Questions to ask before proceeding
-
Has the system ever worked before? If yes,
has anything happened to it since then that could cause
the problem?
-
Has this system proven itself to be prone
to certain types of failure?
-
How urgent is the need for repair?
-
What are the safety concerns,
before I start troubleshooting?
-
What are the process quality concerns,
before I start troubleshooting (what can I do without
causing interruptions in production)?
These preliminary questions are not trivial.
Indeed, they are essential to expedient and safe
troubleshooting. They are especially important when the
system to be trouble-shot is large, dangerous, and/or
expensive.
Sometimes the troubleshooter will be
required to work on a system that is still in full operation
(perhaps the ultimate example of this is a doctor diagnosing
a live patient). Once the cause or causes are determined to
a high degree of certainty, there is the step of corrective
action. Correcting a system fault without significantly
interrupting the operation of the system can be very
challenging, and it deserves thorough planning.
When there is high risk involved in taking
corrective action, such as is the case with performing
surgery on a patient or making repairs to an operating
process in a chemical plant, it is essential for the
worker(s) to plan ahead for possible trouble. One question
to ask before proceeding with repairs is, "how and at what
point(s) can I abort the repairs if something goes wrong?"
In risky situations, it is vital to have planned "escape
routes" in your corrective action, just in case things do
not go as planned. A surgeon operating on a patient knows if
there are any "points of no return" in such a procedure, and
stops to re-check the patient before proceeding past those
points. He or she also knows how to "back out" of a surgical
procedure at those points if needed. |