The 5WHY section helps you find the root cause of a problem in a Kaizen by repeatedly asking "Why?".
What the 5 Whys technique is
The 5 Whys technique is a problem-solving method used in lean manufacturing and other disciplines. You find the root cause of a problem by repeatedly asking "Why?".
The aim is to drill down through the layers of symptoms to uncover the underlying issue.
Example: a batch of products has been produced with defects. The table below applies the 5 Whys to find the root cause.
Why | Question | Answer |
First Why | Why are the products defective? | Because the material used was of poor quality. |
Second Why | Why was the material of poor quality? | Because the supplier sent a batch of substandard material. |
Third Why | Why did the supplier send substandard material? | Because the purchasing team did not check the quality of the material before accepting it. |
Fourth Why | Why did the purchasing team not check the quality? | Because there is no standard procedure for quality checks of incoming materials. |
Fifth Why | Why is there no standard procedure for quality checks? | Because the company has not established a quality assurance process for purchased materials. |
The 5WHY section in a Kaizen lets you target a problem and record its whys, together with an Action/Counter Measure.
Note: each 5 Why item targets one problem. If you have more than one problem to analyze, add multiple 5 Why items.
Use the 5WHY section
1. Add the 5 Why section from the available list to the required phase. See Add or remove sections from Kaizen phases.
Note: a newly added section appears below the last section in the phase.
2. Expand the section by clicking anywhere in the section field, or on the arrow on the right side. You can also use the arrow to collapse the section.
3. Click Add New to add a 5 Why item. When the section is added for the first time, it has no 5 Why items.
The Add New button is replaced by the fields for entering the 5 Why information.
4. Enter the information in three parts:
Part | Field | Type of field |
1. Identify the problem | Root Cause Category Potential Cause/Phenomenon | Drop-down menu Text field |
2. Ask the why questions (at least one why is required) | Why fields | Text field |
3. Suggest an action or countermeasure | Action/Counter Measure | Text field |
Tip: add as many Why fields as you need to reach the root cause. There is no limit; the number 5 is a guideline, not a restriction.
5. Click Save when you finish.
6. To add more 5 Why items, repeat steps 3 to 5.
7. Collapse the section.
Related features
RCA Agent: from the Kaizen project toolbar, RCA Agent → Run RCA Analysis can generate a 5 Whys analysis (along with 4M1D and a fishbone) from the Kaizen's fields, linked records and uploaded files.