Course Hours: 8a-4p

About the course:

Using a series of progressive learning lectures, hands-on activities complemented by specially designed case study workbooks that include a large but fictitious problem, students will learn a  start-to-finish problem solving method that yields results in a predictable and fast timeframe.

The Eight Discipline approach is team based problem solving system. This structured methodology is based on the following disciplines:

1. Establish the team
2. Describe the problem
3. Develop an interim containment action
4. Define/verify the root cause
5. Select and verify the permanent corrective action
6. Implement/validate the permanent corrective action
7. Prevent recurrence
8. Recognize the team

With lecture reinforced by activities for each discipline, we help students to not only learn but how-to-use the discipline and stay focused on the big picture. 

As we go from describing the problem, creating a problem statement, and developing an interim containment action that prevents your problems from reaching your customers,  we review the popularly used problem solving and analysis tools used to help determine root cause:

• Fishbone - Cause and Effect - Ishikawa diagrams
• Pareto Analysis
• Histogram and Tally Sheets
• Cause and Effect diagrams
• Effect and Cause diagrams
• Repeated Why
• Sometimes called the 5-Why
• Systematic Thinking
• Comparative Analysis
• Is- Is Not analysis
• Timeline Analysis

So, not only can you bring a structured problem solving method into your company, you can bring everyone up to speed on how to use some of the most common tools in quality for various problem solving tasks.  Just another reason why this class is so valuable.

Using the tools above helps students to find the true root cause.  In addition, practicing to use the various different tools helps students to find the tools that are easiest for them or that work best under certain conditions.   We'll teach how to find the single root cause. 

Once a root cause has been determined, we'll begin teaching how to create a list of possible permanent corrective actions, how to choose the action to be deployed and then to validate that permanent solution.

We'll talk about preventing recurrence by a structured approach to updating necessary documentation, training, and mistake proofing. Discussion and activity at this point is based on the 5S's and Poka Yoke tools used to help prevent recurrence.  We'll even talk about why recurrence occurs and how you can prevent that from happening at your organization.

Finally, recognizing the team is important not only for now but for the future. 

We'll close the corrective action and document the lessons learned for possible future usage. 

This course includes many of the popular tools used and discussed in some of our Six Sigma training courses.  You'll receive expert instruction by industry veterans.  And as always, you're back by the quality that QAI customers have come to expect from our ISO9001 registered company.

Course Objectives:

• How to identify a problem
• How to write a problem statement
• Understand the financial impact of effective and ineffective problem solving
• How to create an effective team
• Learn about team and group dynamics
• How to develop interim containment solutions
• What is an escape point and how to find it
• How to use popular quality tools to find root cause
• How to find the single root cause
• How to analyze possible permanent corrective actions for effectiveness
• How to apply a permanent corrective action
• How to prevent recurrence
• How to make this eight discipline problem solving method work as a structured, disciplined system in your business

This course includes a video case study that was specially designed to help students work through a complete problem solving activity in just one day.  Watch the sample case study video below to see some of the latest video tools implemented by QAI to make learning not only effective but fun.