9/16/2015

Basic Seven Tools of Quality

The Basic Seven (B7) Tools of
TQM

1.
2.
3.

"As much as 95% of quality related problems in the factory can be solved
with seven fundamental quantitative tools." - Kaoru Ishikawa

4.
5.
6.
7.

Collated by Prof. Jerome Alvarez

Origin of the Basic 7 Tools

Kaoru Ishikawa
Known for Democratizing Statistics
The Basic Seven Tools made statistical analysis less
complicated for the average person

Check Sheets
Histograms
Scatter Plots
Control Charts
Pareto Analysis
Flowcharts
Fish Bone / Cause-and-Effect
Diagram

Check Sheets:
The check sheet is a tool that facilitates collection of
relevant data, displaying it in a visual form easily
understood by the brain. Check sheets make it easy to
collect data for specific purposes and to present it in a
way that automatically converts it into useful
information.

Good Visual Aids make statistical and quality control more

comprehendible.

Check Sheet Example

Histograms:
Histograms have to do with variability. Two kinds of data
are commonly associated with processes: attributes data and
variable data.
An attribute is something that the output product of the process either
has or does not have.
Variable data are data that result when something is measured.

A measurement scale across one axis and a frequency of like

measurements on the other.

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Histograms:

Histograms:

Bar graphs that show the frequency & distribution of

data by category or class.
Show range of values of a measurement & frequency
with which each value occurs.
Has vertical & horizontal axis.
Vertical: frequency of occurrence
Horizontal: Categories or class intervals

Constructing a Histogram
From a set of data:
sum
mean (x)
Max
Min
Range (max-min)

Constructing a Histogram
Use range to estimate beginning and end
Calculate the width of each column by
dividing the range by the number of columns

Range

= Width

# of Columns

Acme Pizza Example

Lets say the owner wants a distribution of
Acmes Thursday Night Sales
Data Set from last Thursday(slices)
021224131212243414322321221221422121221212121
21212221212112223142232221232242244122232212
24212421721223121121222122121222424

Acme Pizza Example

Mean = 2.032258
Max = 7
Min = 0
Range = 7
Question
For 7 columns what would the width be?

Range/Columns=7/7=1 slice

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Acme Pizza Example

Constructing a Histogram
How is this helpful to Acme?
2 slices of pizza most common order placed
Distribution of sales useful for forecasting next
Thursdays late night demand

Histogram
65

70
60
50
40

33

If you were an Acme manager how could you apply

this information?

30
20
8

10

12
0

0
1

Slices of Pizza

Scatter Diagram

Scatter Plots

It is used to determine the correlation between two

variables. It can show a positive correlation, a negative
correlation, or no correlation.
Used to determine causal relationship between 2
continuous variables or two measurements;
2 Dimensional X/Y plots: independent(x) and
dependent(y) variables
Arguably the simplest of the seven basic quality tools

Acme Pizza (Scatter Diagram)

Minutes Cooking
10
45
30
75
60
20
25

Defective Pies
1
8
5
20
14
4
6

Scatter Diagrams
Easier to see direct
relationship

25
20
15
10
5
0

In this simple example, you can find the existing relationship without
much difficulty but

20

40

60

80

Time Cooking (minutes)

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Scatter Diagrams

Control Chart

What does this tell Acme management about

their processes?
Improvements?
25
20
15

A.k.a SPC Chart

The backbone of SPC, and were first
proposed by W. Shewhart in 1924.
It is used to identify effects of special causes.
It displays the state of control of a process.

10
5
0
0

20

40

60

80

Time Cooking (minutes)

Statistical Process Control (SPC)

The origin of SPC was in the work of Dr. Walter Shewhart at
Bell Laboratories 1931. Although SPC was ignored in the
West after World War II, Japan adopted and subsequently
developed it into total quality.
SPC is a statistical method of separating special-cause
variation from natural variation to eliminate the special
causes and establish and maintain consistency in the process,
enabling process improvement .

Statistical Process Control (SPC)

A total of 99.73% of the output of a process
that is in statistical control will fall within the
3 limits of the process.
Continual improvement of processes requires
that special causes be eliminated first.
Process improvement narrows the shape of
the processs bell curve, resulting in less
variation.

Control Charts

Control Chart
Upper Limit

Lower Limit
Unacceptable
deviation

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Control Charts

Acme example

Control Charts

Upper Limit

Acme Pizza Management wants to get

in on the control chart action
Average Diameter = 16 inches

17 inches

16 inches=

Upper Limit = 17 inches

Lower Limit = 15 inches

Lower Limit
15 Inches
Small Pie

Acme example #50

Control Charts
Pies within specifications were
acceptable
One abnormally small pie is
uncommon
Should be examined for quality control

Pareto Chart

Pareto Chart
Named after Italian economist and sociologist
Vilfredo Pareto. (19th c. sociologist &
economist)
Pareto charts are important because they can
help an organization decide where to focus
limited resources.
Data are arrayed along an X-axis and a Yaxis.

Pareto Chart

A technique for prioritizing types or sources of

problems.
Separates the vital few from the trivial many.
Graphical bar charts, that rank causes from more
significant to least significant
Graphical way of identifying few critical items as
opposed to many less important ones.

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Acme Pizza (part 2)

Pareto Analysis
Slices
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Very similar to Histograms

Use of the 80/20 rule
Use of percentages to show importance

Acme Pizza (part 2)

The completed Pareto Analysis results in the following graph:

70
60
50
40
30
20
10

Frequency
1
33
65
8
12
0
0
1

%
.3
13.09
25.79
3.17
4.76
0
0
.3

Flow Charts
Used in a total quality setting for charting the inputs,
steps, functions, and outflows of a process to understand
more fully how the function works and who or what has
input into and influence on the process, its inputs and
outputs, and even its timing.
A picture of a process that shows the sequence of steps
performed.
Graphical tool used to trace the flow & sequence of
various operations of a process or event.
Symbols have meanings

21

43

34

75

56

67

Slices of Pizza

Flow Chart

Basic Flow Chart

Symbols:
START

DELAY

INPUT/ OUTPUT

DECISION POINT

INSPECTION

PROCESS
OPERATION

FLOW DIRECTION

END

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Flow Chart Example:

Acme Pizza Example (Flowchart)

Window
(start)

Take Customer
Order

Money?

yes

no
Get Pizza
Lockup
Put More in
Oven

no2 Pies

yes

Available?

no

yes

Time
to close?
Take to Customer

How can we use the flowchart to analyze

improvement ideas from the Histogram?
Window
(start)

Take Customer
Order

Make a flowchart for:

Money?

yes

no
Get Pizza
Lockup
Put More in
Oven

Want some practice?

Going to School
Driving a car
Going to Sleep

no 2 Pies

yes

Available?

no

yes

Time
to close?

Take to Customer

Cause & Effect Diagram

A graphical representation of an outline that
presents a chain of causes and effects.
Developed by the late Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, a
noted Japanese quality expert; others have
thus called it the Ishikawa diagram.
Also known as Fish Bone Chart, or
Brainstorming Diagram. Each Bone (stem)
represents a possible source of error

Cause & Effect Diagram

No statistics involved. It is one of the seven
basic quality tools that is not based on
statistics. (the other is the flowchart).
Used to highlight main causes, minor causes,
& sub-causes leading to an effect (problem,
symptom, or the like)
Used to discover possible location of quality
problems

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Cause & Effect Diagram

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Rank the top causes by priority

Employees have 10 points
They can assign the points to causes they feel are
important
Total the points for each cause
Rank the causes by their priority

Choose the top ranked causes

Not more than 5

Analyze the causes

Develop a plan of action

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Real World Example

Real World Example

Problem: company network is down

Real World Example

Constructing a Fishbone Diagram

Step 1 - Identify the Problem
Step 2 - Draw spine and bones
Example: High Inventory Shrinkage at local Drug Store

Shrinkage

Constructing a Fishbone Diagram

Step 3 - Identify different areas where problems may arise
from
Ex. : High Inventory Shrinkage at local Drug Store

Constructing a Fishbone Diagram

Step 4 - Identify what these specific causes could be
Ex. : High Inventory Shrinkage at local Drug Store

employees

Shrinkage
Anti-theft tags poorly designed

Shrinkage

Expensive merchandise out

in the open
No security/ surveillance

shoplifters

shoplifters

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Constructing a Fishbone Diagram

Ex. : High Inventory Shrinkage at local Drug Store

Constructing a Fishbone Diagram

Step 5 Use the finished diagram to brainstorm solutions to
the main problems.

employees
attitude
training
new trainee
benefits

practices

Shrinkage
Expensive merchandise out in the open

Anti-theft tags poorly designed

No security/ surveillance

shoplifters

SUMMARY

Other sources may include:

(Replacement for Flowchart or Check Sheet)

Stratification Diagram
A technique that separates data gathered from a variety of
sources so that patterns can be seen (asq.org)
Used to determine if an output is stratified according to a
category related to output

Run Charts
In the context of the seven total quality tools, run charts and
control charts are typically thought of as being one tool
together.
The weakness of the run chart is that it does not tell whether
the variation is the result of special causes or common causes.

Run Chart

Run-Chart
It records the output results of a process over time
thus it is also called a trend chart.
Used to graphically depict the status of process
over a period of time and the target.

Slices/hour

Vertical axis: Plots the number of defects,

measurements, characteristics, or proportion of
defects.
Horizontal axis: Plots the time when measurements
or defects where observed.
8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4

8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4

PM- AM

PM- AM

PM- AM

Thursday

Thursday

Thursday

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Time

10