A pizza company stores located citywide uses one order call $-$in phone number for the entire city. Callers regardless of their address, can phone to XXX $1111$ to place an order. Based on the caller$$s phone number, an automated switch service directs the call to the appropriate store.

On a recent Friday evening, the pizza company lost as many as $15,000$ orders when a malfunctioning mechanical device made calls to its phone number impossible. From about $5$:$30$ to $8$:$00$ pm when callers hoping to place an order phoned they were met with either silence or a busy signal. This is not the first time a malfunction has occurred. Just two weeks earlier, the same problem surfaced. The pizza company and the company that installed the system are working to ensure that the situation doesn$$t repeat itself. They believe a defective call switch is to blame.

Based on what you have learned in this chapter, why is a structured problem$-$solving process critical to the success of finding and eliminating the problem? What steps do you recommend they follow?