A closed corrective action feels like a solved problem. But closing a case and closing a cause are different acts, and the gap between them is where defects recur.
Manufacturing entered 2026 with thinner margins than at any point in a decade. This essay examines the financial case for investigation efficiency in quality, process, and operations engineering.
A fifteen-year operational survey across defense, aviation, energy, and advanced manufacturing reveals why CAPA investigations consistently misattribute root cause.
Root causes don't exist. Failure topologies do. We introduce Lattice Root Cause—a new framework for industrial failure diagnosis.
Nearly half of FDA warning letters to pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers cite inadequate root cause investigation. The problem lies in diagnosis rather than detection.
At Auxiliary Machines, we realized that if manufacturing is evolving, the way we problem solve needs to evolve, too.
