Many products may present potential problems during the alpha phase, the first release, or even when they have a heavy presence in the market. To fix and prevent this, the industry created and implemented the 8D Problem Solving Methodology, which seeks to correct the remaining possible causes and improve general company practices. In this article, we expand our knowledge about this helpful process.

8D, AKA The Eight Disciplines of Problem Solving, is a process and a methodology to find the main reason for a deep problem. Most of the time, problems are so profound that their causes go back to their roots, where it's very challenging to identify and fix them.

A good problem-solving process based on 8D methodology should propose a short-term fix and a long-term solution to solve common issues and prevent recurring problems.

The main objective of a trusted 8D methodology is to improve the reliability and quality of a specific product or service.  

It was designed and implemented for Ford Motor Company in 1980. Since then, it has become trendy among manufacturers and big companies developing physical products and solutions.

Not for nothing, many companies around the globe use this methodology to eliminate recurring problems within their production processes. It offers technical departments inside your company a straightforward approach to fixing problems that might appear at any stage of the production chain. Applying the 8D methodology correctly will give your organization the following advantages, as it:

• Improves team-oriented problem-solving abilities rather than individual solutions;

• Creates and expands the problem database and provides proven solutions for common problems;

• Provides a practical understanding of the usage of basic statistical tools and problem-solving tools;

• Provides skills for implementing permanent corrective action;

• Gives a deep understanding of Root Cause Analysis, or (RCA);

• Improves efficiency and effectiveness when solving poor performance or other problems;

• Prevents deep problem-solving discussions and future problems related.

As its name indicates, an 8D problem-solving methodology incorporates various stages, eight, to be more specific. Each stage provides vital information about the product's possible issues and helps you collect information about the product's problems.

Before creating any action plan or doing any movement, it's important to know the real nature of the problem.

In this sense, you can always ask experts for their impressions about the problem. With the expert help, you and your engineering team can gather information about the symptoms.

Check the previous cases and identify similar symptoms. If necessary, implement a contingency response to protect customers from undesirable symptoms.

Before your team takes permanent corrective action, you can perform an interim action to protect customers from errors and problems. This interim plan is called the Interim Containment Action (ICA), and it's eliminated when the Permanent Correct Action (PCA) is implemented.

Of course, you should test the effectiveness of the ICA to prevent the recurrence of dissatisfaction calls. Finally, validate the Interim Containment Action with the customer. 

Once selecting the best solution to remove the root cause, it's time to implement permanent corrective actions to solve the critical problems. You must also remove the interim actions since it's no longer necessary for product and process improvement. Implementing permanent corrections should consider the following:

• Implement the best solution(s) to remove the root cause(s) and address the escape point(s);

• Once you implement corrective actions, verify that solutions are proper and do not generate customer complaints related to regulatory issues;

• Verify the efficiency and the improved effectiveness of the solutions you implemented from the customer's point of view; 

• Monitor the solutions' performance and effectiveness, assuring that they rectify the problem description and do not cause any unexpected effects;

•  Remove interim containment actions.

After celebrating a consistent revision and performance improvement to the production process, you should gather your team and recognize the participants' contributions. It would help if you celebrated both the team and particular participation. Provide feedback and describe what they did well and what areas they can improve. Let team members see previous and new states and how this adds value to the 8D method. For a future better understanding, you'll do the following:

• Save and archive the document of the project plan for future reference;

• Document the implementation of solutions and lessons learned during the 8D process;

• Create new documentation about the plan for solving the problem and how to improve results;

• Celebrate the successful completion of the process improvements.

An excellent 8D problem-solving methodology involves issuing reports to know all the problem details. Reports are part of the basic statistical tools required to make executive decisions in future contingencies.

This simple 8D-report template for Microsoft Excel contains specific boxes for including the most important information you get applying the methodology. Although this report is designed to archive crucial information about common issues and the problem-solving process, it's also suitable for the initial planning stage when a product presents a similar problem.

You can download this simple 8D-report template from Excel-template.

This more completed template incorporates a specific space for every stage of this methodology. In every section, you can describe all the points you consider relevant to understand the problem of the product better. Thanks to this template, you can efficiently perform collective efforts and statistical analysis to find the root cause and address the escape point. You can quickly navigate through the eight disciplines and manage each stage separately.

You can download this more completed and comprehensive 8D report template from Smartsheet.

To successfully implement the model we shared above, you must get Microsoft Office to build or edit your 8D report. Here, on RoyalCDKeys, you have several editions of Microsoft Office 2021 that you can get quickly and at the lowest price on the Internet. Come and get your version to manage your quantifiable terms and data collection.  

Since the automotive industry created and applied the 8D methodology forty years ago, many industries have integrated this process into their test processes and production. Quality managers form teams with quality engineers to determine and prevent poor performance, test failures, internal rejects, and other common problems.

In this sense, implementing a proper 8D methodology with professionals of many disciplines should solve the problem. Thanks to this, your team can identify, correct, and eliminate recurring potential causes and concerns.

If you're in the auto industry, in the health care business, in the food manufacturing field, etcetera, an 8D process will be precious for operating systems.

For other typically required documents and templates for a clear understanding of the process with your company, browse our RoyalCDKeys blog and get all the files you need.