Conducting "True" Root Cause Analysis: Moving From Firefighting to Prevention

• Is your factory management experiencing difficulties in uncovering the true causes behind accidents and production inefficiencies?
• Do you understand the key causes behind excessive worker overtime?
• Do over 90% of your root cause analyses blame worker behavior and lack of training instead of locating systemic causes?
• Are your EHS and operations professionals trained to calculate near misses?
• What should a professional look for when walking the production floor trying to understand root causes behind common problems?

Background

At the heart of effective factory management is an ability for HR, EHS, and Production Managers to understand the root causes behind modern factory problems, including accidents, production inefficiencies, quality issues and near misses. With modern production schedules and increasing workloads, many professionals do not have the time to complete rigorous root cause analysis when problems arise. Even those who do often find that the vast majority of problems are blamed on lack of worker discipline, missing the true root cause behind the system's inefficiencies. With these issues in mind, BSR is putting on a half-day salon for brands and their suppliers to come together and discuss best practices in analyzing true root causes and creating a proactive approach to solving common problems.

The forum will focus first on different applications of root cause analysis. Our salon moderator, BSR Senior Consultant Lucy Lu, will share case studies in root cause analysis in EHS, HR and production. Case studies will include the most effective approaches to conducting this analysis and key areas to pay attention to. These case studies will lead to group discussions where salon participants will share their experiences in finding the true causes behind their industrial issues. Lucy will also share common sense solutions to root causes once they have been identified.

Discussion will then focus on creating a proactive approach to factory problems that emphasizes prevention rather than firefighting. What practices should you be implementing on the factory floor that will prevent problems and avoid costly and time-consuming fire fighting after the fact? What is the most effective way to create a management system that can track and resolve near misses? Lucy will lead group discussions among participants that focus on this crucial aspect of factory management that can save time and reduce risk and costs in the long term.

Please join us for an afternoon of discussion on a topic that affects every factory in South China. We look forward to seeing you!

Target Audience

Brand/Supplier HR managers Factory managers EHS Managers

Course Content

• Different Applications of Root Cause Analysis
• Best Practices in Uncovering True Root Causes Behind Factory Problems
• Creating a Proactive Approach to Problem-Solving

Trainer/Facilitator

Ms. Lucy Lu

Lucy Lu serves as a senior consultant to BSR. After obtaining an MBA and Ph.D in May 1995 from University of Otago, New Zealand, Lucy joined Coats Plc and worked there for nearly 10 years. Coats Plc is the world’s largest thread manufacturer with business operations in 65 countries. At Coats, she served as Technical and QA/QC Manager, Sales and Marketing Director, Global Key Accounts Manager, to General Manager, and Global Health and Safety Director. In 2005, she was invited by CNTAC (China National Textile and Apparel Council, previously Ministry of Textile Industry, P.R. China) to lead a project on CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).