of the problem. This is the goal of all structured problem solving tools.

In this article I will discuss the following issues: 

• Team skills

• Team roles

• Team responsibilities

Having established management support for the G8D process to be applied to the problem, this implies that the right people will be released at the right time.

Team Skills (And Knowledge)

The skills that the team members require will include, but are not restricted to: 

• Knowledge of the process where the problem has manifested itself

• Knowledge of the item (part, sub-assembly, outcome)

• Technical knowledge of the item under analysis

• Customer usage and application knowledge (internal or external customers)

• Decision making

• Conflict resolution

• Communication skills

• Data analysis skills

The makeup of the team will depend upon the initial perception of the problem. However, the team composition may need to change during the G8D process. This is because the team’s understanding of the problem will grow and as it does may need additional of different skills to help resolve the process.

Team Roles

There are a number of roles in effective teamwork that, when applied in the spirit of supporting the team, ensure that the team has the very best chance of success.

Before we go any further I would like to give a definition of a team.

'A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goal and approach for which they hold themselves mutually responsible'

In other words a cohesive team.

The recommended team roles are: 

Champion: the champion will normally be the responsible person that is feeling the pain of the problem. The champion will not normally attend the meetings but will support the team, in particular gaining access to the resources required for the problem solving effort

Team Leader: the team leader’s role is to manage the business of the team for the team. The activities will include setting the agenda, arranging the meeting venue, managing the activities and communicating with the champion

Time Manager: this is not a time keeper! The time manger takes on the responsibility on behalf of the team to manage the allotted team meeting time. Working with the team leader, they will issue a timed agenda, allocating fixed times for each topic on the agenda. During the meeting, the time manager will advise the team of remaining time for each subject and, with the team, agree amendments on a running basis if a topic is running over and considered important enough to do so

Scribe: is the person that captures the outcomes of the meeting as agreed by the team and publishes on behalf of the team

Facilitator: the facilitator looks after the team process and ensures that everyone is involved in the process steps and captures what went well for the team members

G8D Coach – this is optional, but recommended where some, or all, of the team members have no experience of G8D process application. This should be an internal resource where ever possible to maximise the possible problem solving effort

Team Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the individual team members will be allocated by the team and will involve some or all of the following: 

• Data collection

• Data analysis

• Decision making processes

• Experimentation

• Solution verification and validation

• Modelling and/or experimentation

• Managing resources

• Planning and implementation of solution (see also Plan-Do-Check-Act)

• Communication

These are the common skills required in addition to the general problem solving and technical skills required to contribute to the problem solving effort

Complete G8D Report (Template)

The G8D report has is a reporting summary for the G8D process efforts and is designed to be completed at each stage of the process

At this stage the G8D Report is completed by the team to show all the team members and circulated to all interested parties.

Circulation of the G8D report will vary at different stages of the G8D process and will normally be agreed with the Champion before circulation.

You can dowload a free, editable version of this report template via the button at the bottom of this article.

Assessing Questions

At the end of each stage there are a number of assessing questions that should be asked by the team leader or champion to ensure that all the factors have been considered and all necessary actions completed

In particular at this stage the questions will include: 

• Have all changes been documented?

• Is the ERA continuing to be effective?

• Is the team composition correct to proceed to the next step?

• Have all the measurables been established?

• Is a Service Action required?

Next Time

I hope you will join me again for the next article when I will be discussing how to clearly describe the problem (Problem Description), and look at one of the main reasons problem solving efforts fail to succeed

Graham Cripps
Results Consortium Ltd

www.resultsresults.co.uk

Global 8D – Team Based Problem Solving

Have you ever said, or heard someone else say, something like “the last time we had this problem we did this”? If this is the case then we have to ask, how effective is our problem solving effort?

In reality we spend a lot of time solving problems in the business, some much more difficult than others. There are four levels of problem that we can consider:

1. Simple problems that can be solved by one individual

2. Simple problems that we know the answer to (this is more a task than a problem solving effort)

3. Difficult problems that we do not know the answer to and will take more than one person/discipline to solve

4. Problems that have been around for some time

I want to concentrate on the third type of problem and suggest a method that is tried and tested, Global 8D (G8D).

Using a number of analytical tools and a multi-disciplined team approach, G8D has a number of clearly defined steps and dosciplines. G8D is a comprehensive problem solving methodology developed by Ford Motor Company and used widely in industry throughout the world. However, it must be said that whilst the approach may be used for smaller problems, G8D should be reserved for those problems that: 

• Have a definition of the symptom(s). That is, the symptom has been quantified.

• Have identified the customer(s) and affected parties who experienced the symptom/s.

• Have measurements to quantify the symptom(s) and demonstrate that a performance gap exists, and/or the priority (severity, urgency, growth) of the symptom warrants initiation of the process.

• Have an unknown cause.

• Has management commitment to dedicating the necessary resources to fix the problem at root cause level and to prevent recurrence.

• Have a problem symptom complexity that exceeds the ability of one person to resolve the problem.

The G8D Process

The following is a brief outline of the G8D process steps: 

D0   Prepare for the Global 8D Process

In response to a symptom, evaluate the need for the G8D process.  If necessary, provide Emergency Response Action to protect the customer, and initiate the G8D process.

D1   Establish the Team

Establish a small group of people with the process and/or product knowledge, allocated time, authority, and skills in the required technical disciplines to solve the problems and implement corrective actions. The group must have a designated Champion and Team Leader. The group initiates the team building process.

D2   Describe the Problem

Describe the internal/external problem by identifying ‘what is wrong with what’, and detail the problem in quantifiable terms (Problem Description).

D3   Develop the Interim Containment Action (ICA)

Define, verify and implement the Interim Containment Action (ICA) to isolate the effects of the problem from any internal/external customer until Permanent Corrective Actions (PCAs) are implemented.  Validate the effectiveness of the containment actions.

D4   Define and Verify Root Cause and Escape Point

Isolate and verify the root cause by testing each possible cause against the Problem Description and test data.  Also isolate and verify the place in the process where the effects of the root cause should have been detected and contained but was not (escape point).

D5   Implement and Validate Permanent Corrective Actions (PCAs) for Root Cause and Escape Point

Select the best permanent corrective action to remove the root cause.  Also select the best permanent corrective action to address the escape point.  Verify that both decisions will be successful when implemented without causing undesirable effects.

D6   Implement and Validate Permanent Corrective Actions (PCAs)

Plan and implement selected Permanent Corrective Actions.  Remove the ICA.  Validate the actions and monitor long-term results.

D7   Prevent Recurrence

Modify the necessary systems including policies, practices and procedures, to prevent recurrence of this and similar problems.  Make recommendations for systemic improvements, as necessary.

D8   Recognise Team and Individual Contributions

Congratulate the team and complete the team experience. Recognise both team and individual contributions, and celebrate success.

The Global 8D Reporting Format

The G8D reporting format uses a Report Form which can be downloaded free by clicking on the button below. This form is backed up by the data, activity reports and other evidence of the problem solving activity which includes: 

• Pre-data analysis
• Is/Is not report
• Differences and changes
• Root Cause analysis
• After-data analysis
• Decision Making worksheets
• Action plans

The key forms and explanations for their use, will become available via these G8D series of articles over the next three weeks.

Graham Cripps

Results Consortium Ltd

www.resultsresults.co.uk