5 Whys
Trace a stoppage or a defect back to its root cause in a short session at the machine, then check that the chain holds and that the action taken keeps the problem from coming back.
This course is for team leaders, technicians and continuous improvement facilitators who see the same breakdowns and the same defects come back week after week despite the quick fixes. It teaches you to run a "5 Whys" analysis in ten to twenty minutes in front of the machine: describe the problem with facts, chain the whys without accepting the first plausible answer, recognise a genuine root cause, read the chain backwards to check it, then choose an action that changes the system rather than telling someone off. By the end, you will be able to run the exercise on a stoppage on your line, spot the classic traps (stopping at the symptom, concluding "human error", looking for someone to blame) and know when the problem goes beyond the tool and calls for a heavier method.
What you will be able to do
- Describe a shop-floor problem in one factual, measurable sentence, the starting point of a 5 Whys analysis.
- Chain the whys from facts observed on the shop floor, not from assumptions, down to a cause the team can act on.
- Recognise an acceptable root cause and reject false ends of analysis: "human error", "lack of attention", part replaced.
- Check a causal chain by reading it backwards (the "therefore" test) before committing to an action.
- Choose a corrective action that changes the standard or the system, set the success criterion and decide when to move on to Ishikawa or 8D.
The path
- A quick fix is not a resolution 4 min
- Stating the problem with facts before the first why 4 min
- Stringing the whys together at the machine 5 min
- Recognising a true root cause and checking the chain 5 min
- Act on the cause, measure the problem's return 4 min
Prerequisites
No prior Lean tool required. You just need to know a production line or workstation and have a recurring problem in mind: stoppage, defect, delay, rework.
The closing quiz
The topic ends with a 7-question quiz, and a certificate is issued on success.