A common stopping point
“We found a cause.”
The team identifies a plausible factor, applies a fix, and hopes the failure stays away.
Super Advanced Anticipatory Failure Determination
Think beyond failure.
What if your team could do more than explain what went wrong? SAAFD helps teams uncover how failures become possible, test the pathways that create them, and design stronger ways to prevent them.
SAAFD
Anticipate · Prove · Prevent01
UnderstandDefine the failure
04
ProveVerify the pathway
06
PreventLock in learning
Go beyond symptoms
Challenge assumptions
Strengthen controls
Support human judgment
Why SAAFD exists
Fixing the symptom is not the same as fixing the system.
Most organizations have useful quality tools. But tools used in isolation can leave important gaps: weak problem definitions, untested assumptions, incomplete cause pathways, and corrective actions that don't hold.
SAAFD was developed to strengthen the thinking between those steps. It draws on the foundations of failure analysis and quality improvement while adding a more deliberate process for anticipating, structuring, proving, and interrupting failure.
Why the approach mattersThe SAAFD progression
“We proved the pathway.”
The team connects conditions and controls with evidence, then breaks the conditions needed for recurrence.
The SAAFD methodology
Six phases. A stronger path to prevention.
Each phase builds on the one before it—so teams can move from a defined failure to evidence-backed, sustainable improvement.
Frame the Failure Target
Define the exact failure, its boundaries, and the conditions worth investigating.
Explore this phaseInvert the Pathway
Work backward and forward to uncover how the failure could be intentionally created.
Explore this phaseStructure the Failure Recipe
Connect triggers, conditions, actions, weaknesses, and timing into a testable pathway.
Explore this phaseProve the Path
Separate plausible explanations from supported mechanisms using evidence and safe tests.
Explore this phaseBreak the Recipe
Remove or interrupt key conditions with stronger, more reliable prevention controls.
Explore this phaseLock the Learning
Make improvements sustainable through standards, ownership, verification, and shared learning.
Explore this phaseNot a replacement for your quality tools.
See All Six Phases SAAFD is designed to make familiar tools more effective by giving teams a better investigative sequence.
The foundational book
A new way to investigate what could go wrong—and why.
Discover the thinking behind Super Advanced Anticipatory Failure Determination by Robert King. The book introduces the philosophy, method, and practical questioning approach that help people move from reactive problem solving toward stronger failure prevention.
Six-phase methodology
Practical investigation thinking
System-focused prevention
Examples and application guidance
Book price$49.99USD
View Book & Pricing Official book cover shown. For current ordering and availability information, contact SAAFD.
Programs in development
Learn the methodology
The next generation of quality thinking needs practical training.
SAAFD training is being designed to help individuals, facilitators, and organizations apply the method—not merely learn its terminology.
We are developing core instruction, deeper application workshops, and materials that connect the book to real-world team practice.
Core methodology training
A structured introduction to the six phases and supporting quality tools.
Advanced application workshops
More complex investigations, proof strategies, and stronger prevention design.
Trainer and team resources
Facilitator guidance, participant exercises, and workplace application support.
Organization and leadership sessions
Programs to build alignment around investigation quality and system learning.
Built for real-world decisions
A methodology that travels across industries.
Wherever failures arise from interacting people, processes, technologies, controls, and decisions, deeper investigation can improve outcomes.
Manufacturing & Quality
Engineering & Design
Service & Operations
Leaders & Improvement Teams
Start the conversation
Improve how your organization thinks about failure.
Ask about the book, upcoming training, organization briefings, or how SAAFD can support stronger investigations.