Why ThinkReliability?
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Why choose the ThinkReliability approach to Cause Mapping^® root cause analysis?
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The ThinkReliability approach consists of thoroughly investigating complex problems and making specific improvements to prevent problems from reoccurring. The problems we work are the problems our clients don’t have the time, resources, or specific facilitation skills to address. ThinkReliability leads and assists investigations, delivers problem-solving workshops on-site, and helps establish problem-solving solutions for long-term business process improvement. For a list of clients that have selected ThinkReliability see our client list.

The top 12 reasons our clients choose ThinkReliability

1. Simple – No acronyms, no new terminology, no buzzwords. Cause Mapping root cause analysis is based on fundamental cause-and-effect analysis and focuses on the organization’s overall goals.
2. Easy to understand – Cause Mapping root cause analysis provides an easy-to-understand visual map of the analysis for any type of problem. It improves the way individuals and groups capture and share information within an organization.
3. Effective – The Cause Mapping root cause analysis process is based on fundamental principles of systems thinking, cause-and-effect, and visual communication.
4. Clear documentation – A Cause Map diagram provides clear documentation that can help grow organizational experience and facilitate continual business process improvement.
5. No software to purchase – A Cause Map diagram can be created by using pen and paper, Post-it Notes on flipchart paper, a whiteboard, or Microsoft Excel or other applications. ThinkReliability shows clients how to use software that they already own to document, share, store, and track incidents. Software templates for building Cause Map diagrams and process map diagrams in Microsoft Excel are free – there is no software or user licenses to buy.
6. Works on major and minor issues – Cause Mapping root cause analysis can be used on day-to-day issues as well as major investigations.
7. Better communication – Cause Mapping root cause analysis focuses on causes, which improves the way people communicate problems. Individuals regularly confuse a “problem” and a “cause,” which creates significant communication barriers.
8. Practical and from the field –  Cause Mapping root cause analysis was developed in the field from experimenting with and applying many different approaches of root cause analysis, problem solving, incident investigation, and business process improvement.
9. Bias for work process – Clearly defined work processes are required for any and all activities that the organization considers important to meet its overall goals. Cause Mapping root cause analysis connects solutions to improved work processes.
10. Prevention culture – Focusing on prevention, not blame, is fundamental to the ThinkReliability approach and it’s one of the easiest concepts for which organizations can immediately get buy-in from the people in the field.
11. People closest to the work – The people closest to the work play an active role in identifying what works well and what needs to be improved in the organization’s work processes. Those people closest to the work are an integral part of the ThinkReliability approach.
12. Aligns with other methods – The principles that make Cause Mapping root cause analysis effective are also part of RCM, FMEA, TPM, TQM, Reliability, Continuous Improvement, Six-Sigma, Kaizen and Quality initiatives.