About 5 Why Section
The "5 Whys" technique is a problem-solving method used in lean manufacturing and other disciplines to identify 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.
Let us understand this with a simple example where we take a problem and apply 5 Why to understand the root cause:
|
| Problem: A batch of products has been produced with defects. |
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 in place 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 5 Why section inside kaizen provides a way to target a problem and add the 5 Why’s to it along with an Action/Counter Measure.
Useful Facts!
One 5Why item can be added to target one problem. A user can add multiple 5Why items if there are more than one problem to analyze.
Let’s go ahead and learn how to use this analysis in Lean Suite!
How to use 5 Why Section
Check out the Video Guide for a step-by-step walkthrough and detailed insights.
(Runtime: 1:17) Watch Now ▶️
Step 1
Add the 5 Why section from the available list to the required phase.
Need Help?
Useful Facts!
When a new section is added it appears under the previous section; in this case 5W1H Section.
Step 2
Expand the section by clicking anywhere in the section field, or on the arrow on the right side.
The arrow can also be used to collapse the section.
Step 3
Since the section is added for the first time, there are no 5 Why items present.
Click on Add New button to add a new 5 Why item.
The Add new button will be replaced by three types of fields that will let you add the 5 Why information.
Step 4
There are three steps to enter information in a 5 Why Section and corresponding to them 3 Fields:
Step 4.1 | Step 4.2 | Step 4.3 |
|
|
|
Identifying the problem. | Asking the Why Questions
(At least one why is required by the 5 Why section) | Suggesting an Action/Countermeasure |
|
|
|
Corresponding Fields |
|
|
|
|
|
| Drop-down Menu |
| Text Field |
| Text Field |
| Text Field |
|
|
|
|
Enter the information in the fields mentioned in Steps 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 (Corresponding Fields)
Useful Facts!
Why Fields can be added as per requirement of the questions needed to get to the root cause.
There is no restriction to the number of Why fields that can be added. The number 5 acts as a guideline rather than a restriction.
Click on Save when you are finished. Repeat the Step 2 to Step 4 to add more 5 Why items.
Collapse the section after saving the 5 Why!
Congratulations! We have successfully learned about the 5 Why Section inside Kaizen!
We are one section away from completing the Do phase!
6 down, 11 more to go!
Let’s keep our pace and go to the next one!