Root Cause Analysis: Improving Performance for Bottom Line Results [Hardcover]

Robert J. Latino (Author), Kenneth C. Latino (Author), Mark A. Latino (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0849307732 | ISBN-13: 978-0849307737 | Publication Date: June 24, 1999

In virtually all industries today, a gap exists between the goals companies set-in terms of profit margin, production goals, and earnings-and their actual situations. Whatever the cause, that gap comprises various undesirable outcomes, failures, and incidents that siphon considerable sums from the corporate coffers. To close the gap, corporations must re-invent the way they do work, they must understand why errors occur and how to prevent them, and they must eliminate chronic failures.
In Root Cause Analysis: Improving Performance for Bottom Line Results, the authors show how to identify, resolve, and eliminate the chronic issues that hinder the attainment of organizational goals. Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a structured process that uncovers the physical, human, and latent causes of any undesirable event in the workplace. Following the PROACT steps outlined in this book, companies can learn how to:
Preserve event data
Order the Analysis team
Analyze the data using logic trees
Communicate findings and recommendations, and
Track for bottom-line results
The authors carefully discuss the roles of management and an RCA team, prioritizing the events to analyze, and automating the RCA process with their award winning software. They also present case studies that illustrate RCA's potential. Armed with the knowledge in Root Cause Analysis, organizations can understand why errors occur, essentially eliminate chronic errors from occurring, and witness a direct, positive impact on their bottom line.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...Packed with a wide variety of subjects and detailed information for engineering problem-solving...comprehensible and comprehensive...illuminating." -- Duy H. Hua, Kansas State University

About the Author

Latino; Kenneth Meridium, Inc., Roanoke, Virginia, USA,Latino; Robert J. Reliability Center, Inc., Hopewell, Virginia, USA, --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: CRC Press (June 24, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849307732
• ISBN-13: 978-0849307737
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,493,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very readable book detailing an excellent system, October 25, 2000

By 

Nigel Dove (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Root Cause Analysis: Improving Performance for Bottom Line Results (Hardcover)

I co-ordinate a root cause troubleshooting clinic at a major engine manufacturer. We have had moderate success with our investigations and have developed several powerful methodologies. This book has taken our procedures one large step further with a coherent, effective method to analyse and document a problem to root cause. The combination of system diagram, logic tree and verification log described in the book is exactly the kind of methodology we needed and is proving very useful. The book is well written and is filled with useful guidelines for such required activities as information gathering and selection of the most productive analyses to perform. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in root cause analysis.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Plant Engineering Magazine Senior Editor, March 1, 2000

By 

Jeanine Katzel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Root Cause Analysis: Improving Performance for Bottom Line Results (Hardcover)

Closing the gap between the goals companies set and their actual situations is the overall focus of this book. Written by two experienced executives from the Reliability Center, Inc., the book helps readers identify, resolve, and eliminate the chronic plant floor issues, such as repeated equipment or system failures, that hinder the attainment of organizational goals.

Specialists in root cause analysis methodology, the authors discuss the roles of management and a root cause analysis team in prioritizing the problems to analyze, automationg the process, and helping to uncover the physical, human, and latent causes of undesirable workplace events. They point out that the gap between goals and reality that exists in virtually every industry leads to undesirable outcomes, failures, and incidents that siphon profits from the corporate coffers. To close the gap, they explain, companies must reinvent the way they work, understanding why errors occur and how to prevent them.

The book explains root cause analysis, which is a structured process designed to uncover the cause of any undesirable workplace event. The PROACT steps outlined in the book teach companies how to preserve event data, order the analysis team, analyze the data using logic trees, communicate findings and recommendations, and track for bottom-line results.

Case studies are used to illustrate the potential of root cause analysis, showing its effectiveness in particular in steelmaking, customer service, and manufacturing. Software for automating root cause analysis is also discussed. Informative, well-illustrated and well-organized text is worthwhile reading for any plant engineer seeking to understand why errors occur and to eliminate them, and have a direct positive impact on his company's bottom line.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference book for the Root Cause Analyst, July 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Root Cause Analysis: Improving Performance for Bottom Line Results (Hardcover)

I found the text to be easy reading and quite understandable. Having been a former student of this Root Cause Analysis (RCA) process years ago, the book provided a great refresher for me. I realized in reading the text that even had I not been privy to the RCA training provided by Reliability Center, Inc., it would have provided an excellent reference guide.

Having been a practitioner in the field of RCA , I was particularly impressed with the chapter on "Creating the Environment to Succeed" (Chapter 2). It clearly outlines the proactive steps for management to take to ensure the success of the effort, improving bottom-line performance. I have found this to be a necessity for any initiative in an organization.

RCA, as defined by RCI, is a tool that complements most continuous improvement processes such as TPM, RCM, and the like. The book brings the reader "out-of-the-box" and makes us realize that a failure or an event can just as easily be a customer complaint as an equipment failure. The real money to be saved in any organizations is the events that have been accepted as a cost of doing business rather than the once in a lifetime sporadic events.