Training script:

7 Basic
Quality Tools

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 Introduction

Where do quality tools come?

• Traditional quality tools (also called classic or basic) is a set of 7 tools

which help to identify and solve quality problems graphically

• The place of their creation was the post-war Japan, where in the 50s
of the XX century the teachings of E. Deming were used in the trans-
forming industry

• It was noted that the production methods of statistical quality control

are not understood completely by the majority of employees and their
training takes a long time

• A set of simple to understand and use was to help (hence the name
"basic tools") which allowed the effective analysis of the majority of
emerging issues

Interesting fact

• Kaoru Ishikawa is considered to be the founder of the collection of 7

classic tools, who believed that by using them 95% of the emerging
quality problems can be solved. He promoted the use of 7 quality tools
as part of the work the so-called "quality circles", that is, in cyclical
loose meetings of workers (volunteers) outside opening hours, in order
to discuss quality issues (and not only) and to search for their solutions

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 7 Quality Tools

Process Diagram (Flow Chart)

• Also known as block diagram, flow diagram or links diagram

• Tool for transparent, graphical presentation of the course of particular

process using commonly accepted symbols

• It shows a particular process broken down into individual stages

(blocks), together with decision-making places and flows of materi-
als/information

Flow Chart - example

• Example of diagram illustrating the course of the process of the pur-

chase of commodity through the Internet

• The whole decision-making process visible immediately as a whole, in

transparent form

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Process Diagram - best practices

• Give a name to the process described

• Specify clear limit places of the process described-Start/Stop (in-

put/output)

• Specify all the operations and decisions in this field

• Work in the team-if you describe the complex business processes

cross-functional team should be set up consisting of a representative
of each department, this process "touches"

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Shewhart Check Sheet

• Also called a check Card – the oldest and basic tool, used for the first
time by W.A. Shwewart in 1924

• Graphical method for monitoring and control of the course of process

and variation with respect to specific requirements

• Thanks to control charts you can find whether the variation appearing
is of random character or whether it is a symptom of more serious
problems in the process, as evidenced by:

• The presence of measurement results outside control lines

• The presence of a specific sequence of measurement results, for

example, above or below the line, clearly increasing or decreasing

Shewhart Check Sheet - example

The control sheet should contain the following elements:

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 • Control sheets are formed from the samples recorded at specified
time intervals, with a defined number - e.g. 1 measurement in each
batch, or 1 measurement every hour or 5 measurements per shift. The
selection of the method and frequency of measurements depends on
the specific nature of the process tested

• The horizontal axis shows the sample taken from us, while the vertical
axis shows the value of a particular sample

Shewhart Check Sheet - best practices

• Control cards are best suited for mass processes and highly repeata-
ble, during which small variability can have serious consequences

• When designing the card you should keep in mind that it will be an
additional task for the operator and it should have the simplest possi-
ble form (i.e. printed, ready sheet to mark the measurement with a
pen)

• The value of the parameter outside the control line should be a signal
to stop the process

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Pareto-Lorenz Diagram

• Pareto-Lorenz diagram is a diagram, which describes the nature of a

particular phenomenon, based on the principle of 80-20

• This rule tells us that typically 20% of causes is responsible for 80% of ef-
fects , for example, 80% of sales generates 20% of customers, 80% of all
defects constitutes 20% of the types of defects, 80% of property is
owned by 20% of population, and so on

• The use of this principle in the form of a diagram illustrates the nature
of the process/phenomenon tested excellently and shows the location
one should focus the attention in the first place

• Sometimes you meet the variance of the Pareto principle: 70-30, 40-60,
operating on the same principle

Pareto-Lorenz Diagram - example

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 • The example of Pareto-Lorenz Diagram – data in the table prepared
to create the chart, in this case, the demand for a specific part

• The trend line shows the percentage share of demand for each of the
numbers of part in the whole demand for parts

Summary:

• The Pareto-Lorenz analysis is suited very well for organizing and prelimi-
nary analysis of the data collected

• High reliability of collected data is very important - in other case, the

graph can make it difficult to reach the causes of the problems exist-
ing

• There are situations in which the Pareto analysis of grade 2 or 3 ap-

pears – when under one general category of variables there can be
other minor, omitted in the 1 phase of analysis

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Histogram

• Summary of statistical data collected on a particular phenome-

non/process, presented as a graph of posts adjacent to one another

• The histogram demonstrates how often a particular feature appears,

or the range of features in the population tested (test)

• A good example can be age ranges, or an increase of the number of

people in a particular community - how many people has the height
in the range of 170-180 cm in the X production

Histogram - example

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Another kind of Histogram:

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Cause-and-Effect Diagram (Ishikawa Diagram)

• Cause and effect diagram, also called the Ishikawa Diagram

• Diagram or the Fishbone Diagram is a tool used to show the cause-

and-effect relationships between the effect (usually a problem), and
any variables which can affect its appearance

• For the first time it was used in 1962, by Karou Ishikawa in the Kawasaki
company

• When examining variables, it is advisable to create an interdisciplinary

team who has knowledge on the phenomenon tested and to
conducting a brainstorming session

• The basic version of the Ishikawa Diagram used in production

enterprises has usually 6 groups of the categories of causes (5M+E):

Man – causes associated with the activities and knowledge of man

Machine - causes associated with equipment and machines

Material - causes associated with impact, quality, availability of material

Method - method used, standard technology

Management - the impact of management staff, decisions, way of

leadership and impact on the organization (team)

Environment - variables relating to natural environment, surroundings, i.e.

Air temperature, insolation

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Cause-and-Effect Diagram (example)

Another example of Ishikawa Diagram:

• Each of the causes mentioned by the team can have sub-cause -

they should also be carefully pointed out on the diagram

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Cause-and-Effect Diagram - steps

1. Identification of the problem - the most important step, because

further action will depend on it. Choosing the problem you can use
the brainstorm or Pareto analysis, then it is stored in the "fish head"

2. Determination of the main groups of causes - 5M+E suggested before

is the basic variant, but nothing prevents that, for example, that due to
the specificity of production fewer (4 or 5) should be used or other
corresponding more to the team

3. Search for root causes - in each of the identified major groups (5M+E
or other) the causes affecting the problem are entered there. This is
the stage of the maximum elaboration of the variables indicated

4. Analysis of the results obtained - from all causes a small number (2-4)
should be indicated of those with the greatest impact on the primary
problem and take care of their elimination. The voting method,
transmitting weights or brainstorming can be used for sorting

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Scatter plot

• Diagram of correlation (including dispersion diagram, scattering dia-

gram) - graphical presentation of the relationship existing between
the two variables identified

• Using the correlation diagram we can:

• show the existence of relationship, dependence (or lack thereof)

between the variables

• determine the direction of this relationship

• determine the strength of this association

• There are the following types of correlation:

• Positive correlation - an increase of one variable is accompanied

by an increase in the other variable (e.g. an increase in the number
of leave days, will increase its cost)

• Negative correlation - a decrease in the value of one variable

causes a decrease in the value of the other

• Lack of correlation - there is no noticeable correlation between an

increase or a decrease in any of the variables

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Scatter plot - example

• Pearson correlation coefficient - moment correlation determining The

correlation strength between the factors examined. Its
absolute value indicates the strength level, while the sign (+ or -) of its
direction (positive or negative)

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Check sheet

• Also known as analytical sheet - type of form used to collect and or-
ganizing data on the specifics of a particular process, usually at the
point of their origin

• It takes the form of ready, easy to fill in (e.g. using a ballpoint pen)the
form, which will allow us to obtain information on:

• occurrence or non-occurrence of the problem analyzed

• frequency of occurrence (how many times the problem occurred)

• place of its occurrence

• causes

Check sheet - example

• Sheet showing the number of a specific type of defect on a particular

working day

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Another example of Check sheet:

• Example of a more advanced sheet showing the frequency of a

particular thickness of film

• The type of data collected can be adopted to the needs and

specifics of production in a given place

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7 new Quality Tools

• Quality management with its development also allowed the creation

of 7 new quality tools the purpose of which is to assist the basic ones.
They are:

1. Affinity diagram

2. Relationship diagram

3. Matrix diagram

4. Matrix data analysis

5. Arrow diagrams

6. Decision tree

7. Process decision program chart

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 Summary

• The traditional, basic quality tools are part of Quality Management in

the enterprises and they are often the starting point of improvement

• They allow to collect data in a simple and intuitive way and make their
analysis, searching for the causes of the problems encountered

• They are usually easy to understand and use even by line workers

• They often constitute one of the elements of the visualization of

problems in the workplace and help in building up the awareness of
employees

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