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8D - The 8 Disciplines Process

 

 

     

The 8 Disciplines (8D) process is a problem management tool popularly used in responding to customer returns or issues. Its effectiveness stems from the fact that it incorporates all the important aspects of problem management, i.e., containment of the problem, root cause analysis, problem correction, and problem prevention.

   

 

The output of an 8D process is the 8D report, the format of which follows the steps of the 8D process. Below is the basic outline of an 8D process/8D report.

   

Discipline 1. Form the Team

   

This is the first step of the 8D process and the first part of the 8D report. This step  defines the composition of the 8D team.  The team should be cross-functional and should include as members the process owner, a member from QA, and others who will be involved in the containment, analysis, correction and prevention of the problem. The names of the members as well as their positions in the company organization must be enumerated in this part of the report.

  

Discipline 2. Describe the Problem

    

This step involves a detailed assessment of the problem highlighted by the customer. Under this step, the 8D report provides background information on and a clear picture of the problem being highlighted by the customer. It should include the following details: a) the identity of the customer; b) a description of the customer application; c) device information (device, package, lot #, date code, etc.; d) when the problem was encountered; e) where the problem was encountered; f) a specific description of the failure mode; and g) failure rate.

   

Discipline 3. Contain the Problem

    

This discipline explains the extent of the problem and bounds it.  Based on initial problem investigation, all lots that are potentially affected by the same problem must be identified and their locations pinpointed.  If possible, specific lot #'s and/or date codes of potentially affected lots shall be enumerated in this portion of the report. 

    

Lots that are still in the factory must be put on hold until their reliability has been properly assessed.  They must only be released if the lots are either proven to be clean or the failures may be effectively screened.

       

If the problem has an extremely high reliability risk and the application of the product is critical (e.g., failure of the product is life-threatening), lots already in the field may need to be recalled.  However, recall must only be done under extreme cases wherein the impact of reliability risk is greater than the impact of recall.  

  

<Proceed to Page 2 - Disciplines 4 to 8>

   

See Also:   TPMTQMKaizen6-SigmaPoka-Yoke

 

 

      

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