The ultimate reason for an event or condition.
The root cause is the event or combination of events that initiate a failure. Although root cause is the ultimate goal of failure analysis, the root cause may not be obvious even though the defect mechanism is known. For example, analysis may show the failure resulted from distorted deposition of layers around a foreign particle. The particle is the cause. However, when the fabrication process is fully understood, the particle and many like it may occur normally in the process. The root cause might be the cleaning process that should have removed the particle. Even at this level of understanding, possibilities are many. The clean might be inherently inadequate, the chemicals may be overused, the temperature may be too low, or the content of the particles may have changed.
To prevent continuing recurrence of an undesirable outcome, problem-solvers need to "peel back the layers" to find the underlying or "root" causes. One technique for doing this is to ask "why did this happen?" And then to the reply to that question, ask "why?" Again. By the process of asking "why?" Several times in this fashion, one gets closer to the root cause. The early answers to the inquiries are more likely to be symptoms of more fundamental problems.
the catalyst for a problem, the origination of a problem, the root of a problem or symptom. Root causes are often out of the conscious awareness and hypnotherapy and Timeline Therapy are excellent tools for uncovering the root cause.
A fundamental deficiency that results in a nonconformance and must be corrected to prevent recurrence of the same or similar nonconformance.
an antecedent source of a defect such that if it is removed, the defect is decreased or removed itself
Synonym for ToC Core Problem.
The underlying reason for the occurrence of a problem.
The lowest level cause of a failure, or variation in a product, component, or process .
The most fundamental reason for the failure or inefficiency of a process.
The fundamental causal reason for a particular observation; the result of asking “why” at least five times to determine the basic cause in a chain of causal relationships.
The real cause or origin of a problem
A trend, condition, event, or circumstance in your EGR that contributes significantly and directly to a workforce gap – whether quantitative (occupational shortage) or qualitative (skills gap). The Root Causes you uncover in your EGR will be tied directly to the occupations and skills you find to be in shortage, and will drive your planning process for the Regional Solutions phase.
A factor that caused nonconformity (see ISO 9000-2000) and should be permanently eliminated through process improvement. The Root Cause is a Basic Cause due to which the defect was seeded in the product. Eliminating the defects does not eliminate the future seeding of the defect. Eliminating the root cause of the defect helps in eliminating the future occurrence of the defect.
A root cause is an initiating cause of a causal chain which leads to an outcome or effect of interest. Commonly, root cause is used to describe the depth in the causal chain where an intervention could reasonably be implemented to change performance and prevent an undesirable outcome.
