TITLE:
A Root Cause Analysis Application for Reducing Downtime
AUTHORS:
Fred J. Rispoli
KEYWORDS:
Root Cause Analysis, Downtime, Causal Tree, Stacked Bar Chart, Operating Equipment Effectiveness
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.13 No.6,
November
4,
2025
ABSTRACT: Reducing downtime is a common issue in many manufacturing operations. Often, a small reduction in downtime can lead to significant gains in profit. The downtime problem becomes exacerbated when expensive equipment is involved, and the manufacturer quite naturally would like to maximize production. In this article, we describe a root cause analysis for a downtime reduction project for the manufacturing of exterior building panels. The study is based on several real applications, but the names have been changed to preserve company information.