Root Cause Analysis In Health Care: Tools And Techniques

Joint Commission Resources, 1 Renaissance Blvd., Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181, 2003, 214 pp., $60 (book).

Many industries have used root cause analysis (RCA) for years, but their failures are usually faulty products that can be repaired or replaced. In the healthcare industry the consequences are much more devastating--loss of a limb, bodily function or even life.

This book, in its second edition, is a companion to the Joint Commission on Accreditation Organization's Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, which describes a proactive technique used to prevent failure in healthcare.

This book is well organized and presents an overview of RCA, ways to determine and react to sentinel events, a step-by-step technique for conducting RCA, a list of tools and techniques, and a case study. It also considers how to evaluate the results of an action plan, a step all too often forgotten.

The useful sidebars and tables elaborate well on the text. One sidebar, for example, provides information on the Joint Commission's hotline, including website address, phone numbers and operating hours. The excellent glossary and bibliography are very thorough.

This is an excellent, comprehensive and detailed reference. By including key items such as process flowcharts, sample Joint Commission self-report forms, and numerous detailed outlines and forms for the entire process, it saves organizations the time and cost of developing their own forms. This savings alone justifies the purchase of the book by any healthcare organization.

John D. Richards
Defense Health Systems
San Antonio

Cost Half: The Method For Radical Cost Reduction

Toshio Suzue, Productivity Press, 444 Park Ave. S., New York, NY 11016, 2002, 240 pp., $45 (book).

At first glance this book seemed like another variant on reengineering or a similar approach. However, the author is an executive vice president of the Japan Management Assn. who consults for Sony, Nissan and Fuji. Furthermore, the book is published by the respected Productivity Press, so it promised much and was worth a careful study.

The methodology is a postvalue engineering, postvariety reduction system for use in companies working in mature and severely competitive markets with high cost pressures. The cost half ethic is deliberately radical to push beyond incremental improvements.

The book covers five core techniques--structural changes, logic changes, process changes, activity changes and precondition changes. Suzue also discusses deployment and benchmarking. All topics are covered in the same intense style, although none of the material would be over the head of anyone who has had reasonable change management experience.

Diagrams are plentiful, although often dense and difficult to understand. But there are hidden gems among them. There are also many examples of Suzue's systematic approach, but the book lacks a high level example to help readers understand the overall picture.

In general, this book provides new thought on improvement activities, especially in manufacturing environments. Although it does not add hugely to the field, it will still be useful for people whose current methods aren't producing results.

David Straker
Syque Consulting and Publishing
Crowthore, Berkshire, England

The Six Sigma Journey From Art to Science

Larry Walters, ASQ Quality Press, 600 N. Plankinton Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53203, 2002, 216 pp., $20 member, $25 list (book).

This is a business novel, and if you haven't read a business novel about Six Sigma before, it will really hold your interest. It is an introductory work that shows the change that can be made using Six Sigma.

I particularly like the notion of a journey from art to science. Until the advent of Six Sigma's define-measure-analyze-improve-control approach (DMAIC), I had always found conventional wisdom, folkloric specifications and the black art approach to manufacturing difficult to change. Walters uses an excellent writing style to show the way an organization can move from black art to science.

The book takes the reader through the Six Sigma process, from chaos to training, practice and success. It goes from several mysteries of manufacturing to several Black Belt projects and exposes the logic and value of the DMAIC process at every step.

If you are considering the Six Sigma journey, you should read this book before you start, and if you have already started, you should read it anyway. It will reassure you you're doing the right thing.

John Zavacki
ITT Industries
New Lexington, OH

Reliability Verification, Testing, and Analysis In Engineering Design

Gary S. Wasserman, Marcel Dekker, 270 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016, 2002, 416 pp., $165 (book).

This is a much needed up-to-date presentation of design verification and reliability analysis techniques. It strikes a balance between the use of computer aided engineering practices and classical life testing and is a reference on current theory and methods for designing reliability tests and analyzing reliability data using software such as Excel and Minitab.

The 10 chapters mix theoretical foundations, practical considerations and examples of software applications. Topics include design for reliability, estimation techniques, distribution fitting, test sample size determination, accelerated testing, engineering approaches to design verification and advanced likelihood estimation.

Wasserman shows how theory can help improve application and vice versa. Only an academic with practical industrial experience could write such a book, and Wasserman has both credentials.

The book has several potential audiences. The examples and exercises at the end of each chapter make it attractive to educators. They can use the book as a reference for hands-on workshops. Practitioners will find the text useful in handling practical problems.

On a minor note, the illustrations are of uneven quality--the black and white graphics are especially poor. Possibly this will be corrected in a second edition.

The author presents his work as a continuation of pioneer work done at Wayne State University by Ben Epstein, who strongly encouraged industrial applications of reliability and statistics. Wasserman's book is a significant contribution in this area, and I recommend it to educators, consultants and practitioners.

Ron S. Kenett
KPA Ltd.
Raanana, Israel

Handbook of Mass Measurement

Frank E. Jones and Randall M. Schoonover, CRC Press LLC, 2000 NW Corporate Blvd., Boca Raton, FL 33431, 2002, 336 pp., $99.95 (book).

Handbook of Mass Measurement is a very detailed reference book. Jones and Schoonover draw on their extensive career knowledge and other reference material to create an up-to-date source on the various facets of mass measurement.

The reader is taken from the definition of mass through the development of various mass standards. The book presents results from recalibrations, contamination studies and various cleaning methods. The best chapter of the book goes into the various aspects of uncertainty and other factors that produce error in mass measurement.

Each chapter is well written and includes references. The authors include a helpful chapter on statistical terms used throughout the book. Appendixes provide a sample course in weighing, various standard tables and a linearity test.

Anyone involved in mass metrology will find this a useful reference. I believe it would be equally useful in academia and industrial applications. The material presented ranges from the novice level to the most advanced levels.

Bryan Ruggles
Sanden International
Wylie, TX

The Six Sigma Memory Jogger

GOAL/QPC, 2 Manor Pkwy., Salem, NH 03079, 2002, 272 pp., $17.95 (book).

There is a saying, "If you do not use it, you lose it." This is especially true for people responsible for continuous improvement activities such as Six Sigma. Since not every organization has employees whose only job is to use quality tools every day, the people who do use them have occasional memory lapses.

The good news for them is GOAL/QPC has published another winner in its Memory Jogger series, The Six Sigma Memory Jogger. This compact, carry-to-all-your-meetings book guides the user through Six Sigma and contains the tools and examples necessary to complete a Six Sigma project. There are tools in here that are not even mentioned in larger Six Sigma books written by notable authors.

One of the book's real values is the three rhetorical questions that begin the discussion of each tool: Why use it? What does it do? How do I do it? The tool is then explained in easy to understand language with graphical examples showing how to apply the tool. Useful tips are scattered through each explanation.

The process sigma chart and yield conversion chart are also useful, easily converting yield and defects per million opportunities calculations to sigma values.

This stands up to other Six Sigma books, will not put a hole in your budget and fits easily in a pocket, purse or briefcase for immediate reference.

Wayne Sander
Dove Quality Consulting
Dousman, WI

Integrating ISO 14001 Into a Quality Management System

Marilyn R. Block and Robert Marash, ASQ Quality Press, 600 N. Plankinton Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53203, 2002, 280 pp., $30 member, $37.50 list (book).

Many organizations are integrating ISO 9000 compliant quality management systems with ISO 14001 environmental management systems. Understanding the similarities and differences between the two sets of standards is an important part of the integration.

In their book, now in its second edition, Block and Marash discuss the benefits of integration and the differences between partial integration (with two separate quality manuals) and full integration (with one manual that addresses the combined requirements). They review the explicit requirements of each standard to identify requirements with direct overlap. They tell how internal systems audits should be conducted and point out special considerations in an audit of an integrated system.

The useful appendixes include examples of quality manuals from ISO 9001:2000 certified companies and the same manuals after revisions to integrate ISO 14001 requirements.

The information is well organized into nine easy to navigate chapters. By following the step-by-step approach in the book, readers should be able to successfully integrate environmental requirements into their quality systems.

A good structure, easily read text, and illustrations and examples that clarify concepts make this a good book for organizations considering this integration.

Bengt Klefsjö
Luleå University
Luleå, Sweden

Recent Releases

Full Steam Ahead: Unleash the Power of Vision in Your Company and Your Life, Ken Blanchard and Jesse Stoner, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 235 Montgomery, Ste. 650, San Francisco, CA 94104, 2003, 171 pp., $19.95 (book).

ISO 9001:2000: Achieving Compliance and Continuous Improvement in Software Development Companies, Vivek Nanda, ASQ Quality Press, 600 N. Plankinton Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53203, 2003, 271 pp., $36 member, $45 list (book with CD-ROM).

Managing Projects in Organizations: How To Make the Best Use of Time, Techniques, and People, Third Edition, J. Davidson Frame, Jossey-Bass, 989 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94103, 2003, 258 pp., $45 (book).