Implementation of Lean for Elimination of Waste:

A Case Study in Nita’s Food Products Enterprise

in Bawi, Padre Garcia, Batangas

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of

College of Engineering and Architecture
University of Batangas – Lipa Campus

In Partial Fulfilment to the Requirement for

Research Implementation and Presentation
Of the Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering

Researchers:
De Ocampo, Princess Shaira L.
Vasquez, Catherine A.
Bautista, Joyce D.
Cuenca, Marvin
 CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

All manufacturing company aims to produce zero defect products. To

achieve this, it is necessary to have a continuous improvement of the company’s

products and processes. Through the application of lean, the company will be

able to achieve the zero defects, eliminate wastes and reduce costs and

variability of the products.

Hines and Taylor (2000) stated that lean is concerned with reducing waste

at all levels; it is also about changing corporate culture. Some organizations think

implementing lean is about reducing the human resource but Moore (2001) and

Convis (2001), state that lean should not lead to redundancies.

Every manufacturing company needs to have a high quality product, zero

defects and zero wastes. This paper is intended to focus in the elimination of

wastes using lean. It drives away the defects out of products and processes and

improves the products’ quality and reliability.

Nita’s Food Product Enterprise is a small scale company that

manufactures candies, bread and pastries. The company is consists of 20

workers in the production area. The researchers studied the processes and daily

output of the company. Nita’s Food Product Enterprise starts the production from

8am to 4pm and can produce 1,200 units daily.

The researchers identified different wastes during the manufacturing

process. The leading type of waste found is defects on the products, over

production, and the idle time. The possible causes of these wastes are because

there is no standard procedure for the processes, undisciplined workers and non-

utilized staff. Subsequently, human factor is cause of the wastes; application of

lean technique is used.

Statement of the Problem

The study entitled “Implementation of Lean for Elimination of Waste: A

Case Study in Nita’s Food Products Enterprise in Bawi, Padre Garcia, Batangas“

will tackle the different waste encountered by the respondents and apply different

lean methods in order to solve the problems in the manufacturing company.

Specifically, it required answers to the following questions:

1. What are the collective wastes encountered by the respondents?

2. How do the respondents measure the causes of waste encountered by

workers of Nita’s Food Products Enterprise?

 3. What extent does lean affect competitiveness in the manufacturing

organizations?

Hypothesis

If lean is applied in Nita’s Food Products Enterprise, then the wastes

in the company will be eliminated, costs and variability will be reduced.

Conceptual Framework
 Significance of the Study

The research entitled “Implementation of Lean for Elimination of Waste: A

Case Study in Nita’s Food Products Enterprise in Bawi, Padre Garcia, Batangas“

to investigate the effect of lean on the performance of manufacturing company.

To the management of Nita's Food Products Enterprise, useful in

identifying the possible ways on how to reduce waste and mistakes in the

workplace in order for them to achieve the optimum efficiency and effectiveness.

To the workers of Nita's Food Products, the findings of the study would

help them to be aware of the different wastes in the production and how it affects

them.

To University of Batangas Lipa Campus, moreover, to the College of

Industrial Engineering, the research study would provide a reference for further

class discussion thus; this could be utilized in their future studies.

To fellow IE students, the study would provide them further knowledge

about lean and poke-yoke, its importance and benefits to improve effectiveness

and efficiency.
Scope, Delimitation & Limitation of the study

This study entitled “Implementation of Lean for Elimination of Waste: A

Case Study in Nita’s Food Products Enterprise in Bawi, Padre Garcia, Batangas“

focused on the reduction of wastes, costs in order to achieve the desired

production rate of the company. The duration of the study in Nita’s Food

Products Enterprise is from February to December 2019 that accompanied by 15

to 20 workers.

The study covers the other kinds of wastes, but not discussed any further.

The study intended to focus on the wastes identified the manufacturing

company and the application of lean in order to improve the company’s

efficiency. Through this, Nita’s Food Products Enterprise will eliminate wastes,

improve profitability and reduce costs and product’s variability.

Assumptions of the Study

1. The respondents will give their full cooperation during the duration of the

study.

2. The researchers will retrieve 100% of the questionnaires for complete set

of data

3. The company and its employees will greatly benefit in the study

4. Reduce wastes and variability of the product.

5. Decrease the costs spend in manufacturing

Definition of Terms

1. Efficiency - Efficiency signifies a level of performance that describes

using the least amount of input to achieve the highest amount of output.

Efficiency is reducing the amount of wasted resources that are used to

produce a given number of goods (output).

2. Lean - is a systematic approach to reduce or eliminate activities that don't

add value to the process. It emphasizes removing wasteful steps in a

process and taking the only value added steps. Lean is used to eliminate

problems, remove waste and inefficiency, and improve working conditions

to provide a better response to customers' needs.

3. Profitability – It is the degree to which a business or activity yields profit

or financial gain. Profitability is a measurement of efficiency – and

ultimately its success or failure.

4. Poka-yoke - It’s a mistake-proofing device used in assembly to alert

operators on defects or failures. By building "mistake proofing" throughout

the production process, mistakes are prevented or in some cases caught

shortly after they happen, so a product won’t make it to the end of the

process with a defect.

5. Variability – refers to how spread out a set of data is. Variability gives you

a way to describe how much data sets vary and allows you to use

statistics to compare your data to other sets of data.

6. Wastes - is any activity within a process that isn’t required to manufacture

a product or provide a service that is up to specification. It is everything

that does not add value from the perspective of your customer.
 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the review of related literature and studies, which

were assumed to provide the researchers in-depth knowledge and background of

the subject under study.

Related Literature

Lean theory is a process of reform that showcases principles that help any

organization to cut down on wasteful expenditures, wasteful usage of time,

workers and other organizational resources during production. When lean

principles are incorporated in the processes of any firm (be it manufacturing or

service oriented firm), it disciplines the system into having zero tolerance for

unnecessary/wasteful/ non value adding decisions, activities, programmes that

could only result to high production costs and there by limit the profitability and

productivity of the firm (Petersen, 2009).

 Lean is very important concept in organizations because it involves broad

understanding, high commitment and deep analysis of problems. More and more

organizations are implementing Lean in long term basis to improve quality, and

also to reduce costs, fast delivery and efficient queue times. To succeed in Lean

implementation, a committed management is necessary to give support to the

organizations. Also, an external support might bring a new way of thinking and

transfer knowledge to organizations by recommending the areas that Lean

application is necessary. External support might be helpful in short term to

increase the knowledge of organizations toward Lean; however, the

organizations should not be dependent on them because it is a continuous

progress that last long (Petersson et al., 2010, p. 167- 169). Therefore,

organizations should be aware that Lean cannot be implemented overnight.

There is a need to work continuously to reduce waste and increase commitments

by looking at opportunities and limitations (Petersson et al., 2010, p. 17). An

example is Toyota that implemented Lean in 1950s and still continues to reduce

waste (Petersson et al., 2010, p. 170). This is the reason it is important to

understand further the CSF’s and challenges of Lean implementation, as well as

its tools and techniques and comparative study of hospitals for Lean practices.

After this are described benefits can be generated from Lean implementation.

Lean concept is closely related to productivity as good implementation of

the methodology translates to improvement in productivity. The mantra of lean

concept generally is that the same thing can be achieved using fewer people and

lesser resources. This implies that people and resources can be redeployed to

create even more value. Its applicability to small and medium scale enterprise

(SME) is investigated in this study. An example SME namely; Campus bread

factory is used as case study. Bread is a popular stable food in Nsukka in

particular and most parts of Nigeria in general. Freshly processed and baked

bread is enjoyed by all and sundry since it commands good aesthetic appeal and

tastes well. In addition, bread is one of the most ubiquitous foods to get your

hands on in time of breakfast. However, bread industry is witnessing

unprecedented spate of increase in competitive environment and demand for its

products owing mostly to the emergence of new local foods within and around

Nsukka. Even though the optimal resource and product mix for maximum profit in

bread baking business has been reported (Okolie et al., 2013), there is still no

corresponding increase of investors in the industry to cater for the upsurge in its

demand. Hence the increasing cost of its major raw materials coupled with the

need to improve the productivity of the business in Nsukka municipality

necessitates a complementary study to the work of (Okolie et al., 2013).

Lean manufacturing practice has been described as an integrated system

that is intended to maximize the performance of the production and delivery

processes in providing customer value while minimizing waste (Waston et al.,

2011). Performance dimensions are measured by conformance to quality

standards, costs, and variability in processing times and delivery reliability.

Previous authors posit that a good means of appreciating lean concept is to view

it as a collection of tips, tools, and techniques (i.e. best practices) that have been

proven effective for driving waste out of the manufacturing process (Micietova,

2011). Lean production facilities may not necessarily be equipped with bulky

machinery as in mass production facilities (Micietova, 2011). Instead, it utilizes

compact, movable, and easily set up machines.

The implementation of lean philosophy through layout modification for

reduction wastages in motor manufacturing industry have been demonstrated

through the use of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and Taguchi method of

parameter of design analysis (Vendan and Sakthidhasan, 2010). The work

prescribed better wages for workers, higher profit for owners and better quality

for customer as improvement strategies. Lean manufacturing methodologies

have also been applied to productivity improvement in a tyre manufacturing firm

through method and time studies, as well as VSM (Vieira, 2010). Several

problems leading to productivity inefficiency were identified, with particular

attention to the lack of flexibility of the productive line, excesses of stocks, lack of

available space in the factory, ineffective communication between sectors as well

as gaps in the planning and control activities. Solutions that permit bringing a

new perspective of productive thinking and a new attitude to the production lines

were suggested. A successful lean implementation is expected to deliver far

superior performance for customers, employees, shareholders and society at

large (Bhasin, 2012). Lean concept had been applied to improve the patient’s

care with existing resources in a healthcare system (Jones and Mitchell). The

concept of waste reduction applies equally well to service sector. Some lean

drivers which include delivering maximum value, eliminating waste through

analyzing root cause, measuring end- to- end response and process capability,

transforming culture, engaging staff, building change capability and agility was

adopted to improve the services in an international call centre.

The automotive industry has received a share of application of Lean

concept (Hemanand, 2011), with the objective of waste reduction. In the

methodology, problems in the process layout were identified through time study

and analyzed through simulation. The layout was modified and simulated to

enable comparison of results with the current layout. A new material handling

system was designed and developed to reduce the motion wastes and unwanted

transportation. The approach increased productivity by 11.95%. A typical lean

production system was designed for fishing net manufacturing using lean

principles and simulation optimization (Taho et al., 2015).

Boppan V. chaudhary (2012), implement the lean manufacturing in a

pharmaceutical company, in this paper take a case study of the product line is

creams and ointment. Also in industry problem was fixed operating cost and

inability to supply products. In this paper improve the operation with help of lean
manufacturing so detect the problem where is the waste are occurs, and use the

lean tools is VSM. VSM is a mapping method, with the help of detecting value

added and non-value added process. Prepare a current state map and use the 5-

why method for the collect information. And after create future state map for the

improvement with the help of 5s tool. and also used cellular manufacturing and

after get the result is reduce inventory, and customer satisfaction, and on time

delivery, total cycle time reduced, non-value added time has been decrease. And

reduced the floor space area.

Jennie’s angelis (2012) Lean is a globally competitive standard for product

assembly of discreet parts. Successful Lean application is conditioned by an

evolutionary problem-solving ability of the rank and file. This is in itself contingent

on employee involvement in improvement programs and the implementation of

appropriate practices.

Achiral Karim ( 2013) conducted a research to develop an effective

methodology for implementing lean manufacturing strategies and a leanness,

following are the methodology are adopted for the present study they are

Production and process details, Lean team study, Performance variables. VSM

and MTM together and offered a new approach to reduce lead time and to

measure productivity based on Lean principle and standardized processes.

George L. Hodge (2011) conducted a research to identify lean tool for

textile industries to eliminate waste and non-value added activities in US to

enhance the customer satisfaction, Author identified the following barriers for

implementing lean manufacturing they are resistance to change both shop floor

employees and management; shop floor employees are reluctant to offer

suggestions for improvements; disconnect among marketing, sales, product and

development; shop floor personnel are not native English speakers; so training

needs to be multilingual.

A target of lean manufacturing is the total elimination of waste. From a

customer’s point of view, anything that does not add any value to the final

product is termed a waste. These wastes can be identified and

reduced/eliminated by using lean tools and methods. Upadhye (2010) have

successfully implemented the lean philosophy in a north Indian company. In its

earlier stages, the lean manufacturing approach was have been found successful

in finding and eliminating wastes in medium-sized industries.

With the continuous advancement in technology around the world,

globalization has been institutionalized through the emphasis on the knowledge

and usage of telecommunication, satellite and internet facilities and services.

Technologizing trade has compressed the world to what a Canadian scholar,

Marshal Mchihan, called the “global village” in (Udeze, 2011).

The recommendation of free-trade has popularized trade that in the recent

times many economies now depend largely on trade; people daily consume in

large quantities, products made in their nations and other nations. To a large
extent, countries now depend on one another for goods and services. More

business organizations evolve as international trade and transactions became

popular; thus increased global competitiveness which has forced firms to look for

measures to improve performance while sustaining competitiveness. Presently,

the Nigerian manufacturing industry has not only been beaten by the challenge of

staying competitive but also by outrageous high production cost which has

impeded profitability in most of these firms (Udeze, 2014).

Mburu (2009) quipped that lean manufacturing is a management

philosophy focusing on the reduction of many different types of waste in order to

improve overall customer value by eliminating waste, quality is enhanced and

production time and cost are compressed to improve organizational

effectiveness.

Most manufacturing organizations often times may be referred to as:

factories, plants, mills, industries etc. Manufacturing firms spring up in Nigeria

frequently; the numbers of registered members of the Manufacturers Association

of Nigeria (MAN) have increased from a handful of 300 manufacturers (which the

association recorded at its inception) in 1978 to over 2000 members. This

number is only for registered manufacturing firms; so many others still exist

though not registered with MAN (MAN, 2012).

A multi-dimensional approach that consists of production with minimum

amount of waste (JIT), continuous and uninterrupted flow (Cellular Layout), well-
maintained equipment (TPM), well-established quality system (TQM), and well-

trained and empowered work force (HRM) that has positive impact on

operations/competitive performance (quality, cost, fast response, and flexibility)

Taj and Morosan (2011).

Lean production is evidenced as a model where the persons assume a

role of thinkers and their involvement promotes the continuous improvement and

gives companies the agility they need to face the market demands and

environment changes of today and tomorrow (Alves et al. 2012).

Implementing lean manufacturing practices seems the best solution, since

it has the extensive tools to decrease variability and waste (Wee and Wu, 2009;

Arlbjørn et al., 2011) and is efficient to run a smooth and competitive business

(Campbell, 2010; Cudney and Elrod, 2011).

Scholz-Reiter et al. (2011) put emphasis on the stability as a major

property of a supply chain which is critical for a constant relationship among

partners. Since global supply chain management (SCM) mostly focuses on

outsource or in-source production (Drtina and Correa, 2011) it can rapidly and

cost effectively respond to unpredictable changes in the business environment

(Mohd, 2011). Therefore, a combination of the successful lean approach with the

SCM philosophy can be applicable and efficient for those organisations that want

to streamline their processes by eliminating waste and non-value added activities

(Murray, 2012). Identifying all types of waste in the value stream chain and

seeking effective methods of elimination are the major strength of the lean SCM.

Innovation means a quantitative or qualitative change (preferably both

together), allowing further development of the subject in the area, most often in

production. They may take the form of a tangible (new or improved machine,

production line) or intangible (a better way of organizing) assets. As Vlček (2011)

notices, there is no clear-cut definition. He classifies four different types of

innovation: product, process, marketing and organizational innovation. The paper

focuses on the fourth group as mentioned above – organizational innovation.

Innovations have begun since the very beginning of industrial production.

The integrated quality systems support lean production methods and

improve performance measurements, core competencies and management

processes of enterprises. Quality management contributes to the implementation

and integration of lean production methods. On the other hand, it is just lean

production methods that improve the quality of the organization processes,

products or services. The link between quality and the application of lean

production principles (methods), for example, presented Roriz, Nunes and Sousa

(2017). They show how improvements based on the 5S technique and visual

management achieved an average reduction of 47% setup time in a carton

company. Nicholas (2016) describes the factors related to successful

implementation and sustainment of TQM/lean production initiatives.

 It is obvious that the innovation methods must change, focusing on

replacing simple, repetitive tasks with robots. Improvements will not only concern

the current production, but the entire value chain, from the development of new

products, through production, to recycling at the end of their life. The focus of

improvement methods will shift from simple ideas of the workers towards higher

levels of management and the ability of the workers to anticipate future

developments and respond quickly to the changes (Mařík et al. 2016).

Despite its global context and applicability of lean, the findings of the study

indicate that those bakeries do not apply the Lean and that Lean management

still is not a well-known concept at the bakeries in the region of Belo Horizonte –

MG. Few companies knew about some lean practices such as the “5S”. Despite

the bakery industry organizations in Brazil be active and offer different services,

they still do not indicate lean as part of programs to help in the development of

this business sector.

Related Studies

To err is human nature so we can’t blame human being for each and

every mistake. As like err, intelligence is also human nature so we can dominate

preceding nature by next nature. A study conducted by Ferreira, Maniçoba,

Zampini. al (2016), identified the critical and particular aspects of the MSEs

Bakery industry in Brazil that should be considered before implementing Lean as:

high workload of the owners and managers; low education levels of the owners,
managers and employees; flat organization structure; number of employees; high

turnover; low profit margins; low investment capital; scarcity of workforce and

skilled labour; Informality; low availability of data and the necessity to obtain

short-term results. This suggests that a specific theoretical implementation

framework must be further developed to help the implementation process in this

business segment. Ferreira, Maniçoba, Zampini. al (2016), also implemented

lean manufacturing in one bakery and confirmed that Lean can be applied to

Bakery Industry and MSEs in Brazil despite the critical aspects that must be

taken in consideration. We were able to implement different tools like: 5S`s,

Kaizen activities, waste analysis and reduction, visual communication

improvement and standardization. Even in a short-term implementation, Lean

can give impressive results. In addition, more case studies could be conducted

concerning the implementation of the methodology Lean at MSEs of Bakery

Industry not just in short term but in medium and long term range. Additionally,

the participation of the researchers can understand as one of limitations of this

study. Since it adds qualified human resource during lean transformation. Then, it

is also important analysed the capability of the bakeries sustain the results, start

or continue Lean transformation by themselves.

Despite its global context and applicability of lean, the findings of the study

indicate that those bakeries do not apply the Lean and that Lean management

still is not a well-known concept at the bakeries in the region of Belo Horizonte –
MG. Few companies knew about some lean practices such as the “5S”. Despite

the bakery industry organizations in Brazil be active and offer different services,

they still do not indicate lean as part of programs to help in the development of

this business sector.

Appiotti and Bertels (2010) contributed in the literature of CSF’s for Lean,

specifically for the financial service companies by identifying these factors: the

importance of focusing on strategy, identifying customers’ requirements and

values, measuring the valuable factors to understand the success of Lean

implementation, simplifying the process and understanding the system before

making changes. Appiotti and Bertels (2010) emphasized that in financial

service, companies try to apply Lean processes, which are similar to

manufacturing processes; however, this is not the right approach because Lean

should be applied in the area where it has a strategic importance. This way,

companies can enhance the core competences to gain the competitive

advantage by enhancing the process, which will in turn save money and build

customer trust.

The main challenge is the lack of standardized process within the service

industry. Sarkar (2009) points out that it is more difficult to identify processes

within the service, because they are not as evident as in manufacturing. Also,

due to the size and complexity, it is difficult for organizations to deal with

processes to minimize the waste. Sarkar (2009) emphasize that Lean should
engage all people from organization. This involves strategic changes because of

the hierarchy’s barriers. It requires low level of organization to be more

empowered as they are the ones working in the operation, who can identify the

waste easier.

To correct this problem, they use simply drilled a hole through the

electrode that holds the nut that is attached to the panel in the welding operation.

They put a wire through the hole in the electrode, insulating it away from the

electrode so as it passes through it will only make contact with the weld nut.

Since the weld nut is metal, it conducts electricity and with the nut present,

current will flow through, allowing the machine to complete its cycle.

Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research design and the methods to be used in

the study. Furthermore, this chapter presents the data gathering instruments and

procedures followed by the researchers to come up with the conclusion that

would lead to the vital recommendations of the researchers for this study.

Research Design

The researcher chose a survey research design because it best served to

answer the questions and the purposes of the study.

 The survey research is one in which a group of people or items is studied

by collecting and analyzing data from only a few people or items considered to

be representative of the entire group. In other words, only a part of the population

is studied, and findings from this are expected to be generalized to the entire

population (Nworgu 1991:68). Similary, McBurney (1994:170) defines the survey

assessing public opinion or individual characteristics by the use of questionnaire

and sampling methods.

Participants of the Study

The researchers gathered information from all the employees of the Nita’s

Food Products Enterprise. The current employees of the company from the top

organization to the production workers are 15 to 20. In order to come up with the

required information, the researchers study concentrated within the company.

The purpose of the study was to classify the wastes in the manufacturing

company and the application of lean and poka yoke in order to improve the

company’s efficiency. Through this, Nita’s Food Products Enterprise will eliminate

wastes, improve profitability and reduce costs and product’s variability.

Data Gathering Instruments

In gathering the data relevant to the study, the researcher used structured

questionnaire as a survey instrument to elicit the relevant information from the

respondents.
 The questionnaire is consist of four parts, the first part is consist of the

profile of the respondents; the second part is consist of the collective waste

encountered by the company; the third part will be the measurement of the

causes of waste encountered in the workplace; the last part will be lean and

poke-yoke competitiveness affect to the company.

Data Gathering Procedure

In the conduct of the study, the researchers started to gather the materials

necessary that will be utilized in the study. The researchers convey a self-made

questionnaire. Each respondent will be asked to fill out a guided questionnaire. A

permit to conduct the study will be obtained from the thesis adviser and an

approval from the management of the Nita’s Food Products Enterprise. The

researcher will personally distribute the questionnaire to the identified

respondents, so that any questions on how to answer the instrument could be

explained to obtain reliable results.

Value Stream Mapping

Value stream mapping (VSM) is a lean manufacturing technique to

analyze, design, and manage the flow of materials and information required to

bring a product to a customer. It uses a system of standard symbols to depict

various work streams and information flows. Items are mapped as adding value
or not adding value from the customer’s standpoint, with the purpose of rooting

out items that don’t add value.

The first step towards creating a lean environment – increasing value and

removing waste – is analyzing the value stream.

Source: https://www.atlassian.com/continuous-delivery/principles/value-

stream-mapping

Takt time

Takt time is the rate at which a finished product needs to be completed in

order to meet customer demand. A calculation performed in lean improvements

to determine the even pace at which the process must achieve deliverable

results in order to keep up with customer demand.

The formula is the amount of available time in the work day divided by the

customer demand. Remember that in takt time, the available time always goes

on the top of the equation.

Total available production time

Takt time = Average customer demand

Pareto Analysis

Pareto Analysis is a simple technique for prioritizing possible changes by

identifying the problems that will be resolved by making these changes. By using

this approach, you can prioritize the individual changes that will most improve the

situation. It said that 20 percent of causes generate 80 percent of results. With

this tool, we're trying to find the 20 percent of work that will generate 80 percent

of the results that doing all of the work would deliver.

Process Cycle Efficiency

 The Process Cycle Efficiency, sometimes referred to as the “Value Added

Ratio,” is a measurement of the amount of value-added time in a process. The

higher the number, the more efficient the process becomes.

Here is a metric that helps to identify how much of a process is actually

value-added.  It requires a few things:

1. Map the process.

2. Identify the Value-added steps, non-value added steps, and the non-value

added but necessary steps.

3. Stratify your map according to the items in #2

4. Add a time dimension to the process steps.

Once you have completed steps (1) – (4), then you can simply calculate how

much is actually value-added, as a percentage.  The time for the entire process

— end-to-end — is called a cycle time.  To identify the Process Cycle Efficiency,

you just divide the value-added time by the cycle time for the process.

The calculation for Process Cycle Efficiency uses a simple formula:

Process Cycle Efficiency = Value-Added Time / Cycle Time

DMAIC
 DMAIC refers to a data-driven quality strategy for improving processes,

and is an integral part of the company’s Six Sigma Quality Initiative, but in

general can be implemented as a standalone quality improvement procedure or

as part of other process improvement initiatives such as lean. DMAIC is an

acronym for five interconnected phases: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and

Control.

5 Why’s

 Whys is an iterative interrogative technique used to explore the cause-

and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem. The primary goal of the

technique is to determine the root cause of a defect or problem by repeating the

question "Why?”. Each answer forms the basis of the next question. A problem

solving analysis technique that seeks to find the root cause of trouble quickly.

When a self-evident problem arises, a question of why it happened is posed.

Once the why question is answered, another why question is posed to address
the previous answer. This continues until at least 5 levels of cause and effect for

the problem are exposed. This generally provides an adequate overview of what

is happening and points to a solution.