THE original title of this article was to have been 'Tell me how you do root cause analysis and I'll tell you how stupid you are.' We couldn't use it, however, for two major reasons: One, it's too long a title. Two, it could put off a lot of readers with a straight to the gut accusation, even if it's true.

This came to me when I read a social media post on a bad 5Y experience by one factory director as a prelude to solving oft-repeated raw material shipment delays. Delays result in a lot of waste and lost revenue because of the waiting process, one of the great evils in production management.