Create a Root Cause Analysis Report

availability

Platform:	WebMobile
Plan Type:	BasicEssentialPremiumEnterprise
User Type:	RequesterFull UserAdministrator

This article explains how to create root cause analysis reports in MaintainX® to document asset failures.

Requirements

To create root cause analysis reports, you must have root cause analysis categories and options set up for your organization. For more information, see Set Up Root Cause Analysis Categories.

Workflow Overview

To create a root cause analysis report, do the following:

1. Start a Root Cause Analysis Report: Create a new report when you change an asset's status, or from scratch.
2. Set the Incident Period and Repair Time: Set start and end dates to specify how long it took to resolve the incident, and optionally, how much of that time it took to complete the repair.
3. Document the Asset Failure: Use your root cause analysis categories and options to document why the asset failed using standard, consistent terms.
4. Add Notes: Notes fill in important details that structured categories and options don't capture.
5. Save the Report.

Start a Root Cause Analysis Report

You can start a new root cause analysis report when you change an asset's status, or create a new root cause analysis from scratch.

Create a Report When You Change an Asset's Status

Web

1. Change the status of the asset that you want to start a root cause analysis report for. You can change the status from the following places:

   • From the asset details page: On the Insights tab, navigate to the Status and Meter Readings section and select a new status from the drop-down.

     

     Changing asset status from the asset details

   • From a work order: in the work order details, navigate to the Asset section and select a new status from the drop-down.

     

     Changing asset status from a work order

   The Update Asset Status dialog opens.

   

   The Update Asset Status dialog

2. If you selected an Offline status, choose a Downtime Type 1.

3. (Optional) Fill in the other fields as needed.

   If the asset is part of an asset hierarchy, you can use the Update parent and sub-assets options 2 apply the status update to more than one asset in the hierarchy. In that case, the root cause analysis report will include all the selected assets. For details, see Root Cause Analysis Reports for Asset Hierarchies.

4. Select Update and start root cause analysis 3.

5. The Root Cause Analysis page opens.

6. Enter the Start and End dates for the Incident Period and, optionally, the Repair Time. For details, see Set the Incident Period and Repair Time.

7. Document one or more problems using the root cause analysis categories and options. For details, see Document the Asset Failure.

Mobile

1. Change the status of the asset that you want to start a root cause analysis report for. You can change the status from the following places:

   • From the asset details screen: On the Insights tab, navigate to the Status section and select a new status.

     

     Changing asset status from the asset details

   • From a work order: in the work order details, navigate to the Asset section and select a new status from the drop-down.

     

     Changing asset status from a work order

   The Update Asset Status screen opens.

   

   The Update Status screen for assets

2. If you selected an Offline status, choose a Type of Downtime 1.

3. (Optional) Fill in the other fields as needed.

   If the asset is part of an asset hierarchy, you can use the Update parent and sub-assets options 2 apply the status update to more than one asset in the hierarchy. In that case, the root cause analysis report will include all the selected assets. For details, see Root Cause Analysis Reports for Asset Hierarchies.

4. Select Update and start root cause analysis 3.

5. The Root Cause Analysis screen opens.

6. Enter the Start and End dates for the Incident Period and, optionally, the Repair Time. For details, see Set the Incident Period and Repair Time.

7. Document one or more problems using the root cause analysis categories and options. For details, see Document the Asset Failure.

Create a Report from Scratch

Web

1. From the sidebar, select Assets.
2. Select an asset to view its details.
3. On the Insights tab of the asset details, navigate to the Root Cause Analysis section and select Create New.
4. Enter the Start and End dates for the Incident Period and, optionally, the Repair Time. For details, see Set the Incident Period and Repair Time.
5. Document one or more problems using the root cause analysis categories and options. For details, see Document the Asset Failure.

Mobile

1. From the bottom navigation bar, select Assets.
2. Select an asset to view its details.
3. On the Insights tab of the asset details, navigate to the Root Cause Analysis section and select Create New.
4. Enter the Start and End dates for the Incident Period and, optionally, the Repair Time. For details, see Set the Incident Period and Repair Time.
5. Document one or more problems using the root cause analysis categories and options. For details, see Document the Asset Failure.

Set the Incident Period and Repair Time

A root cause analysis report has a required Incident Period section and an optional Repair Time section.

• Incident Period is the total time period of the incident you're documenting in the root cause analysis report.

  The incident period Start and End date fields are both required.

• Repair Time is the portion of the incident period that technicians spent working on the asset. It specifies the date the repair started, and the date it was fully completed, but not the exact amount of hours that the team logged for repairs (i.e., wrench time).

  Repair Time is optional. To add it to the report, select Add repair time. Then fill in the Start and End date fields.

  tip

  Although Repair Time isn't required, if you include it consistently, it can be useful for seeing how much of your overall asset downtime is actually spent fixing assets.

  A big difference between incident periods and repair time periods might be a sign that there are time sinks in your repair process that you need to address.

Document the Asset Failure

After you create a new root cause analysis report, you can document the asset failure using the root cause analysis categories and options defined for your organization.

A root cause analysis consists of one or more problems that led to the asset failure. Each problem has a Problem Type, Failure, Cause, and one or more Actions.

Option	Description
Problem Types	The kind of problem, but not the specific point of failure (e.g., component wear, vibration, temperature extremes).
Failures	The specific component or system that failed (what broke)
Causes	The underlying reason or condition that led to the failure (why it broke)
Actions	The work you do to repair the asset and get it back online (how it was fixed).

If you add more than one category to a report, problems are grouped by category.

note

You can only choose from the categories and options that are already configured for your organization. For more information about managing categories and options, see Set Up Root Cause Analysis Categories.

To add problem descriptions to a root cause analysis report:

Web

1. Create a new root cause analysis report or open an existing draft.

2. On the Root Cause Analysis page, select a problem category from the Problem Categories list.

   

   Selecting a problem category for root cause analysis

3. Select a Problem Type, Failure, Cause, and one or more Actions.

   

   Documenting problem details in a root cause analysis report

4. (Optional) To add another problem in the same category, select Add Problem.

5. (Optional) To add another category, select it from the Add Problem Category list. Then add one or more problems for the new category.

   

   Adding a new problem category to a root cause analysis report

Mobile

1. Create a new root cause analysis report or open an existing draft.

2. On the Root Cause Analysis screen, select a problem category from the Problem Categories list.

   

   Selecting a problem category for root cause analysis

3. Select a Problem Type, Failure, Cause, and one or more Actions.

   

   Documenting problem details in a root cause analysis report

4. (Optional) To add another problem in the same category, select Add Problem.

5. (Optional) To add another category, select Add Category, and select a category from the add category screen. Then add one or more problems for the new category.

Add Notes (Optional)

Adding notes to your root cause analysis reports help you record important details about an asset failure that are hard to capture with predefined categories and options. Notes complement the structured data to provide a comprehensive description of an incident.

• To add notes for a specific problem in a report, select Add Notes.
• Use the Notes field at the end of the form to add general notes for the whole report.

Save the Report

While you're working on a root cause analysis report, select Save Draft any time to save a snapshot of your work in progress.

When the report is finished, select Save to save the final version.

note

You can save a draft even if it's missing required information, but to save the final version of the report, you must complete all required fields.

Finish a Draft Report

If you save a root cause analysis as a draft, you can edit it to continue or complete it.

Web

To edit a draft report:

1. From the Assets module, select the asset whose draft report you want to edit to view its details.

2. On the Insights tab of the asset details, locate the draft report you want to edit and select Finish Report to open it.

3. Edit the report as needed:

   • Update the Incident Period or Repair Time
   • Document the Asset Failure
   • Add notes

4. Select Save Draft to save your changes, or Save if the report is complete.

Mobile

To edit a draft report:

1. From the Assets module, select the asset whose draft report you want to edit to view its details.

2. On the Insights tab of the asset details, locate the draft report you want to edit and select the (right chevron) icon to open it.

3. Edit the report as needed:

   • Update the Incident Period or Repair Time
   • Document the Asset Failure
   • Add notes

4. Select Save Draft to save your changes, or Save if the report is complete.

Root Cause Analysis Reports for Asset Hierarchies

If an asset is part of an asset hierarchy (see About Asset Hierarchies), a failure might affect its parent asset or sub-assets.

To include all the affected assets in the root cause analysis report for the incident, you have to create the report when you change the asset's status (see Create a Report When You Change an Asset's Status).

In the Update Asset Status (web) / Update Status (mobile) options, select the Update parent and sub-assets option to choose the assets in the hierarchy that you want to apply the status change to.

Selecting affected assets from an asset hierarchy

When you fill out the report, the title includes a link to a list of affected assets.

The root cause analysis report creation screen links to a list of affected assets

The published report lists the affected assets.

The published root cause analysis report lists affected assets

An asset's root cause analysis history lists all the reports where it's either the main asset or one of the affected assets.