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Root Cause Analysis for Reducing Breakdowns in a Manufacturing Industry

Article · January 2013

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2013)

Root Cause Analysis for Reducing Breakdowns in a

Manufacturing Industry
Kiran M1, Cijo Mathew2, Jacob Kuriakose3
1
PG Scholar, M A College of Engineering, Kothamagalam, Ernakulam, Kerala
2,3
Assistant Professor, M A College of Engineering, Kothamagalam, Ernakulam, Kerala
Abstract – Now a days manufacturing industries are RCA practice tries to solve problems by attempting to
facing a greater competition in the market. Because of this, identify and correct the root causes of events, as opposed
they try to improve and increase both quality and to simply addressing their symptoms [8]. By focusing
productivity continuously. One way to increase the correction on root causes, problem recurrence can be
productivity is to increase the availability of existing
prevented.
machines; Total productive maintenance aims to increase
the availability of existing equipment so no further capital A case study is conducted on one of the leading male
investment is needed. Availability of machines can be contraceptive manufacturing industry in the world. The
increased by reducing the downtime or Breakdowns of the company is in the phase of implementing TPM. So as a
machines. The main objective of this study is to find out the fore work to the implementation of TPM, case study,
major breakdowns causing production losses to the Root Cause Analysis for reducing the breakdowns in the
company and to suggest counter measures by which these company’s manufacturing unit is conducted. The
problems can be reduced. In the study a Root cause analysis objective of study is to find out the major breakdowns in
is conducted to find the root cause of breakdowns and some the company which causes a production loss and to
parallel improvement opportunities were also identified for
suggest counter measures to minimize the effect.
implementation so as to reduce the downtime.
The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 gives
Keywords – Breakdowns, Cause and effect diagram, clear idea of the problem in the industry. Section 3
Pareto Chart, Total productive maintenance, Root cause presents the Root cause analysis of the problem. Parallel
analysis. improvement opportunities are exposed in Section 4.
Finally, Section 5 concludes the study.
I. INTRODUCTION
The manufacturing industries have gone through II. PROBLEM DEFINITION
significant changes in the last decade. New firms in Even after producing 24 x 7, the company is not able
markets have increased competition dramatically. Most to meet its demands in the market. So firm has to reduce
of them focus on product quality, production time and the unwanted stoppages of production so as to maintain
cost of product. Because of these, a company should the steady production level and to meet the demands in
introduce a quality system to improve and increase both the market. Production may be stopped due to many
quality and productivity continuously. reasons like breakdown of machine, maintenance work,
Total productive maintenance (TPM) is a methodology labour issues, insufficient material supply, problems in
that aims to increase the availability of existing the method of production etc… Excluding all other
equipment hence reducing the need for further capital factors like materials, method, man, etc... It is necessary
investment [2, 5]. TPM can be defined in terms of overall to reduce the breakdown (down time) of machine or
equipment effectiveness (OEE) which in turn can be equipment’s in the company for the efficient nonstop
considered a combination of the operation maintenance, production to meet the demands. Breakdowns are the
equipment management, and available resources [7]. The most common causes of efficiency loss in manufacturing.
goal of TPM is to maximise equipment effectiveness [6]. Eliminating unplanned down time is critical to improving
It is a function of availability, performance rate, and Overall Equipment Efficiency. It is not only important to
quality rate. Of the six major categories of losses that know how much Down Time your process is
affect OEE, Breakdown loss is used for calculating the experiencing (and when) but also to be able to attribute
availability of equipment. the lost time to the specific source or reason for the loss.
Root cause analysis (RCA) is a method of problem Case study was conducted on the breakdowns of
solving that tries to identify the root causes of faults or machines or equipment’s of the company and to find out
problems that cause operating events [1, 3, 9, 10]. the root causes of these breakdown so as to eliminate
them and to decrease the downtime caused due to these
breakdown.

211
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2013)
III. ROOT C AUSE ANALYSIS 14 Washing brush not working 3
The Root Cause Analysis is a four-step process 15 Steam line leak 3
involving the following: 16 Stripping jet not working 3
1. Data collection 17 Jacket cooling water line leak 2
2. Cause charting 18 Hot air blower belt broken 2
3. Root cause identification 19 Mould cooling motor not working 1
4. Recommendation.
20 Dipping tank agitator not working 1
A. Data Collection and Analysis 21 Agitator belt broken 1
Breakdown data was collected for 8 months (from 22 Ammonia line leak 1
01/12/2012 to 02/08/2012) from the shift log book of the 23 Spin dryer not working 1
company and is tabulated (Tab. 1). The breakdowns and
24 Slurry auto valve not working 1
frequency of occurrence are:
25 Hot air blower not working 1
TABLE I 26 Mould jerking 1
BREAKDOWNS OCCURRED AND FREQUENCY
27 Body brush not working 1
Sl. No. Breakdown occurred Frequency 28 Hot water gland leak 1
1 Edge roller not working 98 29 Conveyor chain loose 1
2 Vulcanization Barrel not working 68 30 Quenching barrel block 1
3 Chain slipping 20
Breakdown data collected consist of all breakdowns
4 Mould touching the tank 12 that occur in a manufacturing firm. But our area of
5 Washing machine not working 9 interest is the breakdown causing production stoppages.
6 Waste water pump not working 8 Stoppage of one minute causes 140 pieces of products
7 Quenching barrel choot block 7 wasted. Calculating the loss in rupees, each product
8 Carry fan not working 6 cause a loss of profit of Rs. 4.5/-, i.e., a loss of about Rs.
630/- per minute.
9 Dehydrator not working 6
The breakdowns causing stoppages of production
10 Slurry pump not working 4 process were identified from the data. The time spend to
11 Dehydrator chain slip 3 rectify the breakdowns was also noted. The Fig. 1 gives
12 Feed valve block 3 the major breakdowns causing production losses.
13 Stripping line block 3

Breakdowns Edge roller

2% 2% 2%
3% 3% Vulcanization barrel
3% Chain slipping
4% Mould touching the tank
5% 40% Washing machine
Waste water pump
8%
Quenching barrel choot block
Slurry pump
28%
Dehydrator
Carry fan
Others

Fig 1: Pie chart showing breakdowns causing production stoppage

From the chart it is clear that Edge roller breakdown The times spend for getting back the equipment for
(40%) accounts for the most of the breakdown causing work was also collected and analysed. Fig. 2 gives the
production loss to the company. Vulcanization barrel percentages of time spend for different breakdown
breakdown (28%), Chain slipping (8%) etc… are other maintenance. The chain slipping (63%) accounts for the
major breakdowns in the company as per the data major time loss of production. Edge roller breakdown
collected. (13%) and slurry pump breakdown (13%) also accounts
for a considerable loss of production for the industry.

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2013)
1. Root Cause Identification of Edge Roller Breakdown:
Time Spend
3% Chain slipping
Edge roller is unit used to roll up the edges of the
product produced in the company. It mainly consists of a
8% Edge roller pulley belt arrangement, motor, bevel gear, and a long
13% brush mounted on a shaft. The edge roller unit is a major
Slurry pump
13%
contributor to the time loss to production due to its
63% Vulcanization frequent breakdowns.
barrel
Others

Fig 2: Pie chart showing time spent to rectify breakdowns

For slurry pump breakdown, company have an

alternate pump which is used while breakdown of the
main pump. In case of vulcanization barrel they go for
manual vulcanization while the breakdown. And in the
case mould touching the tank they have a readjustment
screw for the adjustment. So the other types only
accounts for small stoppage rather than a larger time Fig 3: Initial cause and effect diagram of edge roller breakdowns
consuming breakdowns.
Considering the frequency of occurrence and the time Fig. 3 shows the initial cause and effect diagram of
wasted due to breakdown maintenances, it was identified edge roller. The causes of breakdown may be belt loose
that chain slipping and edge roller breakdown was the or lower belt tension, bevel gear dislocation, motor
major causes of production loss in the company. breakdown of the roller and brush damages.
So root cause analysis was conducted identification of A Pareto chart (Fig. 4) was constructed as per the
root causes of chain slipping and edge roller breakdown. frequency of occurrences of each causes of edge roller
breakdown. From the chart it is clear that lower belt
B. Cause Charting and Root Cause Identification tension or belt loose and bevel gear dislocation are the
Cause-and-effect diagrams or Ishikawa diagrams (Fish major causes of the breakdown of the edge roller
bone diagram) is one of the seven basic tools of quality, equipment.
which is used to identify potential factors causing an
overall effect [4]. It was used in the study to identify the
root cause of the major breakdowns identified in the
previous section. A Pareto chart, where individual values
are represented in descending order by bars, and the
cumulative total is represented by the line. The left
vertical axis is the frequency of occurrence, and right
vertical axis is the cumulative percentage of the total
number of occurrences. The purpose of the Pareto chart
is to highlight the most important among a (typically
large) set of factors [4, 11]. In quality control, it often
represents the most common sources of defects, the
highest occurring type of defect.

Fig 4: Pareto chart of edge roller breakdowns

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2013)

Fig 5: Final cause and effect diagram of edge roller breakdowns

A detailed study was conducted on causes for the edge

roller breakdown and final cause and effect diagram is
prepared as given in Fig. 5. Reasons for lower belt
tension was identified as deterioration, thermal expansion
of belt and the regular readjustment made on the machine
part. Regular readjustment cannot be rectified since as
the mould length varies the edge rolling unit has to be
readjusted to obtain the correct rolling thickness.
Deterioration and thermal expansion of belt can be
overcome by using a higher grade belt than the present
Fig 6: Initial cause and effect diagram of Chain slipping
one, having a higher temperature range and longer life.
Motor breakdown was caused due to vibration Fig. 6 show initial cause and effect diagram of chain
machine, contaminations and the over/under lubrication slipping. The causes of breakdown may be Pinion
of bearings of the motor. Brush damages were caused breakage, vibration of machine, chain loose, and
due to deterioration of brush teeth and misalignment of contamination. A Pareto chart (Fig. 7) was constructed as
brush with the mould. But this only need a small time to per the frequency of occurrences of each causes of chain
rectify and does not affect the production so much. slipping. From the chart it is clear that pinion breakage is
The major reason for edge roller was the breakdown the major cause of the breakdown due to chain slipping.
caused due to bevel gear dislocation of the machine.
Dislocation happens due to overload, tooth breakage of
bevel gear, and bearing damages. Bearing damage was
due to overheating, contamination of bearings and
improper load acting on it. Overload in bevel gear and
improper load in bearing was mainly due to the
misalignment of shaft. As mentioned earlier there is a
need of regular readjustment of the machine as the size of
mould varies. If proper alignment checking is done
during the adjustment of edge roller the breakdowns can
be avoided.
2. Root Cause Identification of Chain Slipping:
Conveyor Chain is a major part of moulding machine
in the manufacturing plant. This endless chain carries the
Fig 7: Pareto chart for chain slipping
vertically positioned moulds in the moulding section.
Any breakdown to this unit causes the entire stoppage of
production.

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2013)

Fig 8: Final cause and effect diagram of chain slipping

A detailed study was conducted on causes for In the case of edge roller, belt deterioration and
breakdown due to chain slipping and final cause and Improper alignment checking of the unit after
effect diagram is prepared as given in Fig. 6. Reasons for readjustment were identified as the root cause for edge
vibration of the chain were the lower tension of the chain roller breakdown. A higher grade belt like EPDM belt,
due to its stretching or wearing and wearing of other which can withstand higher temperature and longer life,
parts of the moulding machine. Chain becomes loose due can be used for the purpose. Other cause is improper
to stretching or wearing due to its longer and continuous alignment checking of edge roller, for this, workers
use. Contamination due to improper cleaning on the should be given proper training for checking the
equipment was also identified as a reason for chain alignment of the edge roller unit.
slipping. These causes can be eliminated by performing Root cause for chain slippage was identified as the
proper maintenance techniques like preventive improper tightening of pinion and the mould. Presently
maintenance, planned maintenance etc… pinion is tightened manually to the mould. So there will
The major reason for chain slipping was the be variations in the tightness due to the force applied by
breakdown caused due to pinion breakage in the human hand. A proper means for tightening should be
moulding machine. The different causes of pinion adopted to avoid this cause for the breakdown due to
breakage was improper design of pinion, improper chain slipping. Using a torque wrench is suggested as a
checking methods employed for incoming pinion from counter measure for avoiding the chain slippage.
suppliers, and pinion getting stuck at the sprocket of the
machines. By adopting a inspection method for incoming IV. P ARALLEL IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
material, the first two causes can be avoided. Pinion get In the case of edge roller, belt deterioration and
stuck at the sprocket due to contaminations (like Improper alignment checking of the unit after
lubricant and dust mixture), over speed, and the readjustment were identified as the root cause for edge
movement of pinion without mould. Mould gets roller breakdown. To avoid this breakdown an
withdrawn from the pinion due to improper tightening, improvement in the present setup can be made. By using
while entering the rack section. A proper implementation a direct drive for each edge roller unit, parts like belt,
of tightening mechanism can avoid the occurrence of this pulley and bevel gear can be avoided from the present
breakdown. setup. Thus avoiding the breakdown caused by belt and
C. Recommendations bevel gear, which accounts for the most of edge roller
From cause and effect diagram, the root causes of breakdowns of the machine.
breakdowns caused due to chain slipping and edge roller A. Technical Feasibility
was identified. The technical detail of the motor that runs the edge
roller is given below.

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2013)
Speed of motor = 1400rpm Increase in profit/month
Gear ratio = 1:10 = 378000 – 168000
Torque required = 170Nm
Maximum weight permissible = Rs. 2, 10,000/-
= 14kg
V. CONCLUSION
Direct drive specification available in the market
The main objective of study was to identify the major
[12]:
breakdowns causing the production loss to the company.
Model = Root cause analysis was conducted for the major
Unicase helical bevel gear unit (BIM 1040) breakdowns causing production loss to the company.
Make = NordIndia, Pune Root causes of breakdowns were identified using cause
Gear ratio = 5.4 – 200 and effect diagram. Counter measures and parallel
Power range = 0.12 – 9.2kW improvement opportunities for major breakdowns
Torque range = 48 – 670Nm causing production stoppage was also suggested.
REFERENCES
[1 ] Hicham Jabrouni, Bernard Kamsu-Foguem, Laurent Geneste,
Christophe Vaysse “Continuous improvement through
knowledge-guided analysis in experience feedback” Engineering
Applications of Artificial Intelligence 24 (2011) 1419–1431.
[2 ] F.T.S. Chan, H.C.W. Lau, R.W.L. Ip, H.K. Chan, S. Kong
“Implementation of total productive maintenance: A case study”
Int. J. Production Economics 95 (2005) 71–94
[3 ] A. Mark Doggett, Humboldt State University, “Root Cause
Analysis: A Framework for Tool Selection” Quality Management
Journal VOL. 12, NO. 4/ 2005, ASQ
[4 ] Abhishek Jayswal, Xiang Li, Anand Zanwar, Helen H. Lou,
Fig 10: Direct drive, NordIndia make. Yinlun Huang, “Sustainability root cause analysis methodology
and its application” Computers and Chemical Engineering 35
B. Economic Feasibility (2011) 2786– 2798
Cost of a single direct drive [5 ] Swanson L., “Linking maintenance strategies to performance”.
= Rs. 8000/- International Journal of Production Economics 70(3), (2001),
237–244.
Installation cost (for 14 machines)
[6 ] F. Ireland and B.G. Dale “A study of total productive maintenance
= 14*4000 implementation”, Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering,
= 56000/- Vol. 7 No. 3, (2001), pp. 183-191.
Total investment for implementation [7 ] Ki-Young Jeong, Don T. Phillips “Operational efficiency and
= 14 * 8000+56000 effectiveness measurement” International Journal of Operations &
= Rs. 1, 68,000/- Production Management, Vol. 21 No. 11,( 2001), pp. 1404-1416.
[8 ] Dr. Anthony Mark Doggett, “A Statistical Comparison of Three
No. of products produced in 1 minute Root Cause Analysis Tools” Journal of Industrial Technology,
Volume 20, Number 2 - February 2004
= 140 in one line
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Analysis for Beginners”, Quality Progress Discussion Board,
= 15 nos. ASQ.
Average time taken for rectification [10 ] Dale H. Besterfield, Carol Besterfield, Glen H. Besterfield &
= 20 minutes Mary Besterfield, “Total Quality Management”, Person Education
Loss in profit/product (2008 ).
= Rs. 4.50/- [11 ] Surhone, L., Timpledon, M., & Marseken, S. (2010). “Pareto
Loss due to breakdown of edge roller analysis: Statistics, decision making, Pareto principle, fault tree
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= 280*15*20*4.50
[12 ] Product catalogue – geared motors, NordIndia, Drive system,
= Rs. 3, 78,000/- Pune.
Implementation of direct drive will reduce the
breakdown due to edge roller to zero and company can
increase their profit.

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