About us, and what we do

David Hartshorne, John Allen and The New Science of Fixing

David Hartshorne, John Allen and The New Science of Fixing Things bring years of experience helping clients improve product performance and reliability, and manufacturing performance in Automotive, Aerospace, Electronic and Chemical Industries. We are problem solvers - getting to the true root causes of our clients’ most difficult technical problems. The results are dramatic improvements, because our strategy avoids the mediocre.

Problem solving is different from inventing. It is about refining rather than redesigning (changing the way functions are performed) or reengineering (changing functions). Redesign is a medium-term activity, while reengineering is a much longer-term activity. Within both, a great deal of problem solving refinement takes place. Executives must be clear about which of these activities are appropriate to their situation if unnecessary costs are to be avoided. In fact, much redesign activity can be avoided – refinement is often all that is required. Redesign can bring a new set of problems to be solved, and it can often leave you with the old ones too.

The first big step forward in Engineering Problem Solving was to develop a convergent strategy and associated tactics based upon an efficient process of elimination. This is not as simple as it sounds, until you get the hang of it. Dorian Shainin was really the first to put some order into this process, and he became recognized as a leader in the field of Problem Solving he called Statistical Engineering. His Problem Solving Methodology can be explained by the fact that every problem can be written in the form Y = f(X). Making lists of X’s (potential causes), then testing them by trial and error is time consuming and wasteful, and usually doesn’t work anyway for tough problems. The Y-axis (effect), when forced to reveal its characteristic nature, is the key to solving tough problems faster. Dorian called it the Y to X strategy, contrasting it with the X to Y, trial and error approach.

Dorian got the first Six Sigma program started while working as a consultant at Motorola with Keki Bhote. Keki wrote books about what he learned from the experience. Interestingly, Dorian’s powerful Y to X, effect to cause, convergent strategy seems to have been lost by the majority of the current Six Sigma movement. The most powerful tools are mostly ignored, because the trainers are unaware of the questions that the tools were designed to answer. Consequently, finding the root cause takes longer, and much more resource than it should. The strongest root cause is often not found at all, and mediocre results become acceptable. A principle warning sign of performance and reliability improvement activity going astray is a focus on process variation reduction.

David Hartshorne, Tim Nelson, and John Allen spent years building on the work of Dorian, whilst and after we worked with him, developing more effective ways to solve problems faster. Our insights came from working on hundreds of real-world tough problems for the clients of Shainin LLC. John and David have now integrated Dorian’s convergent strategy with the Physics of Function and the Physics of Failure, which represents the second biggest step forward in Engineering Problem Solving. The tool used to make this connection is the E-FAST Diagram (Energy - Functional Analysis Systems Technique). Another exciting outcome of using E-FAST diagrams is their value in redesign and reengineering activities. Our approach can be described as Y to E to X. It is even more powerful than Y to X.