1) A maintenance manager held biweekly workshops to address small operational issues using a problem-solution approach with little structure. 2) The Apollo Root Cause Analysis process was later implemented to provide more structure to the sessions. 3) An example problem of couplings failing every 1-2 months on oil tankers costing £5,000 to replace was raised, but through the RCA process it was found the failures could be addressed by replacing o-rings for £10 with no downtime, solving the perceived problem.

1. When is a
problem not a
problem?
Why the problem definition is
critical to an effective Root
Cause Analysis

2. Spending time on the problem
definition means the
RealityChart is concise and
the time to develop it is less
of a drain
Consider this example
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 2

3. A forward thinking maintenance
manager dedicated two hours, every
two weeks, to run RCA workshops.
The goal?
To understand and resolve the
small, niggling, day to day issues.
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 3

4. It was a “show and tell” affair, where
the technicians would bring failed
items, and the group would try to
implement solutions. They set about
it with little structure and a
“problem-solution” mentality.
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 4

5. Eventually the Apollo Root
Cause Analysis Process
was implemented to give
the sessions some
structure
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 5

6. AbigProblem was
identified
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 6

7. One of the technicians complained about
the dry break couplings used on the tanker
offloading systems
“They want changing, they‟re
dreadful, and they cost around
£5,000. They fail every month or two
and there are four in use on the
plant”.
Ignoring the solution the technician
gave, it was a great definition and a
significant problem
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 7

8. Following the Apollo RCA Process we
started with the problem definition of
“offloading couplings are
dreadful”
We added the where and the when
then moved onto the significance.
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 8

9. “Well……..actually…… I‟ve started
repairing them, rather than
throwing them away”
What does that involve?
“I change the „O‟ rings”
“How much do they cost?” “£10”
– low significance, there then!
A failure every 1-2 weeks, how much
downtime does the failure cost?
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 9

10. “Well, when it starts getting tight to
use, I‟ve asked the operator to tell
me and I plan some time with him”
excellent, no real downtime then
either!
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 10

11. Presumably the time to repair has
some effect on the plant?
“Well….. No, not really,
it‟s a fairly quick job”
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 11

12. So we needed to find
solutions to „dreadful
offloading couplings‟ trying
to save the business £10
per month with no down
time and no significant
impact on production?
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 12

13. “Yeah, well…. but
they‟re still dreadful!”
said the technician.
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 13

14. The rest of the team pointed
out that he‟d already
investigated it, found robust
solutions and implemented
those solutions!
All that needed doing was
to communicate the
success.
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 14

15. A quick learning slide and the
new „best practice‟ shared
across the site.
“Problem” solved.
You don‟t get a more concise
RealityChart than that!
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 15

16. Learn more about the Apollo
Root Cause Analysis Process
for solving your business
problems at
www.apollorootcause.com
© 2012 ARMS Reliability 16