What is 8D?
An 8D Report or the Eight Disciplines Model is a problem-solving technique used to contain, resolve, or prevent issues identified in a product or process by quality engineers and other responsible personnel. Initially only used by the automotive industry due to Ford’s influence, it is now widely used in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, and retail, with great success.
The 8D Report is a comprehensive method that aims to eliminate problems by identifying and attacking its root cause(s). It achieves this by utilizing a combination of expertise, data analysis, management tools, and data validation.
This article will briefly discuss (1) What 8D is; (2) the pros and cons of 8D; and (3) technology and templates to assist in 8D reporting.
Click here to browse and download the best 8D Report Templates
The Pros and Cons of an 8D Report
The 8D Model has helped countless businesses improve their operations with its thorough, structured approach to problem solving. However, it has prerequisites that may not appeal to smaller operations with limited resources.
Pros
It provides a long-term solution
The 8D Model aims to eradicate the problem, not its symptoms. Once a problem has been identified, 8D takes a three-pronged approach to solving it.
- Containment
The goal of a containment measure is to minimize the potential damage that can be dealt by an identified issue while a permanent, long-term solution is being formulated. In the context of manufacturing, something as simple as halting production due to a faulty machine can limit the consequences of the problem.
- Resolution
Once damage control is successful, the focus shifts to creating a long-term solution. This is where the 8D Team, composed of experts in different facets of the business problem, brainstorm to come up with the most sensible and sustainable solution(s) to the issue.
- Prevention
After effectively resolving the issue, the final step is ensuring that it doesn’t happen again. Examples of preventive measures include updating policies, introducing new SOPs, or improving quality-control standards. Using a digital checklist to perform quality and process audits will help ensure that the changes made are consistently being implemented so the issue doesn’t recur.
It addresses the escape point
An “escape point” refers to the first control point in the system or process which was supposed to detect the problem, but failed. The study of escape points in 8D reporting helps teams find the flaws in safety measures and fail-safes so they can be improved. How well the team identifies and rectifies the escape point is crucial to their successful use of the 8D model.
It is flexible
The 8D Report Model has seen extensive use outside of the auto industry. Hardware manufacturing, food manufacturing, and healthcare are just a few of the many industries that have benefited from using the 8D Report Model.
Cons
Extensive training is needed to use it effectively
- Effective use of the 8D Model requires knowledge of the problem-solving process, as well as various data-collection and analysis tools.
- An 8D training program can be tedious to develop and conduct. A dedicated budget is also required if you plan to have your team take a pre-made 8D training course.
Technology to Assist in 8D Reporting
The 8D Problem Solving Model is a comprehensive technique and it is in your team’s best interest to utilize it efficiently and maximize its benefits. The solutions and preventive measures that result from the 8D Report must be based on the proper analysis of accurate data. Using a versatile data collection, analysis, and template-building app like iAuditor can help make 8D reporting easier, faster, and better.
Better, faster data collection
✔ Collect data from the field anytime with your phone or tablet, even while offline!
✔ Capture and annotate photos for documentation of evidence.
✔ Validate your findings with digital signatures.
✔ Save and secure your information with unlimited cloud storage.
Generate 8D reports instantly
✔ After completing the 8D report template, you can immediately generate a report to be shared with colleagues and stakeholders!
✔ Easily customize our pre-made 8D Report Template to fit your business needs.
✔ Export your 8D report in a variety of formats including PDF, DOC, and CSV.
Manage teams easier
✔ Assign and track corrective actions to team members through a single app.
✔ Update assigned corrective actions from your mobile device and receive notifications in real-time!
✔ World-class 24/5 customer support to assist you with your iAuditor queries.
The Best 8D Report Templates
An 8D report template is used to document a comprehensive root-cause analysis based on the 8 Disciplines of Problem-Solving popularized by the Ford Motor Company. 8D Teams can use this template to generate their 8D report after completion. With the iAuditor mobile app and software, you can:
- Customize 8D and other data collection templates so you can use them for data analysis.
- Capture photos and annotate them for evidence and documentation.
- Automatically organize and retrieve reports saved in secure cloud storage.
Use this 5 whys template to resolve the root cause of a problem so that your business teams can avoid encountering them again. Begin by clearly stating the problem and answer why the problem occurred until the root cause is discovered. To complete the 5 whys template, provide a solution to the root cause of the problem and create actions.
Use this root-cause analysis template to analyze a recurring problem and help eliminate the root causes. Begin by describing the issue and its impact. Next, list potential reasons why the issue happened and identify the root cause and take/attach photo evidence for verification. Provide a prevention strategy and recommend solutions before completing the RCA template with digital signatures.
A CAPA Report form is designed to help identify, address, and prevent the occurence of regulatory and organizational non-conformance. This can be used by compliance officers when formulating a corrective action to resolve the issue, and a preventive action to lower the risk of its recurrence.
