What Does Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Mean?

Root cause analysis (RCA) is a problem-solving method which is used to pinpoint the exact cause of a problem or event.

The root cause is the actual cause of a specific problem or set of problems, and when that cause is removed, it prevents the final undesirable effect from occurring.

RCA is a reactive method, as opposed to preventive, since it will be employed only after a problem has occurred in order to find its cause and prevent it from happening again.

Techopedia Explains Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

  • Failure-based RCA descended from failure analysis in engineering and maintenance.
  • Safety-based RCA from the fields of accident analysis and occupational health and safety.
  • Systems-based RCA from ideas taken from change and risk management and systems analysis.
  • Production-based RCA from quality control in manufacturing.
  • Process-based RCA is sort of a continuation of production-based RCA which is expanded to include business processes and not just manufacturing.