Lecture 1 , 2

Problem Definition

Problem Pre- Requisite

First prerequisite you need to full fill before beginning
construction is a clear statement of the problem that
the system is supposed to solve. This is sometimes
called product vision, mission statement, and
product definition. Here its called problem
definition.

Addressing Problem.
How to address the problem:

Step
Step
Step
Step
Step

1:
2:
3:
4:
5:

Gain agreement on the problem definition

Understand the root causes
Identify the stakeholders and the users
Define the solution system boundary.
Identify constraints to be imposed on the solution

Step 1: Gain Agreement on the Problem Definition

To gain agreement:
Write Down the Problem Definition does
everyone agree?

Sample Problem:
GoodsAreUs

a mail-order catalog company

manufactures & sells a variety of
inexpensive, miscellaneous items for home
and personal use.
Problem: insufficient profitability
The problem behind the problem?

Step 2: Understanding the Root Causes

Root Cause Analysis
basic and contributing causes are discovered in a
process similar to diagnosis of disease.

The goal is to find out:

what happened
why did it happen
what do you do to prevent it from happening again.

Understanding the Root

Causes
OK, so how do you determine the root causes?
Well, it just depends
In many cases, it's a simple matter of asking the people
directly involved
If the problem is more serious, it may be necessary to
perform a detailed investigation of each contributing
problem and to quantify its individual impact
By simple brainstorming by participants who have
knowledge of the problem
or more rigorous experiment

So, when the causes are determined, a question:

are all the causes worth fixing?
cost of the fix exceeds the cost of the problem?

which ones to fix?

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Understanding the Root Causes (cont.)

Example
Problem:
Last summer, we noticed that
several trees appeared to be
dying
Cause:
decorative plant beds were
suffocating the tree roots

Solution:
remove plant beds
Grass is the best choice to
place around a tree
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Understanding the Root Causes (cont.)

oil

A Classical Example:
Plant
a pool of oil on the factory floor Manager
Day 1:
clean it up!

Day 2: exactly the same pool of oil in the same

place
follows a predictable scenario of blame and resentment

Day 3: more oil !?!

And so on

Understanding the Root Causes (cont.)

A pool of oil on the factory floor Root Cause Analysis approach: oil
Day 1:
why the oil was there at all ?
Cause 1: a leaking gasket in the pipe above

Plant
Manager

Cause 1.1: supplier's gaskets had a bad record of leakage but

that they had been selected as a supplier of choice because of
the low price

why economy was used as the deciding criterion

for selection of equipment?
Cause 1.1.1: the directive from the Product Manager had been
to be "extremely cost conscious

Moral: the Plant Manager was responsible for the oil pool

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GoodsAreUs: Problem behind the Problem?...

Problem: insufficient profitability

Total Quality Management (TQM) technique
=>
Cause 1: the problem is due to the high cost
of nonconformance - cost of all the things that go wrong
and produce waste, scrap, and other excess costs

Cause 1.1: Largest contributor is Excess Scrap

The problem behind the problem in scrap?

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Understanding the Root Causes (cont.)

TQM Technique: Fishbone Diagram
Ask the people!

GoodsAreUs: sources contributing to the

too much
scrap ?...
Are all
bones
contributing
equally to the
excess scrap?
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Addressing THE Root Cause

Determine the contribution of each
cause
Technique: Pareto Chart
GoodsAreUs: Quality data demonstrates that
many root causes are simply not worth fixing

The existing
sales
order system is
a
poor legacy
code

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