This is an in-depth investigation into the identified problems and their main causes. The main problems that face this company are customer complaints, nonconformance, unfulfilled requirements, and undesirable conditions. Basically, root cause analysis is a method that is used to undertake corrective actions on issues affecting this organization; indeed, it is a component of the quality management system. In a situation where the company is facing problems with the shipment, there is a great need to perform problem-solving at all times.
Any inconsistencies in any department may be costly to the business, thus there is a need to address nonconformance. Moreover, in RCA, the executive tries to uncover the main cause of the problem and what can be done to avoid reoccurrence. Among the many problems that Denver Facility is facing are; a problem with a delay of laboratory reports, a problem with the clearance of trucks on the front gate, and transportation and distribution difficulties. This research paper is aimed at analyzing the root cause of each of the above main problems.
Laboratory report problems
In Denver Facility, the automotive customers have been insisting that the laboratory testing report department is very slow at releasing the reports. Ideally, it is vital to avoid some questions like ‘who made a mistake?’ as this frustrates those involved. The investigative process should dispel anxieties concerning the assigning of blame that frequently intimidates and frustrates those involved.
Your analysis should redirect participants away from the convenient human error cliché towards more probing questions concerning the obstacles that prevented an individual or group from successfully completing a task. A thorough RCA should establish why an individual failed to perform his or her job in accordance with defined procedures, for instance, not adhering to the health and safety measures in the plant. As an analyst, you need to understand that initiating a complete corrective action is not a momentary human lapse, an isolated incident or an inconsequential matter. Thus, it is significant to make inquiries into what caused the individual to make a mistake.
A RCA is a prerequisite to any viable corrective plan, thus it is important to ascertain the actual cause of a problem before developing a plan to address it. The RCA process helps an analyst to specifically connect elements of the corrective action plan to the identified causes. For instance, if the analysis comes up with the conclusion that one of the factors that contributed to the problem was the lack of a controlled distribution list for engineering change notices, then one will know that a part of the corrective action plan must address documentation and practices relative to this process.
For processes that do not match with the identified cause and a corresponding action to correct it, there are high chances of overlooking the less contributing factors. In this case, the input to the corrective action process becomes the output of the RCA process, while the output of the corrective action process ought to be the fulfillment of the defined requirement, which is the elimination of the cause that was identified as the input.
Clearance problems
Analyzing the distribution problem and the quality of the products is vital and focuses on effective management in an organization. Effective supply chains should be developed that have clear programs on how goods are going to be transported and methods of clearing the shipment. This will also entail good check-up methods so that trucks do not have to wait for so long before being cleared. The result of this will be an improvement in the movement of people as well as vehicles in the company. Therefore, the problem of vehicles blocking the streets in front of the plant awaiting clearance to enter the plant will be resolved.
Effective supply chain management is a significant factor that lowers the cost of inventory, transportation, packaging and warehousing. The distribution entails both the physical movement of products and the establishment of relationships that guide the movement of products from producer to user. If there is ineffective distribution, this indicates that the individuals who are concerned are not working effectively, thus the analyst should discus with them to develop the cause of the problem and come up with the best way to end the mishap. This implies that the departments that deal with transportation, material handling, storage, inventory as well as delivery ought to be thoroughly scrutinized so as to iron out the challenging problems (Moore, 2008, p. 392).
Poor transportation and distribution
About 20% of the trucks arriving at the company do not have the advance notice or even order on file; they are only accompanied by purchase orders. As an analyst of Product Quality and Distribution Problems at the Denver facility, you need first to understand the root cause of the shipment and distribution problems in the plant and the address the existing nonconformance, particularly within the context of the corrective action process. This will help to investigate the source of potential problems to avoid their occurrences; thus you deal with distribution problem causes and their effects. For instance, it has been noted that at Denver, the transportation operation group – the dispatching and scheduling team – in many times do not know when the trucks will arrive at the front gate.
The analyst ought to involve the people responsible in the department and positively influence their working system. Normally, the reoccurrence of nonconformance is a result of failure to research their fundamental causes. Therefore, as an analyst with the task of performing corrective action, you note that people frequently identify the root cause of a problem by simply restarting it, a task that is normally done by offering corrective action request (CAR). Once you take your time to generate a request for corrective action, you need to understand that the problem is either a critical issue that requires further investigation or may be an isolated anomaly and is therefore probably indicative of a systemic problem (Robitaille, 2004, p. 3).
For an executive or the analyst to come up with the solution to the issues that are affecting distribution, he should establish the right internal team that comprises representation from the affected areas – human resources, financial, production, as well as distribution. It is also vital to establish clear objectives by identifying the needs so that he may know what he is trying to accomplish. Having a clear objective, like redesigning your critical business systems or implementing technology to double production, will serve as a benchmark for evaluating the success or failure of implementation. This will help the organization to overcome the problems of clearance, laboratory and shipment (Radhakrishnan and Balasubramanian, 2008, p. 42).
References
Moore, C. W. (2008). Managing small business: an entrepreneurial emphasis. London, Cengage Learning EMEA. Web.
Radhakrishnan, R. and Balasubramanian, S. (2008). Business Process Reengineering: Text and Cases. New Delhi, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. Web.
Robitaille, D. (2004). Root Cause Analysis: Basic Tools and Techniques. CA, Paton Professional. Web.