Failure/Root Cause Analysis

This course provides a survey, comparison and overview of the various investigative techniques that may be used in the isolation of the root cause of product failure. Logical methods such as brainstorming, 5-why's, fishbone diagrams, Venn diagrams, and truth tables will be presented, as will physical investigative methods such as ultrasonic inspection, high speed photography, metallurgical examinations, laboratory replication, etc. Discussions and logical tests will be presented that define when the "root cause" of a failure has been isolated to the proper level of detail for successful execution of the remainder of the problem solving process.