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by Sebastian Traeger

Updated: August 28, 2024

How to Perform Root Cause Investigations?

Reading Time: 6 minutes

When failures occur, they not only disrupt productivity but can also lead to significant costs and safety risks. To prevent these issues from recurring, it’s essential to identify the root cause of the problem. Root Cause Investigation (RCI) is a powerful tool that helps organizations get to the heart of failures, ensuring long-term reliability and operational excellence. The purpose of

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by Sebastian Traeger

Updated: July 22, 2024

Post-Incident Analysis for Enhanced Reliability

Reading Time: 5 minutes

With over two decades in business – spanning strategy consulting, tech startups and executive leadership – I am committed to helping your organization thrive. At Reliability, we’re on a mission to help enhance strategic decision-making and operational excellence through the power of Root Cause Analysis, and I hope this article will be helpful!  Our goal is to help you better

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by Sebastian Traeger

Updated: May 13, 2024

Ultimate Guide to Swiss Cheese Model and Its Applications

Reading Time: 7 minutes

With over two decades in business – spanning strategy consulting, tech startups, and executive leadership – I am committed to helping your organization thrive. At Reliability, we’re on a mission to help enhance strategic decision-making and operational excellence through the power of Root Cause Analysis, and I hope this article will be helpful!  Our goal is to help you better

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by Sebastian Traeger

Updated: April 23, 2024

5 Root Cause Analysis Examples That Shed Light on Complex Issues

Reading Time: 7 minutes

With over two decades in business – spanning strategy consulting, tech startups, and executive leadership – I am committed to helping your organization thrive. At Reliability, we’re on a mission to help enhance strategic decision-making and operational excellence through the power of Root Cause Analysis, and I hope this article will be helpful!  Our goal is to help you better

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by Sebastian Traeger

Updated: April 23, 2024

Root Cause Analysis with 5 Whys Technique (With Examples)

Reading Time: 7 minutes

With over two decades in business – spanning strategy consulting, tech startups and executive leadership – I am committed to helping your organization thrive. At Reliability, we’re on a mission to help enhance strategic decision-making and operational excellence through the power of Root Cause Analysis, and I hope this article will be helpful!  Our goal is to help you better

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by Sebastian Traeger

Updated: April 23, 2024

What Is Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)? Definition & Examples

Reading Time: 7 minutes

With over two decades in business – spanning strategy consulting, tech startups and executive leadership – I am committed to helping your organization thrive. At Reliability, we’re on a mission to help enhance strategic decision-making and operational excellence through the power of Root Cause Analysis, and I hope this article will be helpful!  Our goal is to help you better

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by Sebastian Traeger

Updated: June 1, 2024

Guide to Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

Reading Time: 7 minutes

With over two decades in business – spanning strategy consulting, tech startups and executive leadership – I am committed to helping your organization thrive. At Reliability, we’re on a mission to help enhance strategic decision-making and operational excellence through the power of Root Cause Analysis, and I hope this article will be helpful!  Our goal is to help you better

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by Sebastian Traeger

Updated: April 21, 2024

7 Powerful Root Cause Analysis Tools and Techniques

Reading Time: 5 minutes

With over two decades in business – spanning strategy consulting, tech startups and executive leadership – I am committed to helping your organization thrive. At Reliability, we’re on a mission to help enhance strategic decision-making and operational excellence through the power of Root Cause Analysis, and I hope this article will be helpful!  Our goal is to help you better

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by Sebastian Traeger

Updated: April 23, 2024

Understanding Failure Mechanisms and Components

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Understanding failure mechanisms and components is a critical aspect of reliability engineering, manufacturing, and maintenance across various industries. Whether you’re dealing with machinery, electronic devices, or complex systems, the ability to identify and comprehend how and why failures occur can significantly impact performance, safety, and longevity.  This guide aims to delve into the intricacies of failure mechanisms and the components

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by Bob Latino

Updated: January 5, 2022

What’s Wrong With The Term “Root Causes”​?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

There is great variation when it comes to a common understanding of the term ‘Root Cause Analysis’ or RCA. In a previous, lengthy paper, I wrote an article entitled “The Stigma of RCA: What’s In a Name?“. It focused on common understandings (or misunderstandings) of what RCA means and then described the basic steps of any investigative occupation. I just

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by Bob Latino

Updated: January 5, 2022

The Stigma of RCA: What’s in a Name?

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The Stigma of ‘RCA’ Let’s start off with some honesty…the term ‘RCA’ (Root Cause Analysis) is quite vague, misleading and easily misinterpreted by those who are not immersed in its use. It is a useless and counter-productive term because there is no universally accepted, standard definition. Therefore, any process/tool someone is using to solve a problem is likely to be labelled as

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by Bob Latino

Updated: January 5, 2022

RCA in Action: The Space Shuttle Columbia Investigation

Reading Time: 3 minutes

As is typical in our manufacturing organizations, oftentimes it takes high visibility events with catastrophic consequences for a full-blown Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to be conducted. Many of us still have fresh memories of Challenger in our minds from over 17 years ago, and now we are faced with another investigation of equal (if not greater) magnitude.

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