Lean at home: applying RCA techniques to home projects

Abstract

Root cause analysis techniques are often applied to problems in the workplace; however, they may also prove very useful when applied to home projects. This research explores the application of root cause analysis techniques in three home projects: (1) Cause-and-Effect diagram to remove Palmetto bugs in a condo dwelling, (2) Five Whys method to repair a sunroof water leak in a car, and (3) Fault Tree Analysis to repair a Toro string trimmer that starts, then dies. The effective use of root cause analysis techniques can have a meaningful impact on resolving home project issues resulting in a restoration of homeowner issues as well as reduced homeowner anxiety, repair time, and repair cost.

Keywords

• cause-and-effect diagram
• fault tree analysis
• palmetto bugs
• toro string trimmer