Advanced Problem-Solving

Question 1

What is a problem?

Answer 1

“A prob­lem ex­ists, for ex­am­ple, when a per­son has a goal and does not “know”, how to achieve this goal.”

“A sit­u­a­tion is ex­pe­ri­enced as a prob­lem when a re­ac­tion is re­quired, which is not di­rect­ly avail­able to the per­son,

“Prob­lems can be sub­jec­tive. Due to knowl­edge and abil­i­ty, a prob­lem can only be a task for one per­son for an­oth­er, be­cause “the prob­lem is al­ready known” and the so­lu­tion is in the draw­er as a task.”

Question 2

What are the three categories of problem solving?

Answer 2

Simple Problem
Difficult Problem
Complex Problem

Question 3

How do you fix a simple problem?

Answer 3

• Rudi­men­ta­ry cause analy­sis, Im­ple­men­ta­tion of mea­sures
• Ob­ser­va­tion (at SFM) whether mea­sures are ef­fec­tive
• 5-why root cause analysis
• Solved with simple ac­tiv­i­ties

Question 4

What is a difficult problem?

Answer 4

-Us­ing the 8 steps to solve the prob­lem

Step 1: Define the Problem
Step 2: Clarify the Problem
Step 3: Define the Goals
Step 4: Identify Root Cause of the Problem
Step 5: Develop Action Plan
Step 6: Execute Action Plan
Step 7: Evaluate the Results
Step 8: Continuously Improve

Question 5

What is needed to solve a complex problem?

Answer 5

• Six-Sig­ma
• Shain­in
• DOE (Design of experiments)

Question 6

What are some examples of situations that pose a problem?

Answer 6

• The customer complains about 3 parts in this week and the cause of the error is unclear.
• Every Monday, the committee is higher than Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
• Although a training concept on paint defects has reached every employee, the scrap in the paint shop is constantly poor

Question 7

How can a problem be identified?

Answer 7

To iden­ti­fy a prob­lem, I need to know what my cus­tomer re­quire­ments and stan­dards are.

Question 8

How do you check for compliance?

Answer 8

Com­pli­ance with stan­dards and cus­tomer re­quire­ments can be checked with:

• Shop Floor Man­age­ment
• Au­dits
• Qual­i­ty gates

Question 9

How do you determine if you have a problem?

Answer 9

If the cause is un­known, you have a prob­lem.

If the cause is ob­vi­ous we call it an ac­tiv­i­ty that needs to be done.

Question 10

What are the four systematic problem identification methods/tools? i.e. graphs and charts

Answer 10

• Progression chart
• Tally
• Histogram
• Control chart

Question 11

What is a failure vs a problem?

Answer 11

failure
• mismatch of your determined requirements
• unwanted status (e.g. product/process)

problem
• if the path to your solution is not obvious
• unwanted status reoccurs

Question 12

Problems are usually associated with what?

Answer 12

abnormalities or conspicuities

Question 13

What is the 5-why method?

Answer 13

Method in the field of qual­i­ty man­age­ment for cause-and-ef­fect de­ter­mi­na­tion

The goal is to de­ter­mine the cause of a de­fect or a prob­lem.

The num­ber of re­quests is not lim­it­ed to five. It is im­por­tant to keep on check­ing un­til the process step caus­ing the er­ror is clear­ly iden­ti­fied and can no longer be fur­ther di­vid­ed.

Question 14

How do you identify abnormalities?

Answer 14

• Trend
• Bounce
• Repetition

If I have rec­og­nized an ab­nor­mal­i­ty, I must for­mu­late a prob­lem pre­cise­ly.

Question 15

How should you routinely identify problems?

Answer 15

KPI track­ing in shop floor man­age­ment as a rou­tine for dai­ly prob­lem iden­ti­fi­ca­tion

Shopfloor Man­age­ment or the sys­tem­at­ic record­ing of key fig­ures is suit­able for prob­lem iden­ti­fi­ca­tion. If you rec­og­nize a prob­lem it is up to you to find the cause!

Question 16

What is an abnormality at a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in your Shopfloor Management?

Answer 16

• if a KPI bounces significantly

- if a value changes without influencing the process

Question 17

What are symptoms?

Answer 17

Symp­toms are un­de­sir­able ef­fects of caus­es.

Far too of­ten only symp­toms are re­moved, but the caus­es re­main un­no­ticed and symp­toms con­tin­ue to ap­pear.

Question 18

When does a problem usually arise?

Answer 18

A prob­lem aris­es when one tries to sup­press symp­toms in­stead of cor­rect­ing caus­es.

Question 19

How can you tell that you only fought the symptom and not the cause?

Answer 19

• The failure occurs again
• In my SFM there is no significant change in the records of my data
• The failure was found elsewhere

Question 20

What are the 7 Q-tools (Quality tools)?

Answer 20

• tally
• scatter plot
• control chart
• ishikawa diagram
• histogram
• pareto
• stratification

Question 21

Which is true about the 8D report?

Answer 21

• The 8D method is suitable for complicated problem solving
• If I have a simple problem, I solve it and monitor whether the problem reappears. If there are repeated errors, I go into a new process with an 8-step problem solving sheet
• For an 8D process I need a team of several experts

Question 22

When the 8-steps of problem solving do not work, what is the next tool?

Answer 22

Complex problem solving

Prob­lem solv­ing of com­plex prob­lems needs ex­perts like Shain­in ex­perts, Six Sig­ma Black Belts or sim­i­lar.

A com­plex prob­lem is when the cause can­not be found with an 8D re­port or A3 sheet.

Question 23

As a lean consultant, what are the three main steps to take when problem solving?

Answer 23

1. Start with the 5-Why method and de­fine tasks that will prob­a­bly solve the prob­lem.
2. Check con­tin­u­ous­ly if the er­ror oc­curs again.
3. Go to the 8-step method with your prob­lem-solv­ing team.

Only in the rarest cas­es in your every­day life you will need meth­ods like Six Sig­ma.

Question 24

What is true about problem solving?

Answer 24

• Good shopfloor management is an early indicator of problems
• On a control chart I can see the course of my value as well as the customer requirements for the value and the intervention limits in the factory