Root Cause Analysis and Waste Elimination in Six Sigma

This course explores how to use various tools for conducting root cause analysis and reducing waste, such as fishbone diagrams, relational matrices, the 5 Whys, fault tree analysis, the 5Ss, standard work, and kanban-pull. This course is aligned to the ASQ Body of Knowledge and is designed to assist Green Belt candidates toward achieving their certification and becoming productive members of their Six Sigma project teams.

Getting to the source of why something has gone wrong in a system or process is critical to identifying the changes necessary for resolving the problem. During the Improve phase of a Six Sigma project, team members use a variety of nonstatistical methods and Lean tools to analyze systems and processes, looking for ways to reduce costs and eliminate waste. These tools help identify root causes and possible solutions.

• Topic T4 Objective O5
• Recognize the general process for carrying out a root cause analysis
• Topic T9 Objective O10
• Recognize how fishbone diagrams are used in root cause analysis
• Topic T14 Objective O15
• Use a relational matrix to prioritize the root causes of a given problem
• Topic T19 Objective O20
• Identify errors made by a team conducting a 5 Whys analysis, in a given scenario
• Topic T24 Objective O25
• Interpret a given fault tree analysis diagram
• Topic T152 Objective O30
• Use tools to conduct root cause analyses
• Topic T37 Objective O38
• Classify activities as value-add or nonvalue-add
• Topic T40 Objective O41
• Recommend strategies for eliminating waste in a work setting, given a scenario
• Topic T163 Objective O48
• Recognize how to add value and reduce waste in a process
• Topic T55 Objective O56
• Identify the terms that belong to the 5S tool
• Topic T60 Objective O61
• Match 5S principles to examples
• Topic T65 Objective O66
• Match types of poka-yoke to corresponding examples
• Topic T70 Objective O71
• Match elements of the standard work process to their corresponding purposes
• Topic T75 Objective O76
• Recognize characteristics of a kanban-pull system
• Topic T80 Objective O81
• Sequence examples of the four basic steps in kanban-pull, given a scenario
• Topic T172 Objective O86
• Recognize how to reduce waste in a process