
Root Cause Analysis
for IIoT Operations
Overview
The industrial and manufacturing industries are faced with no shortage of unique challenges in today’s landscape. Among these hurdles are supply chain disruptions and raw material shortages. Companies
are dealing with inadequate workforces and unprecedented delays. And on top of this, they are having to adapt to the advancements in Industry 4.0 software if they want to be competitive.
In order to effectively address these challenges and avoid as much downtime as possible, businesses should implement
data collection and intelligence software that monitors their processes closely at every level. With these capabilities, businesses can
analyze areas in their production process that can be improved to achieve greater efficiency. This kind of software analyzes the root causes of problems and helps in resolving issues faster, so less money and time is wasted. Plus, solutions can be implemented sooner.
Solid root cause analysis starts with preservation of information and keeping data in a way that is easily accessible, leveraging analytics tools to help narrow down potential issues across multiple facilities.
Challenge
For industries such as industrial and manufacturing, one of the greatest challenges is pinpointing exactly where bottlenecks and other inefficiencies originate. Trying to manually locate problems along the production process can take substantial amounts of time. This leads to further equipment downtime and less overall efficiency.
When dealing with high-demand products or components, the last thing a business wants is to waste time, energy, and money searching for the cause of an issue or operation stoppage. This is especially true when considering the additional time and resources it takes to identify the appropriate solution and then put that solution into action.
Manufacturers and industrial companies should be able to identify a problem within minutes. Without root cause analysis, finding the source could take days, and is often performed in time-consuming, labor-instensive, and sometimes unreliable spreadsheets that do not provide data when it’s needed before a performance issue makes a significant impact to bottom lines.

Solution
With Sightline EDM for IIoT and utilities, businesses can take advantage of a comprehensive, artificial intelligence-powered solution to monitor and analyze work processes. With root cause analysis capabilities, manufacturers and industrial companies no longer need to waste
exponential time and money on inefficient problem-solving techniques.
Sightline offers a solution with real-time root cause analysis. Manufacturers and industrial companies can have access to live data from across all facilities and be alerted when potential problems arise during production—before the disruptions cause extreme, negative impacts to their bottom lines. Users can prevent future production issues by utilizing similar data from previous or recurring issues to quickly resolve new ones. No matter what facility the problem occurs in, teams will have access to recommended solutions from past triggers and fixes from previous incidents. Resource bottlenecks or hiccups with labor or production will be noted in customized reports and alerts to further shorten downtown and keep the facility on schedule.
Sightline analyzes the behavior and events of the following:
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- Machines
- Industrial control systems
- OT applications
With the advanced analytical data collected from the entire process, the software quickly combs through to identify the root cause, any symptoms in production related to the cause, and the corrective action needed to minimize the impact of the problem on overall operations. This often includes machine-specific information and performance, but it can also entail labor- specific information. For example, shift comparisons can reveal the root cause of differences in production or efficiency on different days. Sightline’s root cause analysis capabilities seamlessly take all factors within a manufacturing or industrial operation into account when identifying where improvements can be made.
Results
Using Sightline to manage inefficiencies and analyze root causes for problems like bottlenecks or delays can save a significant amount of both
time and money for manufacturers and industrial companies.
With root cause analysis capabilities, businesses can be proactive about production problems across their facilities. With speedy identification of
potential issues and root causes of present issues, companies can take corrective action and, in many cases, avoid adverse impacts of the problem
entirely. Additionally, responding quickly to issues will reduce costs by offering solutions that will prevent recurring issues. This will help facilities to
plan for and prevent possible issues in the future so optimal efficiency is not only achieved, but seamlessly maintained.