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Root Cause Analysis

Root Cause Analysis in hours. Not 3 weeks.

Feed the failure event, the photos, the operating context. Get a structured RCA with 5-Why, Ishikawa, timeline, and corrective actions — ready for review.

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Centrifugal pump P-101A — disassembly evidence photo
Evidence photo
Case · RCA-2026-031
P-101A · BFW centrifugal pump · disassembly
18 Mar 2026 · 09:42
The Pain Today

What the manual workflow actually costs you.

01

RCAs drag on for weeks.

By the time the report lands, the next failure already happened. Lessons learned become lessons forgotten.

02

Context gets lost.

Photos in one folder, timeline in a notebook, ops logs somewhere in SCADA. Piecing it back together is half the work.

03

Depth is inconsistent.

Some RCAs go 5-Why deep. Others stop at surface cause. The difference is who had time that week.

How our AI agent handles it

Input → process → output.

STEP 01

Input event + evidence

Failure description, photos, ops logs, timeline.

STEP 02

Structure the analysis

5-Why + Ishikawa + timeline auto-built.

STEP 03

Suggest causes

Hypotheses ranked by likelihood + supporting evidence.

STEP 04

Corrective actions

Short-term containment + long-term fixes proposed.

STEP 05

Final RCA report

ISO 14224 structured PDF/Word — ready to circulate.

Case Study · Live walk-through

You feed the AI. It does the digging.

Centrifugal pump P-101A tripped at 03:47. The diagnosis used to take 3 weeks of back-and-forth. Here's how Rob's AI agent handles it in under 15 minutes.

CASE #RCA-2026-031 ASSET P-101A · BFW pump SEVERITY High DOWNTIME 14 h COST €38k
Step 1 · Inputs

What you give to Rob

Drop in everything. The richer the context, the deeper the analysis. Nothing leaves your environment.

  • SCADA / DCS trends
    Last 30 days · 1-min samples
  • Vibration spectrum
    Pre-trip 4 h FFT window
  • Oil & grease analysis
    Last 3 lab reports
  • Operator notes & shift logs
    Free-text DCS comments
  • Work-order & failure history
    CMMS, last 12 months
  • Disassembly photos
    Impeller, seal faces, casing
  • OEM manual & P&ID
    Datasheets, NPSH curve
rob-agent · investigating P-101A ● live
[00:01] Parsing SCADA trends, vibration FFT, oil reports…
[00:34] Anomaly: 1× rotor frequency peak +12dB pre-trip
[01:02] Pattern: classic cavitation signature
[02:18] Cross-checking suction pressure history…
[03:41] Hint: deaerator level setpoint changed 11 Mar
[04:30] Computing NPSH-a vs NPSH-r at new setpoint…
[06:15] Confirmed: NPSH margin = -0.6 m (insufficient)
[09:48] Tracing back to MOC #2026-014 → no NPSH check
[12:03] ✓ Root cause identified · drafting report…
Step 2 · Output · 5-Why with evidence
● ready
WHY 1
Pump tripped on high vibration (DE bearing > 12 mm/s)
Evidence: SCADA trip log 03:47, vibration trend
WHY 2
Impeller imbalance from cavitation damage
Evidence: 1× peak +12dB · disassembly photos
WHY 3
NPSH-available dropped below NPSH-required
Evidence: Suction pressure trend · OEM NPSH curve
WHY 4
Deaerator level setpoint lowered 11 Mar
Evidence: Operator log + DCS setpoint history
WHY 5 · ROOT
MOC review missed NPSH impact — procedural gap
Evidence: MOC #2026-014 — NPSH check absent from form
Corrective actions proposed
  • ✓ Add NPSH-A check to MOC checklist · owner: Ops mgr · 2 wks
  • ✓ Install cavitation alarm on suction pressure · owner: I&C · 4 wks
  • ✓ Replace impeller (P/N 30421-A) · owner: Mech · done
  • ✓ Add to lessons-learned KB · owner: Reliability · done
Your engineer always signs off. The AI proposes, ranks evidence, and drafts. A reliability engineer reviews the chain, the corrective actions, and approves before anything goes into the CMMS.
What You Get

Concrete deliverables. Ready to ship.

Where most RCAs die

The follow-through. We track it.

You shipped a great RCA. Then nothing happens. Owners forget, dates slip, actions vanish in inboxes. So we ship a tracking dashboard with every RCA — auto-emails, status, escalations. Until the action is closed and verified.

RCA-2026-031 · ACTION TRACKER
All Open Overdue · 1
Total actions
7
On time
86%
Closed
3 / 7
Auto-emails sent
12
Corrective actions
✓
Replace impeller P/N 30421-A
● M. LefevreMechClosed · 22 Mar
✓
Add to lessons-learned KB
● S. BrownReliabilityClosed · 24 Mar
3
Update MOC checklist · NPSH-A check
● Ops Mgr2 wksIn progress · due 4 Apr
!
Install cavitation alarm on suction P
● I&C team4 wksOverdue · +6 days
5
Verify NPSH after deaerator setpoint review
● Process6 wksOpen · due 28 Apr
Auto-emails & escalations
Reminder · sent automatically
Action #3 due in 3 days — Update MOC checklist (NPSH-A check). Owner: Ops Mgr.
to: ops.mgr@plant-north.com · 1 Apr 09:00
Escalation · auto-sent
Action #4 overdue (+6 d) — Cavitation alarm on suction P. Escalated to plant manager.
cc: plant.mgr@plant-north.com
Closure verified
Action #1 closed — Impeller replaced & verified by reliability sign-off.
22 Mar · M. Lefevre + S. Brown
Plug into anything: SAP PM · Maximo · Microsoft Teams · Slack · email · Jira · ServiceNow
Until every action is closed.
No more lost actions. Every corrective measure tracked from creation to verified closure — with reminders, escalations, and a full audit trail your auditor will love.
Side by side

Manual way vs. Rob Reliability AI.

Manual way

  • Draft time2–3 weeks
  • Analysis depthVaries by engineer
  • Evidence gatheringManual, scattered
  • Format consistencySite-dependent
  • Follow-throughActions lost in inbox

With Rob Reliability

  • Draft time30 min + 1h review
  • Analysis depthStandardized, 5-Why + Ishikawa
  • Evidence gatheringCentralized, linked
  • Format consistencyISO 14224 every time
  • Follow-throughActions traceable, owned
Rob — Founder, Senior Reliability Engineer
Built by a 20+ year reliability expert

Not theory. Practice.

Rob has led root cause investigations on seal failures, compressor trips, turbine upsets and pump blowouts. The agent structures the way Rob investigates — then a reliability engineer signs off.

Ready to try AI-Powered RCA
on one of your assets?

30-minute discovery call. We pick one asset, show you the output on your data, and size the deployment. No pitch. No obligation.

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