Philip Sage

What is Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and Why It’s Crucial to Industry

RCA provides a structured, data-driven approach to problem-solving, helping manufacturers, safety professionals and asset maintainers avoid costly cycles of treating only symptoms and implementing temporary fixes. Utilizing RCA can result in sustainable improvements, cost savings, safety improvements, higher throughput and first-quality output/production as well as a stronger culture of continuous improvement among other things.

Manufacturers must care about performing RCA because it can enable them to solve problems at their source, leading to fewer recurring defects, reduced downtime/improved uptime, as well as improved safety, product quality improvements, greater operational efficiency, and continued compliance.

RCA is not limited to asset management, reliability or maintenance, and has been used very successfully in safety, health care, space, and other industries.

Why Manufacturer’s Can’t Ignore RCA

When manufacturers ignore RCA, they risk falling into a pattern of recurring issues due to downtime such as missed production targets, increased costs, and lost revenue. Problems are more likely to resurface, leading to ongoing inefficiencies, poor product quality, and potential safety hazards. Ultimately, neglecting RCA in your work place undermines competitiveness and can damage a manufacturer’s reputation and profitability.

The Purpose of RCA

Core Objectives of RCA

No process is perfect. It is not. Continuous Improvement is vital and knowing what exactly needs to change is vital. In Asset Management RCA is an essential tool in helping to strategically evolve to higher availability and production levels.

Root cause analysis (RCA) is also essential in manufacturing because it systematically identifies the underlying causes of quality defects, failures, or process issues, rather than just addressing symptoms. This approach leads to several key benefits:

Prevents Recurring Problems

By addressing the root cause, manufacturers and maintainers avoid repeated failures and reduce the overall cost of defects and downtime. RCA helps identify how that big failure occurred, and what can be done to prevent recurrence.

Improves Product Quality

RCA also helps ensure that products consistently meet quality standards by eliminating sources of variation and error in a manufacturing process, thus supporting the quality management system.

Boosts Efficiency and Reduces Waste

RCA streamlines operations by helping to identify and minimizing unnecessary rework, process delays, and excess inventory, supporting lean and Six Sigma methodologies.

Enhances Reliability and Safety

Systematically solving problems improves equipment reliability, process stability, and workplace safety. No matter how serious the accident or near miss RCA can help identify the underly reasons it occurred.

Supports Continuous Improvement

RCA fosters a culture of proactive problem-solving and collaboration, driving ongoing operational improvements. If you have used RCM to develop your asset maintenance strategy RCA is the perfect companion for analyzing complex asset failures.

Supports Compliance

By providing thorough documentation and tailored solutions, RCA helps organizations meet regulatory standards and demonstrates a commitment to safety and quality to regulators and customers.

Root cause analysis (RCA) can systematically analyze the alignment—or lack thereof—between key organizational elements: work, people, structure, and maintenance culture.

One such methodology known as the Congruence Model involves a process that:

• Examines Each Element Individually: Assessing the current state of work processes, employee skills and needs, organizational structure, and prevailing maintenance culture.
• Analyzes Interactions: Evaluating how well these elements work together—for example, whether the structure supports the work, or if the maintenance culture motivates and aligns with employees’ skills and maintenance goals.
• Identifies Misalignments: Pinpointing where gaps or incongruence exist, which are often the root causes of performance issues or inefficiencies.
• Diagnoses Problems Holistically: Using the model as a diagnostic tool to see beyond surface symptoms and understand deeper, systemic issues that affect organizational outcomes. Identifies transitory and non-transitory causes and their logical connections.

By applying this and other structured methodologies (e.g. 5 Whys, Fishbone Diagram, Fault Tree Analysis), leaders can uncover and address the true sources of organizational challenges, rather than just treating symptoms.

RCA at a Glance: Seven Key Stages

At Mantua, we guide clients through each stage with discipline and clarity, using a blend of expert facilitation, cross-functional collaboration, and modern tools.

How to Perform an Root Cause Analysis with Mantua Group

Stage 1: Investigation and Analysis

Conducting thorough investigations into incidents, failures, or issues to identify the underlying root causes. This involves gathering data, interviewing personnel, reviewing documentation, data, emails, communications, systems, and analyzing factors that contributed to the event.

Stage 2: Root Cause Identification

Applying structured methodologies depending on the severity of your problem (e.g., 5 Whys, Fishbone Diagram, Cause and Effect Diagrams, or Fault Tree Analysis) to systematically identify root causes rather than symptoms or superficial causes/symptoms. The goal is to determine the fundamental reason or combination of reasons as to why an issue occurred.

Stage 3: Causal Factor Analysis

Examining contributing factors and events that led up to the incident. RCA seeks to understand the sequence of events and conditions that created or allowed the problem to occur. We seek to identify both transitory and non-transitory causes (sometimes called action and condition causes).

Stage 4: Recommendations and Corrective Actions

Developing actionable recommendations and corrective actions to address identified root causes and prevent recurrence of similar incidents. This includes prioritizing actions based on risk and feasibility, action tracking and management of the overall RCA program.

Stage 5: Implementation Support

Assisting with the implementation of corrective actions and monitoring their effectiveness over time. Providing guidance on tracking progress, validating improvements, and adjusting strategies as needed.

Stage 6: Training and Capacity Building

Providing training programs and workshops on RCA methodologies, techniques, and best practices. Building internal capability to conduct effective RCA and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Stage 7: Documentation and Reporting

Documenting the RCA process, findings, and recommendations in a comprehensive report. Communicating findings to stakeholders and management to support decision-making and organizational learning.

In summary, RCA is essential in manufacturing today and a RCA culture achieves long-term success and improvements in quality, efficiency, and competitiveness by ensuring problems, not just symptoms, are solved at their source. Are you ready to start?

Why Mantua Group?

• Independent Expertise: We apply structured, vendor-agnostic RCA methodology.
• Industry-Proven Tools: Digital scribing, logic trees, consequence ranking models.
• Cross-Sector Know-How: Clients in energy, mining, defense, and heavy industry.
• Execution Focus: We ensure outputs are deployable in your CMMS with clear work instructions, frequency logic, and resource planning.

RCA with Real Business Impact

Mantua’s RCA programs reduce unplanned downtime, improve asset availability, and eliminate non-value-added maintenance — all while enhancing compliance and safety performance.

One-Page Visual Workflow

Download our RCA Project Infographic or connect with our team to learn how to apply Mantua’s pragmatic approach to your next critical asset.

Click to learn more about Mantua Group and Sologic Root Cause Analysis (RCA).

At Mantua Group, we believe that a well-executed Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) program is not just about preventing failure — it’s about enabling high-value, risk-informed decision-making for physical assets across their entire lifecycle.

What Is RCM and Why It Matters

Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) is a structured approach used to ensure that physical assets continue to perform their intended functions in their operational context. It is primarily used in industries where asset reliability is critical, such as aerospace, manufacturing, transportation, and energy. It can be performed under a variety of variations including RCM II and variations that support Mil-2173 AS optimization, and we produce the needed work instructions and data load files for your CMMS.

RCM is a rigorous methodology used to identify and analyze the critical functions of an asset and their potential failure modes. It’s not merely a type of maintenance like preventive (PM) or condition-based (CBM) — it’s a strategic process focused on defining what maintenance is necessary and why, to achieve the inherent reliability and availability of an asset.

The purpose of RCM (Reliability-Centered Maintenance) is to ensure that assets continue to do what their users require in their present operating context, by developing a cost-effective, risk-based maintenance strategy.

Core Objectives of RCM:

Preserve System Functionality

Focuses on keeping equipment and systems performing their intended functions.

Ensure Safety and Compliance

Identifies failures that could compromise safety, environmental standards, or legal compliance, and prevents them where possible.

Optimize Maintenance

Avoids over- or under-maintaining assets by selecting the most appropriate maintenance tasks (e.g., predictive, preventive, or run-to-failure).

Increase Reliability and Availability

Reduces unplanned downtime and extends asset life by proactively managing failure modes.

Improve Cost-Efficiency

Targets maintenance efforts where they matter most, minimizing unnecessary labor, parts, and downtime.

RCM provides the bridge between design intent, operational reality, and optimized maintenance — transforming maintenance from a cost center to a value driver.” – Phil Sage, CEO of Mantua Group

RCM at a Glance: Five Key Stages

• Preparation and Scope Definition
• Analysis Stage – answering the seven RCM questions
• Maintenance Task Packaging, Optimization & CMMS Load Sheet
• Act and Sustain
• Continuous Improvement (Living Program)

At Mantua, we guide clients through each stage with discipline and clarity, using a blend of expert facilitation, cross-functional collaboration, and modern tools.

How to Perform an RCM Analysis with Mantua Group

Stage 1: Preparation & Scope Definition

Step 1: Assemble the Right Team

RCM success begins with a capable, cross-functional team with specific subject matter experts (SMEs) in your equipment and environment. Mantua recommends teams of 6–8 members from operations, maintenance, systems/manufacturing engineering, quality, as well as OEM representatives and others within various disciplines. Our RCM facilitators ensure productive sessions, while digital scribes operate our preferred RCM software platforms to document live analysis and ensure consistency with naming conventions and logic trees.

Step 2: Define Scope and Boundaries

We help you select the right asset for pilot studies, define the analysis level (system, sub-system, component), and draw clear functional boundaries using Functional Block Diagrams (FBDs). Our approach is to start small and build momentum, avoiding the risk of incomplete projects.

Step 3: Establish Clear Terms of Reference (TOR)

A Mantua-designed TOR outlines project purpose, roles, schedule, scope boundaries, and assumptions. This aligns all stakeholders and sets clear expectations from the outset.

Step 4: Gather Documentation

Mantua works with your teams to collect OEM manuals/drawings, P&IDs, service histories, failure logs, and existing Preventive Maintenance (PM) strategies — ensuring that the analysis is grounded in real-world data.

Stage 2: Structured Analysis & Answering the 7 RCM Questions

The Seven RCM Questions

Following IEC 60300-3-11, we guide teams through the classic seven RCM questions, with an emphasis on:

• Defining clear, measurable functions (e.g., “To deliver 800 LPM at 40 PSI”)
• Identifying functional failures and plausible failure modes
• Analyzing failure effects and consequences using FMEA/FMECA hybrid models
• Selecting the most appropriate proactive tasks (Failure Finding, CBM, PM, or RTF)

At the heart of Mantua Group’s RCM methodology are seven essential questions. These form the backbone of our structured asset analysis — designed to translate system knowledge into effective, risk-informed maintenance strategies.

Step 5: Identify Function

What is the asset expected to do — and to what standard — in its current operational environment? (functions)
We start by clearly defining the asset’s intended functions and measurable performance standards, framed in operational language (e.g., “deliver 600 LPM at 45 PSI”).

Step 6: Identify Functional Failures

How can the asset fail to meet its intended functions? (functional failures)
Here we identify functional failures — the specific ways performance can degrade or be lost — across each defined function.

Step 7: Identify Failure Modes

What are the credible causes of each functional failure? (failure modes)
We determine the failure modes, focusing on plausible, consequence-driven scenarios rather than exhaustive lists. This helps maintain analysis discipline and decision relevance.

Step 8: Identify Failure Effects

What are the observable effects when each failure occurs? (failure effects)
This step considers what the team will see, hear, or detect — both at the local and system level — when a failure mode manifests. This drives the detection portion of the strategy.

Step 9: Identify Failure Consequences

We explore the consequences of each failure mode: operational disruption, safety or environmental risks, hidden failure risks, or non-critical effects. Our consequence matrix guides clear prioritization.

Step 10: Identify Proactive Tasks and Intervals

What proactive actions can be taken to prevent or predict the failure? (proactive tasks & intervals)
Maintenance tasks are selected based on technical feasibility, cost-effectiveness, and risk mitigation. These include condition-based, scheduled restoration, or failure-finding tasks.

Stage 3: Maintenance Task Packaging, Optimization & CMMS Load Sheet

Step 11: Identify Default Actions

What action should be taken if no suitable preventive task is feasible? (default actions)
When proactive tasks are impractical, we evaluate default strategies such as redesign, redundancy, or run-to-failure — always considering spare part logistics and operational impact.

Mantua Insight: Our team emphasizes consequence-based prioritization using the RCM II logic diagram and our custom decision trees. Hidden failure modes, safety/environmental risks, and operational losses are all addressed explicitly, creating a defensible and transparent maintenance strategy.

Task Packaging and CMMS Integration Mantua Group helps you package selected tasks into logical, resource-efficient work orders for deployment through your CMMS. Tasks are grouped by frequency, skill type, and runtime feasibility — balancing shutdown and online inspections.

Optimizations: Lowest cost, highest availability and safety, and determine the optimal frequency to schedule each package.

Deployment: CMMS load sheets alteration plans, then develop precise and detailed work instruction documents and load handheld devices.

Stage 4: Act and Sustain

We develop the most appropriate maintenance tasks into an optimized maintenance plan, and help determine time intervals for tasks to be carried out for the greatest efficiency and effectiveness.

Stage 5: Continuous Improvement (Living Program)

We track post-RCM performance data, identify recurring or escaped failures, and adjust strategies accordingly. Our approach reflects the intent of Nowlan and Heap’s original vision — embedded, evolving reliability strategy.

Why Mantua Group?

• Independent Expertise: We apply structured, vendor-agnostic RCM methodology.
• Industry-Proven Tools: Digital scribing, logic trees, consequence ranking models.
• Cross-Sector Know-How: Clients in energy, mining, defense, and heavy industry.
• Execution Focus: We ensure RCM outputs are deployable in your CMMS with clear work instructions, frequency logic, and resource planning.

RCM with Real Business Impact

Mantua’s RCM programs reduce unplanned downtime, improve asset availability, and eliminate non-value-added maintenance — all while enhancing compliance and safety performance.

One-Page Visual Workflow

Download our RCM Project Infographic or connect with our team to learn how to apply Mantua’s pragmatic approach to your next critical asset.

While you are here at www.mantua.group, explore more about how we support reliability transformations that deliver sustainable results.