Seven Basic Tools of Quality
The seven tools of quality are devices used in understanding and improving production processes.[1]
Quality pros have many names for these seven basic tools of quality, first emphasized by Kaoru Ishikawa, a professor of engineering at Tokyo University and the father of “quality circles.”
- 1. Cause-and-effect diagram (also called Ishikawa or fishbone chart): Identifies many possible causes for an effect or problem and sorts ideas into useful categories.
- 2. Check sheet: A structured, prepared form for collecting and analyzing data; a generic tool that can be adapted for a wide variety of purposes.
- 3. Control charts: Graphs used to study how a process changes over time.
- 4. Histogram: The most commonly used graph for showing frequency distributions, or how often each different value in a set of data occurs.
- 5. Pareto chart: Shows on a bar graph which factors are more significant.
- 6. Scatter diagram: Graphs pairs of numerical data, one variable on each axis, to look for a relationship.
- 7. Stratification: A technique that separates data gathered from a variety of sources so that patterns can be seen (some lists replace “stratification” with “flowchart” or “run chart”).[2]
The designation arose in postwar Japan, inspired by the seven famous weapons of Benkei. It was possibly introduced by Kaoru Ishikawa who in turn was influenced by a series of lectures W. Edwards Deming had given to Japanese engineers and scientists in 1950. At that time, companies that had set about training their workforces in statistical quality control found that the complexity of the subject intimidated the vast majority of their workers and scaled back training to focus primarily on simpler methods which suffice for most quality-related issues.
The Seven Basic Tools stand in contrast to more advanced statistical methods such as survey sampling, acceptance sampling, statistical hypothesis testing, design of experiments, multivariate analysis, and various methods developed in the field of operations research.
The Project Management Institute references the Seven Basic Tools in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) as an example of a set of general tools useful for planning or controlling project quality.[3]
See Also
References
Further Reading
- Ishikawa’s seven basic tools of quality: An important asset to control quality in your project Simplilearn
- The 7 Quality Tools for Process Improvements ha.org