5. 5
Brainstorming- A Downpour of Ideas
Brainstorming is a well-known
technique for generating a large
number of ideas in a short time
period.
To encourage ideas, no idea should be critiqued or commented
when offered. Each idea should be listed and numbered, exactly as
offered on a flip chart.
Expect to generate at least 50 to 60 ideas in a 30 minutes
brainstorming session.
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6. 6
Brainstorming rules:
1. Do not comment on, judge or critique ideas as offered.
2. Encourage creative and offbeat ideas.
3. A large number of ideas is the goal.
4. Evaluate ideas later.
When the brainstorming session is over,
the ideas should be reviewed, similar
ideas combined, and ideas that do not
seem to fit eliminated.
Reliability Engineering
Brainstorming is a group problem-solving method. It taps people
creative ability to identify and solve problems, and brings out a lot
of ideas in a very short time. Because it is a group process, it help
builds people as human beings. For example, brainstorming
encourages individual members to contribute to the group and to
develop trust for the other members.
7. Reliability Engineering 7
What is needed for brainstorming?
1. A group willing to work together
You may feel it is impossible that the group you work with will never
be a team. However, brainstorming can be a key to build a team!
Furthermore, it is a great tool for the group which is already working
together.
Who should be included in the group?
Everyone who is concerned for the problem for two reasons: the ideas
for everyone who concerned with the problem will be available for the
brainstorm. Second, those people can take an active part in solving
the problem. In that way they can be got to support the solution.
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2. A leader
The main roles of the leader are:
• Provide some guidance so that brainstorm will produce ideas
• Control over the group to keep them on track.
• Encourage people’s ideas and participation.
• Put the personal goals aside for the benefit of the group.
3. A meeting place
A place where there is no interruption or distraction. In some
plants, groups use a foreman office, an area on the production
floor, or even a conference room.
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4. Equipment
Flipcharts, markers, and white boards.
How does a brainstorm work?
• Choose a subject for the brainstorm.
• Make sure that everyone understand what the problem or the
topic is.
• Each person is to take a turn an express one idea. If someone can’t
think of anything, he or she says “pass”. If someone thinks of an
idea when it is not his turn, he may wright it down on a paper and
use it at his next turn.
• Write down each idea exactly as expressed.
• Make sure to write all ideas and don’t reject any.
• Encourage wild ideas, they may trigger someone’s else thinking.
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• Hold criticism until after the session.
• The main goal is quantity and creativity.
• A little laughter is fun and healthy but don’t overdo. It is O.K to
laugh with someone but not at them.
• Allow few hours or days for further thoughts (if needed). The first
brainstorm on a subject will stimulate people to start thinking, but
an incubation period allow mind to release more creative ideas and
thoughts.
11. Reliability Engineering 11
Example: Brainstorming Session
This group include five people: Samy, the leader; Farouk; Mohammed; Gamal, the recorder,
and Ahmed. Since they have been meeting for only a short time and the members have not
had much experience with brainstorming, the leader has to do most of the work of keeping
them on track. As the group gains experience, other members should begin to share the
work of the leadership.
Samy: I think it’s time to brainstorm for causes of defective capacitors. Gamal, since you are
good at flip chart, could you help us there?
Gamal: Yes of course.
Samy: Let us put a 15 minutes time limit on the session. And don’t forget the rules: We will
go around from person to another, one idea at time. Don’t worry if your idea sound strange.
After all, even if your idea is a wild one, it may stimulate somebody else. No evaluations. We
will have plenty of time afterward to look at the ideas. Ok are you ready? (Everybody
agrees.)
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Farouk, your turn.
Farouk: Vendor (Gamal writes down, VENDOR).
Mohammed: I have seen dents in some of them. And I think that a dent on the outside
means something breaks or gets squeezed or some how messed up inside…..
Samy: Mohammed, you are saying “dents”. Is that right?
Mohammed: No, I mean dents show us there is a problem inside.
Samy: Can we abbreviate it to read: “Dents show inside problem”?
(Mohammed nods “O.K”
Samy: Gamal, it’s your turn.
13. Reliability Engineering 13
Gamal: I think I will pass this time.
Ahmed: The leads to the capacitor sometimes don’t get soldered well. So that makes it look
like a defective capacitor.
Gamal: How do I write that? “Soldering of leads”?
Ahmed: Yup that’s O.K.
Samy: My turn. I will build on Farouk’s idea of “vendor”. May be its only on of them that is
really the problem and not all of them. Gamal write “One Vendor”
Farouk: Seems to me the shape of AX12’s is the problem. They remind me of the toilet seats
cover. (Much Laughter).
Samy: Let’s get back to the subject. Farouk, may have something there. So Samy write
“Shape of AX12’s”.
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Encouraging ideas: priming the pump again
If the brainstorming session seems to slow down, the leader may suggest
piggybacking. Piggybacking is building on others’ ideas. For example, if
one of the team members has suggested the vendor as a cause of the
problem, another one might say “one vendor” not all of them could be the
reason of the problem.
Another technique is to suggest opposites. For example, too much & too
little.
Prodding Techniques
Sooner or later the downpours of ideas in the brainstorm dries up.
What do you do to get it going again? Or what do you do with the
silent member who doesn't participate?
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Dealing with the silent member
When a member of the group doesn't speak up, the best way to deal
with this is to be patient.
Sometimes a person will be quite for a meeting after meeting then he
will open up. It will be then very exciting, so give this persons a time.
May be he/she will be quite, but will serve the group with some other
ways.
A simple effective method to bring the silent member, is to remind the
whole group that when each person’s turn comes in the brainstorm, he
or she just says “Pass” if not ready with an idea. That gets people of the
hock but it also breaks the sound barrier. They hear their own voices
and participate by saying “Pass.”
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The direct question is another method, but you must use it with care.
Something like” Mohammed, you know the process well, do you have a
suggestion or input here?”
The second session
After the initial brainstorm and sometime for further thinking, it’s a
good idea to have another session to capture more ideas. These ideas
come into mind as the group member think about the problem and
consider what was said in the first session.
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Two ways to handle the second session:
1. Gather all group together and give them a time limit of 10-12 minutes for
additional ideas. The same rules applied as in the first session.
2. Post the brainstorming sheets in the area of the workplace so that it will
allow people who work in the same area to contribute even if they are
not a regular members of the problem-solving group. In that way they
feel they are not left out.
Completing a brainstorm
How do you make sure that brainstorming has covered all possible causes of a
problem?
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Sometimes the solution lies in a search lab, where only a high trained expert has a chance of
digging it out. Often, so, the solutions are right on your doorstep.
Even if you don’t solve the problem right away, you can make sure that you have covered all
the general areas of possible causes. Make a list of the general areas, and make sure that
your group or team has examined every one of them.
Such a list would include a number of subjects. There are some major factors that go into an
operation: machine, method, material, environment, and people.
Machine include: the type of the machine, the maintenance, and the setting.
Materials are the elements that come to the process, whether they are raw material, sub-
assemblies, components, or partially processed materials.
Method concerns the process itself.
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Environment is important too, humidity, dust, and other climate problems that may affect
the process.
Finally, the Person doing the job. Factors connected with the person could be training,
eyesight, and level of skills.
Other general areas may also apply to the problem. Such as money, management, and other
errors.
20. Reliability Engineering 20
Difficulties with brainstorming and what do you do with them
You are stepping on my turf!
It will be hard for one of the group members to be suspected
that he is the reasons of this problem. For example, the design
engineer is attending the session, and the cause of the problem
came out to be in the design process.
Train your team, and develop them. It is necessary to explain
that we are not here to blame anyone. And we are sometimes
blind with our problems so we need others to look on it. We
tend to see only a part of the problem that’s why the causes may
be hidden. It is a matter of prospective.
21. Reliability Engineering 21
Criticism
Build a positive environment in the group. Criticize problems not people.
Make sure that ideas not persons are evaluated. Make sure that mistakes
are not publicized and never appear in anyone personal life.
The difficult member
Some members are difficult to deal with in the group. They talk too much,
they get off track, they criticize people not ideas or they shoot down ideas.
How do you deal with him?
Be firm but friendly. Talk to him privately and explain how his way is
distracting the group work. Give the difficult member a special job to do for
the group. Don’t fight him. When he gets the group off track, re back the
conversation to the normal topic gently.
Usually difficult members became the strongest support of the group, or
they leave.
22. Reliability Engineering 22
Fault-Tree Analysis
Is a method to increase the reliability of the product and find the
potential causes of a problem to prevent the product failure.
Building a fault tree analysis FTA
1) Identify a top failure
2) Brainstorm basic contributors to failure
3) Link contributors to the top failure
Determine which combination of contributors is needed to cause the
top failure. (Ask: How many of the inputs are needed to cause the top
failure? )
Link the contributors to the top failure.
Each contributor (cause) can be given a weight depend on the
occurrence so we would know which failure is likelihood to occur.
23. Reliability Engineering 23
Fault-Tree Analysis
Smoke detector does not
detect smoke
Alarm not
sounded
Smoke not
detected
Alarm not
sounded
No power
at alarm
Defective
alarm
Broken
wire
Defective
solder
joint
Defective
ionization
chamber
No power
at
ionization
chamber
No
power
at
control
box
Defective
control
box
Ionization
chamber cracked
Defective
solder joint
Broken wire
Ionization
chamber blocked
Vent
blocked
Dust blocked
24. Root Cause Analysis Approach
Prepared by: Eng. Mohammed Hamed
24Reliability Engineering
25. 25
5 whys
It was originated in Japan. Japanese people believe that by asking 5
whys you can figure out the root cause of the problem and find the
solution. However, it doesn’t have to be 5 it can be 7 or 8.
Toyota does not have a six sigma program. Six sigma is based on
complex statistical quality analysis tools. It is a surprise for people to
realize how Toyota has achieved this level of quality without the use
of six sigma for quality.
Most of problems don’t call for complex statistical analysis, but
instead require detailed problem solving. This requires a level of
detailed thinking and analysis that is all too absent from most
companies in day-to-day activities.
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26. 26
Level of Problem Countermeasure
There is an oil on the shop floor Clean up the oil
Because the machine is leaking Fix the machine
Because the gasket has
deteriorated
Replace the gasket
Because we bought gaskets made
of inferior material
Change gasket specifications
Because we got a good deal/price
on those gaskets
Change purchasing policy
Because the purchasing gets
evaluated on short-term cost
saving
Change the evaluation policy
for purchasing agent
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
5 whys is a method to pursue the deeper, systematic causes of a
problem to find correspondingly deeper countermeasures
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27. 27
Toyota Practical Problem-Solving Process
Initial problem perception
(large, complicated problem)
POC
Countermeasure
Evaluate
Standardize
Clarify the problem
The real problem
Locate area point of cause
Direct cause
Cause
Cause
Cause
Cause
Grasp the
situation
Cause
investigation
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
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28. 28
Q1: Why did the customer not buy the product?
A: The salesperson did not persuade him to buy.
Q2: Why did the salesperson not persuade the customer to buy?
A: The salesperson was not good enough.
Q3: Why was the salesperson not good enough?
A: The sales person has not been trained in sales.
Q4: Why has the salesperson not been trained in sales?
A: It was not considered necessary.
Q5: Why was training not considered necessary?
A: Sales are only a small part of the job.
Example
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29. 29
Problem
Using a fishbone diagram while brainstorming possible causes helps
you to focus on the various possibilities. Some useful categories:
Fishbone Diagram
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The main problem is entered in the nose. The bones originally had
only “4Ms”. Once all problems were reduced to one of the four:
man, machine, material, or method. Eventually, measurement was
added to highlight how critical it is to have an understanding of
the reliability and accuracy of the measuring system. Environment
was added to make people consider the location of an equipment
and the impact of its surroundings on the operation. Design and
instruction can also be a good reason to add.
Reliability Engineering
37. Equip
code
Critical Equip
description
Total Downtime
hrs (average)
Downtime
frequency
MTTR
(hrs)
Percentage
1 Centrifugal Fan 16 5 3.2 44.80%
2 Pump station 2
Motor
6
2 3
16.80%
3 Granulator
Drum
4
2 2
11%
4 Feed Belt
Conveyor
3
2 1.5
8.40%
5 Recycle Belt
Conveyor
2.5
1 2.5
7.00%
6 Bag Filter 2.5 1 2.5 7%
7 Burner 1 1 1 2%
8 Belt Conveyor 0.5 1 0.5 1.40%
9 Belt Conveyor 0.2 1 0.2 1.40%
10 Bucket Elevator ---- ---- ---- ----
Priority Identification (Top Failures)
Equipments downtime monthly report:
37Reliability Engineering
38. Pareto Analysis A problem solving tool that breaks data down into manageable
groups and identifies the greatest opportunity for return on investment. The analysis is
based on the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80:20 Rule. Simply stated, the principle
says that 20% of a population will cause 80% of the problems associated with the
population
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
35.00%
40.00%
45.00%
50.00%
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
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39. 39
Pareto diagram uses bar graphs to sort problems
according to severity, frequency, cost, nature, or source
and displays them in order of size in order of size to
show which problem is the most important. Its
probably the most often used statistical tool in Toyota.
Reliability Engineering
49. Repair the coating for body of the
cyclone
Repair the pneumatic system
for closing and opening the
gates
Get new discharge valve Real Photo
49Reliability Engineering
56. Use the proper tools for mounting and
train the maintenance crew
Preventive Action
56Reliability Engineering
57. Plan each step and understand the outcome expected at each
point.
Do the task as planned.
Check that is the outcome is as expected “Audit”.
Act –find out what is going wrong . Then repeat the cycle.
Plan what you are going to do to put it right.
Do make the corrections. Then continue the rest of the cycle,
repeat the loop as necessary.
Plan-Do-Check-Act. PDCA Cycle.
Continuous Improvement
Problems Solving Process:
1. Define the problem. (Plan)
2. Breakdown the problem into manageable pieces. (Plan)
3. Identify the root causes. (Plan)
4. Set the targets. (Plan)
5. Provide countermeasures & select proper solution. (Plan)
6. Implement the solution. (Do)
7. Check the outcomes and the impact. (Check)
8. Define what went wrong, repeat the cycle, adjust, and standardize. (Act)
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59. 59
Eng. Mohammed Hamed Ahmed Soliman
The American University in Cairo
Email: mhamed206@yahoo.com
m.h.ahmed@ess.aucegypt.edu
Tel: +201001309903
References:
Liker, J. K. (2003). Toyota way. New York: MacGraw-hill.
Steven, S. (2012). Strategic lean mapping. New York: MacGraw-hill.
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