Top 6 Reasons
RCFA Initiatives Fail
© Life Cycle Engineering

Organizations often expend precious
resources to train people on root
cause failure analysis (RCFA)
© Life Cycle Engineering

Only to realize very little gain after
a brief burst of interest and activity
© Life Cycle Engineering

How does this happen?
© Life Cycle Engineering

1. The company treats RCFA
as a tool, when it is more
of a process.
© Life Cycle Engineering

Most of the best-practice RCFA
processes consist of many steps, often
the same steps, albeit sometimes
grouped differently.
© Life Cycle Engineering

2. Companies try to apply
specific RCFA methods
to all their problems.
© Life Cycle Engineering

There are many methods –
use the one that’s right for the job!
© Life Cycle Engineering

3. Companies rely on inadequate
failure analysis, causing them
to fix the wrong problems.
© Life Cycle Engineering

If you are looking for a lubrication
failure root cause when the true
failure mode was axial overload,
you are unlikely to find an
effective solution.
© Life Cycle Engineering

4. Too many
corrective action
recommendations.
© Life Cycle Engineering

Too many, often vague, recommendations
are often the equivalent of not admitting
“I really don’t know why it failed.”
© Life Cycle Engineering

5. Poor execution.
© Life Cycle Engineering

It is frustrating to be
called to a site to
perform an RCFA for
a second failure,
when the corrective
actions from the
RCFA for the first
failure have not
been implemented.
© Life Cycle Engineering

6. Ironically, too many RCFAs.
© Life Cycle Engineering

You realize that you don’t have
nearly adequate resources to
implement all of those
corrective actions. Then
comes the collapse. Time for
another program of the month!
© Life Cycle Engineering

So how do you prevent these
things from happening?
© Life Cycle Engineering

Design and implement an effective RCFA
process that avoids these common pitfalls and
see your production, quality, yield, safety, and
cost performance improve. We can help!
© Life Cycle Engineering

Need to Know More
About Root Cause
Analysis?
Download Four Ways to Measure the
Effectiveness of Your Root Cause
Analysis Process. This free resource
explores measuring the effectiveness of
Root Cause Analysis as a business
process intended to produce business
results. Examples of the primary KPIs
will help you keep your finger firmly on
the pulse of your RCA process.
Click Here to Download Now
For more resources and to learn more about Life Cycle Engineering visit: www.LCE.com

About Life Cycle Engineering
Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) provides consulting, engineering, applied technology and
education solutions that deliver lasting results for private industry, the Department of Defense
and other government organizations. The quality, expertise and dedication of our employees
enable Life Cycle Engineering to serve as a trusted resource that helps people and
organizations to achieve their full potential. Founded in 1976, LCE is headquartered in
Charleston, South Carolina with offices across North America and experience around the globe.
Got a specific problem you’re trying to solve?
Chances are that we have helped someone solve a similar problem. Email info@LCE.com
and we’ll explain how we helped. Or visit our website www.LCE.com.
The Life Cycle Institute’s Root Cause Analysis course will help you learn a
process for establishing a culture of continuous improvement and creating
a proactive environment. Learn more.
Life Cycle Engineering's experts have written serveral articles on
Root Cause Analysis. Learn more.
Life Cycle Engineering can help by performing Root Cause Failure
Analysis. Learn more.
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