PROACT® Root Cause Analysis Case Histories

The following case studies are a result of having the right combination of management support, ideal RCA team and proper application of the RCA methodology. RCI commends the submitters of these case histories for their courage in allowing others to learn from their experiences. These corporations and their RCA efforts have proven what a well-focused organization can accomplish with the creative and innovative minds of their workforce.	University of Michigan Eastman Chemical Company Weyerhaeuser Company Alabama Power Company ISPAT Inland Steel Eastman Company World Headquarters Lyondell-Citgo
As we read through the summaries of these actual case histories, we will notice that the Returns-On-Investment (ROI) for eliminating these chronic events range from 3,100% to 17,900%. Had we not had permission to publish these remarkable returns, “Would anyone have believed they were real”? We will also notice that the time frames to complete the RCA’s ranged from seven (7) days to eight (8) months. While these results are without a doubt impressive, they are easily attainable when the organizational environment supports the Root Cause Analysis (RCA) activities. Read on and become a believer. To learn how you can also obtain these remarkable statistics we invite you to visit our PROACT® Suite page.
To learn more details about the following case histories and the method these organizations used to succeed you can purchase a copy of our third edition best seller titled Root Cause Analysis: Improving Performance for Bottom Line Results. Many RCI case histories are described in great detail in our book. [Top]

---

University of Michigan
Combined Cycle Congeneration Facility, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Event Summary:
A specific recurrence of events resulted in several outages to our heat-recovery steam generator (HRSG) which, in turn, caused the gas turbine (GT) to trip. For each trip, the alarm would display a boiler malfunction.

RCA Team Acknowledgements:
Principal Analyst:Mike Pepper
Title: Operations Supernatant
Company: University of Michigan Central Power Plant
Scope: Combined Cycle Congeneration Facility

Bottom-Line Results
The problem – outage was Gas turbine # 8 Trips. The CPP saved $100,000’s dollars in getting back on line quickly and reduced the purchasing Electricity from the Detroit Edison Power Grid.

Download PDF

[Top]

---

Eastman Chemical Company
World Headquarters, Kingsport, TN

Event Summary :
During 1997, Eastman Chemical senior management realized that their level of customer complaints had not shown significant reduction during the past few years. This was troubling, given that Eastman had a strong history of continually improvement performance in their processes. Furthermore, one of the key objectives of Eastman's Customer Complaint Handling Process was to investigate and identify the cause of complaints - evidently the complaint investigations were not as effective as expected.

RCA Team Acknowledgements:
Principal Analyst: Gary Hallen
Title: Customer Focus Manager
Company: Eastman Chemical Company
Scope: Global Customer Service Group
Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Baytank, Inc. for use of their RCA example (Figure 12.9). We admire their drive to conduct the RCA and their courage to let others learn from their success.

Bottom-Line Results

• Elimination of half of Eastman's level of customer complaints. This equates to about $2,000,000 on reduced complaint handling costs, reduced waste and rework, and not losing customers due to poor quality.
  
• Reduced operating and maintenance costs, from improved process and equipment reliability.
  
• Reduced account receivables.
  
• Improved organizational effectiveness

Download PDF

[Top]

---

Weyerhaeuser Company
Valliant, Oklahoma

Event Summary :
The Thermo Compressor Cone on Paper Machine Number 3 was experiencing repeated failures due to cracking along a longitudinal weld. Replacement Thermo Compressor Cones lasted two months and two days, respectively, before new cracking appeared.

RCA Team Acknowledgements:
Principal Analyst: Ronald Hughes
Title: Senior Reliability Consultant
Company: Reliability Center Inc.
Site: Valliant, OK

Core RCA Team Members:
Douglas Dretzke
Matt Connolly
Steven Breaux
Theron Henry
Joel White
Freddy Rodriguez

[Top]

Bottom-Line Results

• Experienced a 25% increase in production capacity
• Corrective action timeframe was approximately 4 Months
• Base metal of Thermo Compressor Cone changed to Chome Moly from 516 Carbon Steel
• Radiographic examination of all welds made and welding specifications provided
• Stress Relief of assembly performed after fabrication
• Vibration analysis of piping conducted as well as improvements to their support system

RCA Team Statistics
Start Date: May, 1, 2000
End Date: May 8, 2000
Estimated Cost to Conduct RCA: $41,476
Return on Investment: ~1040%

[Top]

---

Alabama Power Company
Valliant, Oklahoma

Event Summary :
The Thermo Compressor Cone on Paper Machine Number 3 was experiencing repeated failures due to cracking along a longitudinal weld. Replacement Thermo Compressor Cones lasted two months and two days, respectively, before new cracking appeared.

RCA Team Acknowledgements:
Principal Analyst: Ronny Johnston
Title: Maintenance Planner
Company: Alabama Power
Site: Parrish, Alabama

Core RCA Team Members:
Paul Cooner
Chris Curow
Harold Dobbins
Steve Newton
David Hosmer

Bottom-Line Results

• The wrong bearing was found to be used as a replacement for the original bearing
• The impeller shaft run out was found to be not centered and in need of a spacer
• The correct bearing was installed and CMMS data was upgraded to reflect it.
• A spacer was installed and training was given to mechanics to help with proper alignment in the future.

RCA Team Statistics
Estimated Cost to Conduct RCA: $25,816.25
Estimated Return from RCA: The pump has not failed since the RCA saving rebuild costs like the five done the previous six months.
Return on Investment: ~3125%

Download PDF

[Top]

---

ISPAT Inland Steel

Event Summary :
During a routine slag wash, the operator in the pulpit (control room) was raising the 11-ton lance carriage. While raising the lance to its idle position approximately 80' above the fourth floor, a coupling on the drive platform failed, sending the lance carriage into a free fall. The carriage broke through the stop bolts and crashed into the 4th floor.

RCA Team Statistics
Start Date: November 16, 1996
End Date: June 26, 1997
Estimated Cost to Conduct RCA: $30,000
Estimated Returns from RCA: $1,150,000
Return On Investment: ~4000%

Download PDF

[Top]

---

Eastman Chemical Company
World Headquarters, Kingsport, TN

Event Summary :
Five (5) similar customer complaints were received concerning green pellets mixed with clear pellets. Complaints were received from more than one customer, but not all rail cars of product received a complaint.

The silos and conveying systems were checked prior to their initial use for the clear product. They were also cleaned and inspected after each customer complaint. Each time, one or more potential sources of green contamination was found and corrected.

After the fifth complaint, a team was put together to discover and eliminate the Root Cause of the contamination.

RCA Team Statistics
Start Date: July 14, 1998
End Date: July 21, 1998
Estimated Cost to Conduct RCA: $2,700
Estimated Returns from RCA: $85,000
Return On Investment: ~3200%

---

[Top]

Lyondell-Citgo

Event Summary :
Recurrent failures of vacuum column bottom pumps. Both pumps came on-line in December 1996. The Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) was very poor at three (3) months. Failures of mechanical seals, thrust bearings, impellers and case wear rings were very common.

Most of the failures occurred at start-up. The system operates with one pump as a primary pump and the other as a spare pump. Different attempts to correct the above problems failed. There was not a good understanding of the causes of these failures and most important how they correlated to each other. At times, both pumps would not be available. The impact on production and the excessive maintenance costs resulted in management appointing a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) team to find and implement final solutions to these problems.

RCA Team Statistics
Start Date: August 4, 1997
End Date: September 26, 1997
Estimated Cost to Conduct RCA: $40,000
Estimated Returns from RCA: $7,150,000
Return On Investment: ~17,900%

---

Special Note of Thanks
RCI would like to sincerely thank all the companies mentioned below for allowing RCI to publish their successes. RCI respects client confidentiality and will only use information with special permission. Our reliability methods are saving companies millions of dollars but many of our client's company policies does not allow them to disclose this type of information.

[Top]