It is not unusual for the management group of an organization to find that it is dealing with a major operations quality problem, and to decide to bring in an outside expert to assist in finding a solution. Sometimes, they will have already made several attempts at getting a handle on the issue, other times the results of the problem are just too critical to risk recurrence while seeking to solve the problem internally. DSI often is called upon to provide this type and level of problem-solving consulting service.

REASON root cause analysis methodology is ideally suited for examining a complex problem for all of the internally generated causes that come into play. REASON’s disciplined inquiry process, with criteria for accuracy and completeness, produces analyses that pinpoint each internal systemic source of the problem. Our expert analysts team up with your personnel to uncover root causes, to compare solution options and to develop cost-effective, practical action plans.

A unique aspect of DSI – REASON consulting services is the ability of our expert analysts to discover pervasive hidden causal influences that impact operations on a daily basis. Sometimes these hidden root causes are associated with major processes and primary issues. However, often these pervasive causes are the little, seemingly small issues that may be overlooked or considered insignificant during your normal problem solving activities. Capability to uncover pervasive causal influences comes from the REASON inquiry process itself. Because REASON validates the completeness of the root cause analysis process at each step, the resulting causal model is an exact record of the sequential causal systems, big and small, that have produced the problem.

Seemingly little issues that quietly and constantly interact with other systems throughout the operation to contribute to create delays, scrap, rework, safety and maintenance issues and overall quality problems in your on-going operations can be avenues to dramatic improvements. By definition, every time one of those pervasive systemic issues is uncovered, the impact upon quality can be broad. The good news is that because such issues are usually seated in how things are being done in your operation, rather than being equipment, personnel or materials issues, the costs associated with the solutions are usually modest. Thus you get a big bang for a small buck.

This simple two pronged philosophy for operations improvement translates into directed resolve of immediate issues, as-well-as proactive problem solving that nips developing systemic problems before they can grow and interact to produce crises.

Decision Systems has the expertise, experience, personnel and tools to provide early response services in crisis, and sound consulting support to aid in developing and sustaining your operations improvement activities and processes.