The Basic Seven (B7)

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

By
Zaipul Anwar
Business & Advanced Technology Centre,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

What are the Basic Seven

Tools of Quality?

Fishbone Diagrams
Histograms
Pareto Analysis
Flowcharts
Scatter Plots
Run Charts
Control Charts

Where did the Basic

Seven come from?
Kaoru Ishikawa

Known for Democratizing Statistics

The Basic Seven Tools made statistical analysis

less complicated for the average person

Good Visual Aids make statistical and quality

control more comprehendible.

The Basic Seven (B7)

Tools of Quality
Fishbone Diagrams

No statistics involved

Maps out a process/problem

Makes improvement easier

Looks like a Fish Skeleton

Fishbone Diagram Overview

Definition

Uses
Ishikawa

Use within organizations

(1 of 2)

benefits

Creation of the Diagram

Steps 1-9

Fishbone Diagram Overview

(2 of 2)

Example

Service example

Exercise

Ham Industries

Fishbone (Cause and Effect or

Ishikawa) Diagrams (1 of 4)

Named after Kaoru Ishikawa

Japanese Quality pioneer

Resembles skeleton of a fish

Focus on causes rather than symptoms of
a problem
Emphasizes group communication and
brainstorming
Stimulates discussion

Fishbone (Cause and Effect or

Ishikawa) Diagrams (2 of 4)

One of Seven basic tools of Japanese

Quality
Leads to increased understanding of
complex problems
Visual and presentational tool

Fishbone (Cause and Effect or

Ishikawa) Diagrams (3 of 4)

Typically done on paper or

chalkboard
Recently some computer programs
have been created to make Fishbone
Diagrams

Ishikawa Environment

Use in Organizations

(1 of 2)

Can be used to improve any product,

process, or service
Any area of the company that is
experiencing a problem
Isolates all relevant causes

Use in Organizations

(2 of 2)

Helps bring a problem into light

Group discussion and brainstorming
Finds reasons for quality variations, and
the relationships between them

Creating Fishbone
Diagrams

As a group:

(1 of 4)

1. Establish problem (effect)

-state in clear terms
-agreed upon by entire
group

2. Problem becomes the

head of the fish
-draw line to head (backbone)

Creating a Fishbone
Diagram
(2 of 4)

3.

Decide major causes of the

problem
- by brainstorming
- if the effect or problem is part of a process
the major steps in the process can be used

4. Connect major causes to

backbone of the fish with slanting
arrows

Creating a Fishbone
Diagram
(3 of 4)

5. Brainstorm secondary causes for

each of the major causes
6. Connect these secondary causes
to their respective major causes
7. Repeat steps 5 & 6 for sub-causes
dividing with increased specificity
- usually four or five levels

Creating a Fishbone
Diagram
(4 of 4)

8. Analyze and evaluate causes and

sub-causes
-may require the use of statistical, analytical, and
graphical tools

9. Decide and take action

Example

(1 of 4)

Step 1 & 2:

(backbone)

Poor Service
(head)

Example

(2 of 4)

Step 3 & 4:
Appearance

Responsiveness

Poor Service

Attention

Reliability

Example

(3 of 4)

Step 5, 6, & 7:
Responsiveness

Appearance

time

equipment
personnel

courtesy
Attention

facility
Poor Service
accuracy
One on one
service
dependability
Reliability

Example

(4 of 4)

Step 8 & 9:

Use tools to analyze and evaluate causes

Pareto diagrams, charts, and graphs

Statistical analysis for causes in processes

Decide and take action

Use fishbone diagram, analysis and evaluations to

find causes that can be fixed
Take action to eliminate and fix problem causes

Summary

(1 of 3)

Fishbone Diagrams
- visual diagram
- resembles fish skeleton
- identifies the causes of a problem (effect),
and their relationships
- created by Kaoru Ishikawa for Quality
Management

Summary

(2 of 3)

Organizational Uses
Increases communication about
problems
Used to improve any product, process,
or service
Important part of quality management

Summary

(3 of 3)

Creation of Fishbone diagrams

Problem or effect is head of fish
Identify major, secondary and tertiary
causes, and attach to backbone
identifying relationships
Analyze and Evaluate results
Act to fix the problem(s)

Exercise

Create a Fishbone (cause and effect,

Ishikawa) Diagram for the following:
Management at Ham Industries has noticed that the
productivity of its workers is well below the standard.
After interviewing its employees, it was noticed that a vast
majority felt dissatisfied and unhappy with their work. Your
boss has asked you and a group of your peers to find the
causes of worker dissatisfaction . Include all possible
causes to at least the secondary level.

Bibliography
//home.tonline.de/home/kfmaas/q_ishika.html
www.zi.unizh.ch/software/unix/statmath/sas
/sasdoc/qc/chap17/sect1.htm
www.dti.gov.uk/mbp/bpgt/m9ja00001/m9ja0
000110.html
Foster, S. Thomas. Managing Quality: An
Integrative Approach. 2001, Prentice-Hall

The Basic Seven (B7)

Tools of Quality
Histograms

Bar chart

Used to graphically represent groups of

data

Overview
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

What is a Histogram?
What are some possible uses for a
Histogram?
Where did the Histogram come
from?
How do Histograms work?
A real world example.
An exercise.

What is a Histogram?

A Histogram is a variation of a bar

chart in which data values are grouped
together and put into different classes.

This grouping allows you see how

frequently data in each class occur in
the data set.

What is a Histogram
(cont.)

Higher bars represent more data

values in a class.
Lower bars represent fewer data
values in a class.
On the next slide is an example of
what a Histogram looks like.

Example of a Histogram

Uses for a Histogram

A Histogram can be used:
to display large amounts of data values
in a relatively simple chart form.
to tell relative frequency of occurrence.
to easily see the distribution of the data.
to see if there is variation in the data.
to make future predictions based on the
data.

Where did the

Histogram Come From?

The Histogram was first

implemented by Kaoru Isikawa, one
of Japans most renowned experts on
quality improvement.

Isikawa spent his life trying to

improve quality in Japan.

Where did the

Histogram Come From?
(cont.)

His major contributions to quality

improvement are known as the basic
seven tools of quality.

Included in his basic seven tools of

quality is the Histogram.

How do Histograms
Work?

First, you need need to pick a process to

analyze.
Next, you need a large amount of data, at
least 100 data values so that patterns can
become visible.
Then, you need to assemble a table of the
data values that you collected with
regards to frequency of data values.

How do Histograms
Work? (cont)

Next, you need to calculate some

statistics for the Histogram, including:
mean, minimum, maximum, standard
deviation, class width, number of classes,
skewness, and kurtosis.

Then, you actually create the Histogram

using these statistics.

How do Histograms
Work? (cont)

After you have created a

Histogram, it will take one of five
shapes:

Normal Distribution:

How do Histograms
Work? (cont)

Positively Skewed:

Negatively Skewed:

How do Histograms
Work? (cont)

Bi-Modal Distribution:

Multi-Modal Distribution:

How do Histograms
Work? (cont)

Once your Histogram is complete,

you can analyze its shape, as well as
the statistics that you came up with.

This analysis will help you to make

better decisions toward quality
improvements.

Constructing a Histogram
From a set of data compute
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

# of Columns

= Width

Acme Pizza Example

Lets say the owner wants a

distribution of Acmes Thursday
Night Sales

Data Set from last Thursday(slices)

02122413121224341432232122122142212
12212121212121222121211222314223222
12322422441222322122421242172122312
1121222122121222424

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

Acme Pizza Example

Histogram
65

# times ordered

70
60
50
40

33

30
20
8

10

12

0
1

Slices of Pizza

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
If you were an Acme manager how could
you apply this information?

The Basic Seven (B7)

Tools of Quality
Pareto Analysis

Very similar to Histograms

Use of the 80/20 rule

Use of percentages to show importance

Pareto Analysis, how to

use it

1. Gather facts about the problem, using Check Sheets or

Brainstorming, depending on the availability of
information.

2. Rank the contributions to the problem in order of

frequency.

3. Draw the value (errors, facts, etc) as a bar chart.

4. It can also be helpful to add a line showing the

cumulative percentage
of errors as each category is
added. This helps to identify the categories contributing
to 80% of the problem.

5. Review the chart if an 80/20 combination is not

obvious, you may need to redefine your classifications and
go back to Stage 1 or 2.

Acme Pizza (Example 1)

Slices
%
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Frequency
1
33
65
8
12
0
0
1

.3
13.09
25.79
3.17
4.76
0
0
.3

Acme Pizza (Example 1)

The completed Pareto Analysis results in the following
graph:

# times ordered

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

21

43

34

75

56

Slices of Pizza

67

Acme Pizza (part 2)

Critical Thinking
How does the Pareto Analysis differ
from the Histogram?
How can this be a useful tool to the
Acme boss?

A series of Pareto charts

drill down to more detail
(Example 2) :
Fault by Main Cause

1st level
Analysis gives
Design
as main cause
of failure

100
70

60

40
40

30
20

20

10
0

Design Faults

Defect

100
57
75.0
75.0

13
17.1
92.1

4
5.3
97.4

2
2.6
100.0

50
80
40

Count

Count
Percent
Cum %

60

30

40

20
10

20

Defect
Count
Percent
Cum %

21
36.8
36.8

10
17.5
54.4

8
14.0
68.4

8
14.0
82.5

5
8.8
91.2

3
5.3
96.5

2
3.5
100.0

Percent

Count

50

Percent

80

60

2nd level
Analysis gives
breakdown of
Design

The Basic Seven (B7)

Tools of Quality
Flowcharts

A graphical picture of a PROCESS

Process

Decision
The process flow

Flowcharts
Dont Forget to:

Define symbols before beginning

Stay consistent

Check that process is accurate

Acme Pizza Example

(Flowchart)
Window
(start)

Take Customer
Order

Money?

yes

Get Pizza

no

Lockup
Put More in
Oven
2 Pies
Available?

no

yes

Time
to close?
Take to Customer

no

yes

How can we use the flowchart to

analyze improvement ideas from
the Histogram?
Window
(start)

Take Customer
Order

Money?

yes

Get Pizza

no

Lockup
Put More in
Oven
2 Pies
Available?

no

yes

Time
to close?
Take to Customer

no

yes

Want some practice?

Make a flowchart for:

Taking a shower
Cooking dinner
Driving a car
Having a party
Creating a Flowchart

Any other processes you can think of?

The Basic Seven (B7)

Tools of Quality
Scatter Plots
2 Dimensional X/Y plots
Used to show relationship
between independent(x) and
dependent(y) variables

Acme Pizza
(Scatter Diagram)
Minutes Cooking
10
45
30
75
60
20
25

Defective Pies
1
8
5
20
14
4
6

In this simple example, you can find the existing

relationship without much difficulty but

Scatter Diagrams
Defective Pizzas

Easier to see direct

relationship

25
20
15
10
5
0
0

20

40

60

Time Cooking (minutes)

80

Scatter Diagrams

25

Defective Pizzas

As a quality tool
What does this tell Acme
management about their processes?
Improvements?
20
15
10
5
0
0

20

40

60

Time Cooking (minutes)

80

The Basic Seven (B7)

Tools of Quality
Run charts

Time-based (x-axis)

Cyclical

Look for patterns

Slices/hour

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

Run Charts

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

Time

The Basic Seven (B7)

Tools of Quality
Control Charts

Deviation from Mean

Upper and Lower Specs

Range

Control Charts
Upper Limit

Lower Limit
Unacceptable
deviation

Control Charts
Acme Pizza Management wants to get
in on the control chart action
Average Diameter = 16 inches
Upper Limit = 17 inches
Lower Limit = 15 inches

Acme example
Control Charts
Upper Limit

17 inches

16 inches=X
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

Logical Order for B7

Tools
Big
Picture

Flow
Flow
Chart
Chart

Data
Collection

Check
Check
Sheet
Sheet

Data
Analysis

Histograms
Histograms

Scatter
Scatter
Diagrams
Diagrams

Control
Control
Charts
Charts

Problem
Identification

Cause
Cause
&&
Effect
Effect

Prioritization

Pareto
Pareto
Analysis
Analysis

Summary

Basic Seven Tools of Quality

Measuring data

Quality Analysis

Democratized statistics

Bibliography

Foster, Thomas. Managing Quality. An IntegrativeApproach.

Upper Saddle River : Prentice Hall, 2001.

Stevenson, William. Supercharging Your Pareto Analysis.

Quality Progress
October 2000: 51-55.

Dr Kaoru Ishikawa. Internet

http://www.dti.gov.uk/mbp/bpgt/m9ja00001/m9ja0000110.html.
16 February 2001.

Chemical and Process Engineering. Internet.

http://lorien.ncl.ac.uk/ming/spc/spc8.htm. 17
2001.

February