New 7 tools quality management

The team starts with ideas that seem to be related and determines if one causes the other. If idea 1 causes idea 5, then an arrow is drawn from 1 to 5. If idea 5 causes idea 1, then the arrow is drawn from 5 to 1. If no cause is ascertained, no arrow is drawn. When the exercise is finished, it is obvious that ideas with many outgoing arrows cause things to happen, while ideas with many incoming arrows result from other things. A tree diagram assists teams in exploring all the options available to solve a problem, or accomplish a task.

The tree diagram actually resembles a tree when complete. The trunk of the tree is the problem or task. Branches are major options for solving the problem, or completing the task. Twigs are elements of the options. Leaves are the means of accomplishing the options. The prioritization matrix helps teams select from a series of options based on weighted criteria.

It can be used after options have been generated, such as in a tree diagram exercise. A prioritization matrix is helpful in selecting which option to pursue. The prioritization matrix adds weights values to each of the selection criteria to be used in deciding between options. For example, if you need to install a new software system to better track quality data, your selection criteria could be cost, leadtime, reliability, and upgrades.

A simple scale, say 1 through 5, could be used to prioritize the selection criteria being used. A team researched and developed these seven new quality control tools, often called the seven management and planning tools, or simply the seven management tools:.

Affinity diagram : Organizes a large number of ideas into their natural relationships. Interrelationship diagram : Shows cause-and-effect relationships and helps analyze the natural links between different aspects of a complex situation. Tree diagram : Breaks down broad categories into finer and finer levels of detail, helping to move step-by-step thinking from generalities to specifics.

Matrix diagram : Shows the relationship between two, three, or four groups of information and can give information about the relationship, such as its strength, the roles played by various individuals, or measurements.

Matrix data analysis : A complex mathematical technique for analyzing matrices, often replaced by the similar prioritization matrix. Quality Glossary Definition: Seven tools of quality. 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. Cause-and-effect diagram also called Ishikawa or fishbone diagrams : Identifies many possible causes for an effect or problem and sorts ideas into useful categories.

Check sheet : A structured, prepared form for collecting and analyzing data; a generic tool that can be adapted for a wide variety of purposes. Control chart : Graph used to study how a process changes over time.

Comparing current data to historical control limits leads to conclusions about whether the process variation is consistent in control or is unpredictable out of control, affected by special causes of variation. Histogram : The most commonly used graph for showing frequency distributions, or how often each different value in a set of data occurs.