Why do manufacturing businesses still need a structured problem solving process?

Because no matter how experienced your people are, problems will always happen and how you deal with them determines whether they come back.

In hazardous area manufacturing, robust safety controls and well-defined procedures are essential.What makes the difference is having a consistent, structured way to respond when something needs investigating. A structured response ensures corrective actions are effective and preventive measures are embedded into future working practices. At Extronics, we use the 8D (Eight Disciplines) Problem Solving methodology to understand issues properly, make targeted improvements, and ensure learning is captured and shared across the business.

Experience Brings Insight

One of Extronics’ strengths is the range of backgrounds across our manufacturing team. Colleagues like Natasha Taylor (Quality Engineer), with experience in FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) and food manufacturing, bring a strong focus on consistency, discipline, and repeatable processes. Others, including myself, come from industries like aerospace engineering, medical laser manufacturing, and automotive, where traceability, precision, and structured problem solving are part of everyday life.

Different industries bring different perspectives on risk, quality control, and problem solving — but the principle is the same:

The 8D approach provides a calm, proven way to step back, understand what’s happening, and make meaningful improvements to processes.

What Is 8D Problem Solving?

The 8D Problem Solving methodology is a structured way to investigate issues and put long-term improvements in place.

Originally developed by the Ford Motor Company, it’s widely used in industries where quality, safety, and reliability are important. Rather than quick fixes, 8D helps teams clearly:

1. Define issues
2. Identify root causes
3. Implement permanent actions
4. Share learning across the business

It follows the Plan–Do–Check–Act (PDCA) approach, supporting structured continuous improvement through evidence-based decisions.

A Practical Breakdown of the 8D Process

D0: Prepare and Stabilize

Put immediate actions in place to ensure products, processes, and customer requirements continue to be met while the investigation begins. This creates a stable baseline, allowing the team to investigate in a controlled way without impacting quality or delivery.

D1: Build the Right Team

Bring together cross-functional expertise from manufacturing, quality, engineering, and operations. Involving the right people early leads to better discussions, broader understanding, and solutions that work across the whole process rather than in isolation.

D2: Describe the Problem Clearly

Use tools like 5W2H, a simple questioning framework that looks at who, what, where, when, why, how, and how many, to clearly define what’s happening and the impact. This step focuses purely on understanding the issue, not solving it, ensuring everyone is aligned before moving forward and preventing assumptions from driving the investigation.

D3: Safeguard Quality and Delivery

Short-term measures are used to maintain quality and delivery while the team investigates further. These can include additional checks, closer monitoring, or extra verification to help everything continue to meet requirements, providing added assurance for customers as a permanent improvement is developed.

D4: Identify the Underlying Cause

Structured tools such as fishbone diagrams and 5 Whys are used to understand what led to a specific outcome.

A fishbone diagram helps organise thinking across areas such as people, processes, materials, machines, measurements, and environment, verifying that all relevant factors have been considered.

The 5 Whys technique involves asking “why” in a structured way to move beyond surface observations and build a clear comprehension of the underlying cause. This insight supports well-targeted improvements.

D5: Confirm the Right Improvement

Once the underlying cause is acknowledged, potential improvements are assessed to ensure they will address the issue effectively. This step focuses on selecting solutions that are practical, achievable, and appropriate for the application, without introducing new risks or unintended consequences.

D6: Implement and Validate the Improvement

The chosen improvement is implemented to carry out corrective actions and then evaluated under real operating conditions to confirm it works as intended. Validating the change ensures it delivers the expected outcome, helping to improve quality and support reliable performance over time.

D7: Prevent Recurrence

Update processes, training, checks, or guidance so the improvement becomes part of everyday working. By adding the learnings into how things are done, the benefits are carried forward and help support ongoing improvement across the business.

D8: Recognize the Team

Acknowledge the team effort and reinforce a positive, disciplined improvement culture. Recognising good problem solving encourages the same structured, collaborative approach in the future, benefiting both the business and its customers.

A Structured Approach That Builds Confidence

At Extronics, the 8D process provides a structured way to strengthen our processes whenever it’s needed.

Well-structured problem solving efforts build confidence internally and provide assurance externally. Each step of the investigation is documented at the appropriate stage, resulting in a clear, structured report that captures findings, decisions, and learning. This ensures improvements are properly embedded, supports transparency, and builds customer trust that any challenges are handled thoughtfully, thoroughly, and professionally.

About the Author

PR

Peter Reynolds

Manufacturing Manager

Graduating from the University of Liverpool with an Aerospace Engineering degree in 2007, he has over 15 years of experience within the manufacturing sector and 10 years of management experience.

Last updated on February 17, 2026

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