Title: Root cause analysis using extended cause-effect chain analysis plus method for cleanroom relative humidity problem in the semiconductor industry

Authors: Sri Rahayu Salehan; Rosmaini Ahmad

Addresses: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Puah Putra Campus, Arau, 02600, Perlis, Malaysia ' Advanced Manufacturing System Research Group, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Puah Putra Campus, Arau, 02600, Perlis, Malaysia

Abstract: This study presents a systematic root cause analysis (RCA) to investigate the relative humidity (RH) problem. The RCA method, known as extended cause-effect chain analysis plus (CECA+) is proposed. The method provides a systematic and attractive manner to manage multi-inter relationships of causes and effects of a problem. Based on the solutions idea generation and verification processes, a final solution idea was obtained. The cleanroom RH trend showed significant improvement that it met the specification of fewer fluctuations at <50%. In addition, the cleanroom temperature trend remained unchanged at the normal allowable cleanroom operation temperature target of < 23.5°C. These results indicate the proposed solution idea is effective for the problem being investigated. The proposed method has the potential to be applied independently to solve other complex manufacturing problems due to its generic structure design. Finally, it can be applied concurrently with other continuous improvement methodologies such as Lean Six Sigma.

Keywords: root cause analysis; RCA; extended cause-effect chain analysis plus.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2023.131288

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2023 Vol.39 No.2, pp.257 - 286

Received: 21 May 2021
Accepted: 16 Jul 2021
Published online: 06 Jun 2023 *

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