Seven Basic Quality Control Tools

CAUSE AND EFFECT

QUALITY TOOLS
Cause and Effect

Description of cause and effect diagram: The cause and effect diagram was
developed in 1950 by Professor Kaoru Ishikawa. It is also known as Ishikawa or
fishbone diagram. When completed, it takes the shape of a fishbone with a head as
the main effect and several arrows or bone shaped categories and causes forming
the body. It is widely used by quality professionals, Engineers and teams alike to
perform root cause analysis, identify process/product design improvements
opportunities, determine sources of product/process variation, etc.

When to use the fishbone diagram: The fishbone diagram helps to organize and
display interrelationship between variables, causes or factors and their effect in a
structured and systematic way. When used in conjunction with other tools i.e. 5
whys, brainstorming, force-field analysis, the fishbone diagram could be an even
more effective tool. Cause and effect diagrams were originally applied to
manufacturing problems. They have since demonstrated their applicability to other
industries, processes and problems.

How to use the fishbone: The C-E diagram can be constructed by drawing a
horizontal arrow called the spine to a box at the rightmost end describing the
subject or improvement/design activity. This is also called the effect. Ending at the
spine are typically 6 main branched arrows or direct causes, which could be
traditionally assigned to the following categories: Material, Man, Method,
Measurement, Environment and Machine. Branching from each of the main
categories are primary and/or secondary causes.
A brief description of each category is outlined below:

Material: Applicable raw materials and components.

Man: Human factors and interactions.
Method: Operational procedures and policies, work instructions, etc.
Measurement: Data, plots, specification etc.
Environment: Temperature, pressure, humidity, physical location, etc
Machine: Associated equipment and tools.

Step by step guide to creating a fishbone:

1) Clearly define the effect

2) Draw a central line (the spine) pointing to the effect, which is placed in a box
at the far right.
3) Determine possible causes or factors using brainstorming and 5 whys

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 4) Assign categories in separate boxes and connect to the central spine by
arrows at angles about 70 degrees to the horizontal.
5) Draw horizontal lines and assign potential primary causes to each category
as required.
6) Assign secondary causes to primary causes as required.
7) Complete all categories as much as possible.
8) Prioritize/rank potential causes or factors among team members by method
of multi-voting.
9) Assign root cause/causes.

Once the fishbone is completely populated with probable causes, the most likely
cause/causes producing the effect could be determined by prioritization and
ranking – multi-voting. Tasks could be assigned to team members to verify any
likely cause or factor. If required, the process is repeated to zoom in on already
established cause.

Tips on use of the fishbone: Remember - there could be more than one cause
producing the effect. Also note that the main categories described above serves as
guidelines in creating a fishbone. They are not limited to the 6Ms or 5Ps and can be
modified to fit the given problem.

Application of a fishbone:
Fig 1: Visual representation of a Fish bone diagram

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 Fig. 1

References:
1) Juran Quality Handbook Fifth edition: Joseph M. Juran; A. Blanton Godfrey.
2) Juran Quality Handbook Sixth edition: Joseph M Juran; Joseph A De Feo

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