The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention

Benefits of Root Cause Analysis

The structured methodology of root cause analysis helps guide the effort through layers of cause and effect to identify the lowest-level causes. An ordinary investigation of a defect does not typically lead to the discovery of lower-level causes. One of the advantages of addressing problems at a lower level is the breadth and scope of the impact. Following are other important benefits an organization can realize from conducting an RCA study.

• Can start as small pilots and grow accordingly A root cause analysis program can start small. A single engineer can perform his or her own root cause analysis on a single defect. The ability to scale the size of the study makes this method of defect prevention very flexible. ...