Effective cost-saving technique

A vetted approach to tackling unanticipated expenses associated with events occurring on the production floor is benchmarking against past events.

Once a list of such direct and indirect expenses has been formed, it is time to use root cause analysis to determine the underlying reason for the occurrence of past events and derivative expenses. According to Wikipedia, root cause analysis is a method of problem solving that tries to identify the root causes of faults or problems. A root cause is a cause that once removed from the problem fault sequence, prevents the final undesirable event from recurring.

We’ll use a hypothetical case of employee injury to demonstrate the root cause analysis technique.

When investigating the injury, the company that employed the employee, determines that working a double shift was the reason for the employee’s exhaustion and resulting injury. Root cause analysis mandates that the company would then consider the question why the double shift was necessary in the first place. Reverse-checking the causes per step of the occurrence, the analysis could end with the conclusion that use of manuals for training new employees was required – see image for a detailed visualization of the hypothetical case analysis.

Use of the root cause technique not only systematically prevents the recurrence of unwanted events, but in most cases uncovers underlying predicaments, allowing the company to tackle these too in advance. In fact, the benefits of resolving the root cause are typically greater than the value generated by merely mending the supposedly obvious problem, which led to the incident being analyzed.

To finish off using the aforementioned example: if the company whose employee has been injured used root cause analysis, and as a result implemented user manuals in the factory floor, it could gain any number of benefits, including –

1. Less time training new employees; lower cost of recruitment; and possibly greater confidence among new employees to take on additional tasks.

2. Easier ISO approval, and the opportunity to participate in additional tenders.

Ayal Robotics and Engineering Ltd. roots for root cause analysis, and pride itself in offering LaborSave, a principal material handling solution that resolves many key challenges of factories using granules or powder raw material bags.