FISHBONE DIAGRAM

The fishbone diagram can be defined as a visual tool used to identify, explore and visualize all the possible causes related to a
problem.
It helps to find the root cause of the problem.
Also called: cause-and-effect diagram, Ishikawa diagram
A cause-and-effect (C&E) diagram is a picture composed of lines
and symbols designed to represent a meaningful relationship
between an effect and its causes.
It was developed by Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa in1943 and is sometimes
referred to as an Ishikawa diagram or a fishbone diagram because
of its shape.
C&E diagrams are used to investigate either a “bad” effect and
to take action to correct the causes or a “good” effect and to
learn those causes that are responsible.
C&E diagram with the effect on the right and causes on the left.
The effect is the quality characteristic that needs improvement.
Causes are sometimes broken down into the major causes of work
methods, materials, measurement, people, equipment, and the
environment.
• The first step in the construction of a C&E diagram
is for the project team to identify the effect or
quality problem.
• It is placed on the right side of a large piece of
paper by the team leader.
• Next, the major causes are identified and placed on
the diagram.
• Determining all the minor causes requires
brainstorming by the project team.
• Brainstorming is an idea-generating technique that
is well suited to the C&E diagram.
• It uses the creative thinking capacity of the team.
Attention to a few essentials will provide a more accurate and usable
result:
1. Participation by every member of the team is facilitated by each
member taking a turn giving one idea at a time. If a member cannot
think of a minor cause, he or she passes for that round. Another idea
may occur at a later round. Following this procedure prevents one or
two individuals from dominating the brainstorming session.
2. Quantity of ideas, rather than quality, is encouraged. One person’s
idea will trigger someone else’s idea, and a chain reaction occurs.
Frequently, a trivial, or “dumb,” idea will lead to the best solution.
3. Criticism of an idea is not allowed. There should be a freewheeling
exchange of information that liberates the imagination. All ideas are
placed on the diagram. Evaluation of ideas occurs at a later time.
4. Visibility of the diagram is a primary factor of participation. In
order to have space for all the minor causes, a 2-foot by 3-foot piece
of paper is recommended. It should be taped to a wall for maximum
visibility.
5. Create a solution-oriented atmosphere and not a gripe session.
Focus on solving a problem rather than discussing how it began. The
team leader should ask questions using the why, what, where, when,
who, and how techniques.
6. Let the ideas incubate for a period of time (at least overnight)
• The fishbone diagram identifies many possible causes for an effect or
problem.
• It can be used to structure a brainstorming session.
• It immediately sorts ideas into useful categories.
The diagrams are useful to
1. Analyze actual conditions for the purpose of
product or service quality improvement, more efficient
use of resources, and reduced costs.
2. Eliminate conditions causing nonconformities and
customer complaints.
3. Standardize existing and proposed operations.
4. Educate and train personnel in decision-making and
corrective-action activities.
 FISHBONE DIAGRAM EXAMPLE
This fishbone diagram is drawn by a manufacturing team to try to
understand the source of periodic iron contamination. The team
used the six generic headings to prompt ideas. Layers of
branches show thorough thinking about the causes of the problem.
What is a Pareto Chart?
The Pareto chart, developed by Vilfredo Pareto, an 18th-century
Italian economist, observed that 80% of the wealth of a country
was owned by about 20% of the population and that this pattern
repeated itself within the wealthy group. J.M. Juran called this
generalization the ‘Pareto Principle, or commonly known as the
80/20 rule. A Pareto Analysis takes into consideration this
principle.

Given a set of recurring problems, it is common that a few

problems will occur to a greater degree than all the other
problems combined.
A Pareto Analysis can be used to analyze this unequal
distribution of occurrences and separate out the ‘vital few’
from the ‘trivial many’.

The basic Pareto chart is designed to compare the frequencies of

an occurrence, according to problem categories.
WHEN TO USE A PARETO CHART
• When analyzing data about the frequency of problems or causes in a process
• When there are many problems or causes and you want to focus on the most significant
• When analyzing broad causes by looking at their specific components
• When communicating with others about your data

In the figure below you can see that the measured data (bars) are arranged according
to categories and plotted against the corresponding frequency.
The categories, or bars, are listed in decreasing order.
The totals can be noted within bars and are very easy to read and interpret.
The chart also uses a line graphic to establish cumulative percentages across the
graph.
As the category frequency decreases from largest to smallest, cumulative percentage
increases to 100 percent.
PARETO CHART PROCEDURE
1. Decide what categories you will use to group items.
2. Decide what measurement is appropriate. Common measurements are frequency,
quantity, cost and time.
3. Decide what period of time the Pareto chart will cover: One work cycle?
One full day? A week?
4. Collect the data, recording the category each time, or assemble data that
already exist.
5. Subtotal the measurements for each category.
6. Determine the appropriate scale for the measurements you have collected.
The maximum value will be the largest subtotal from step 5. (If you will
do optional steps 8 and 9 below, the maximum value will be the sum of all
subtotals from step 5.) Mark the scale on the left side of the chart.
7. Construct and label bars for each category. Place the tallest at the far
left, then the next tallest to its right, and so on. If there are many
categories with small measurements, they can be grouped as “other.”
Note: Steps 8 and 9 are optional but are useful for analysis and
communication.

8. Calculate the percentage for each category: the subtotal for that category
divided by the total for all categories. Draw a right vertical axis and label
it with percentages. Be sure the two scales match. For example, the left
measurement that corresponds to one-half should be exactly opposite 50% on
the right scale.
Figure 1 shows how many customer complaints were received in each of five
categories.
Figure 2 takes the largest category, "documents," from Figure 1,
breaks it down into six categories of document-related
complaints, and shows cumulative values.
If all complaints cause equal distress to the customer, working
on eliminating document-related complaints would have the most
impact, and of those, working on quality certificates should be
most fruitful.
 Spider chart

•Visualize thoughts, a topic or a theme.

•Process information more efficiently.
•Create ideas centered around a certain topic.
•This is a basic diagram similar to a mind map in that it helps you organize your thoughts
visually.
•You start with a central topic, then add subtopics and details that branch off of the main topic.
• Sometimes the end result looks something like a spider, hence the name.
•Spider diagrams, or spider charts, are a way to visually organize your thoughts. You can use
them for brainstorming ideas, understanding complex topics, or planning something that includes
a lot of details.
•Spider charts are at their best when used to quickly compare multiple dimensions in a compact
space.
A spider chart, also sometimes called a radar chart, is often used when you want to
display data across several unique dimensions.
Although there are exceptions, these dimensions are usually quantitative, and typically
range from zero to a maximum value.
Each dimension’s range is normalized to one another, so that when we draw our spider
chart, the length of a line from zero to a dimension’s maximum value will be the same
for every dimension.