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1.

Pareto analysis
2. Flowcharts
3. Check sheets
4. Histograms
5. Scatter diagrams
6. Control charts
7. Fishbone diagram

Vilfredo

Pareto was an Italian economist

who noted that approximately 80% of
wealth was owned by only 20% of the
population. This was true in almost all the
societies he studied.

1. Pareto analysis

Choosing the Most Important Changes to Make

Pareto analysis is a very simple technique that helps
you to choose the most effective changes to make.
It uses the Pareto principle - the idea that by doing
20% of work you can generate 80% of the
advantage of doing the entire job.
Pareto analysis is a formal technique for finding the
changes that will give the biggest benefits.
It is useful where many possible courses of action
are competing for your attention.

It

is a statistical technique in decision

making that is used for selection of a
limited number of tasks that produce
significant overall effect.
It uses the Pareto principle - the idea that
by doing 20% of work you can generate
80% of the advantage of doing the entire
job.

Or in terms of quality improvement, a large

majority of problems (80%) are produced by a few
key causes (20%).

Pareto

analysis is a formal technique

useful where many possible courses of
action are competing for your attention.
Basically, it consists of estimating the
benefit delivered by each action with
subsequent selection of a number of the
most effective actions that deliver the
total benefit reasonably close to the
maximum possible one.

Write

out a list of the changes you could

make. If you have a long list, group it into
related changes.
Then score the items or groups. The scoring
method you use depends on the sort of
problem you are trying to solve.

For

example, if you are trying to improve

profitability, you would score options on the
basis of the profit each group might generate.
If you are trying to improve customer
satisfaction, you might score on the basis of
the number of complaints eliminated by each
change.

The

first change to tackle is the one that has

the highest score. This one will give you the
biggest benefit if you solve it.
The options with the lowest scores will
probably not even be worth bothering with solving these problems may cost you more
than the solutions are worth.

Case Study
Implementation of Pareto
analysis.

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A failing service center

Phones are only answered after many

rings.
Staff seem distracted and under
pressure.
Engineers do not appear to be well
organized. They need second visits to
bring extra parts. This means that
customers have to take more holiday to
be there a second time.

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They

do not know what time they will

arrive. This means that customers may
have to be in all day for an engineer
to visit.
Staff members do not always seem to
know what they are doing.
Sometimes when staff members arrive,
the customer finds that the problem
could have been solved over the
phone

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Grouping & Scoring the

problems.
Lack

of staff training: items 5 and 6: 51

complaints
Too few staff: items 1, 2 and 4: 21
complaints
Poor organization and preparation: item
3: 2 complaints
By doing the Pareto analysis above, the
manager can better see that the vast
majority of problems (69%) can be
solved by improving staff skills.

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Once

this is done, it may be worth

looking at increasing the number of
staff members.
Alternatively, as staff members
become more able to solve problems
over the phone, maybe the need for
new staff members may decline.
It looks as if comments on poor
organization and preparation may be
rare, and could be caused by
problems beyond the manager's
control.

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By

carrying out a Pareto Analysis, the

manager is able to focus on training as an
issue, rather than spreading effort over
training, taking on new staff members,
and possibly installing a new computer
system.

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2. Flowcharts
Flow

charts are easy-to-understand

diagrams showing how steps in a
process fit together.
This makes them useful tools for
communicating how processes work,
and for clearly documenting how a
particular job is done.
Furthermore, the act of mapping a
process out in flow chart format helps
you clarify your understanding of the
process, and helps you think about
where the process can be improved.

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A flow chart is used to

Define

and analyze processes;

Build a step-by-step picture of the process
for analysis, discussion, or communication;
and
Define, standardize or find areas for
improvement in a process

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How to make a flow chart

Most

flow charts are made up of three

main types of symbol:
Elongated circles, which signify the start or
end of a process;

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Rectangles,

which show instructions or

actions; and

Diamonds,

which show decisions that

must be made

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Within

each symbol, write down what the

symbol represents.
This could be the start or finish of the
process, the action to be taken, or the
decision to be made.
Symbols are connected one to the other
by arrows, showing the flow of the
process.

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Points to note
Flow

charts are simple diagrams that

map out a process so that it can easily
be communicated to other people.
To draw a flowchart, brainstorm the
tasks and decisions made during a
process, and write them down in
order.
Then map these out in flow chart
format using appropriate symbols for
the start and end of a process, for
actions to be taken and for decisions

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Finally,

challenge your flow chart to make

sure that its an accurate representation
of the process, and that that it represents
the most efficient way of doing the job

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3. Check sheets
The

intent and purpose of collecting

data is to either control the production
process, to see the relationship
between cause-and-effect, or for the
continuous improvement of those
processes that produce any type of
defect or nonconforming product.
A Check Sheet is used for the purpose
of collecting data to compile in such a
way as to be easily used, understood
and analyzed automatically.

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The

Check Sheet, as it is being

completed, actually becomes a
graphical representation of the data you
are collecting, thus you do NOT need any
computer software, or spreadsheet to
record the data.
It can be simply done with pencil and
paper

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The main functions Checks

Production

process distribution checks where the distribution lies.

Defective item checks - to determine
what kind of defects exist in the process.
Defect location checks - to determine
where the common defects on a part are
located.

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Defective

cause checks - type of defect

and thus validate the cause thereof.
Check-up confirmation checks - final
phase of assembly to check the finished
product or work.

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4. Histograms
The

common person believes that if a

part is made in mass production from
a machine, all of the parts will be
exactly alike.

The truth is that even with the best of

machines and processes, no two parts are
exactly the same.
The product will have a main or "mean"
specification limit, with plus/minus tolerance
that states that as long as the part is
produced within this range, to that range, it is
an acceptable part.

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The

object is to hit the target

specification, however, that is not
always totally possible.
The purpose of a Histogram is to take
the data that is collected from a
process and then display it graphically
to view how the distribution of the
data, centers itself around the mean,
or main specification.

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The histogram will graphically

show
The

center of the data.

The spread of the data.
Any data skewness (slant, bias or run at
an angle).
The presence of outliers (product outside
the specification range).
The presence of multiple modes (or
peaks) within the data.

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5. Scatter diagrams
The

Scatter Diagram is another Quality

Tool that can be used to show the
relationship between "paired data",
and can provide more useful
information about a production
process.
What is meant by "paired data"?
The term "cause-and-effect"
relationship between two kinds of data
may also refer to a relationship
between one cause and another, or
between one cause and several

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For

example, you could consider the

relationship between an ingredient
and the product hardness; between
the cutting speed of a blade and the
variations observed in length of parts;
or the relationship between the
illumination levels on the production
floor and the mistakes made in quality
inspection of product produced.

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6. Control charts
Control

charts are generally used in a

production or manufacturing environment
and are used to control, monitor and
IMPROVE a process.
Common causes are always present and
generally attributed to machines, material
and time vs. temperature.

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This

normally takes a minor adjustment

to the process to make the correction
and return the process to a normal
output.

However, when making a change to the

process, it should always be a MINOR
change.

If

a plot is observed that shows a slight

deviation trend upward or downward,
the "tweaking" adjustment should be a
slight change, and then another

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Too

often people will over-correct by

making too big of an adjustment which
then causes the process to dramatically
shift in the other direction.
For that reason, all changes to the
process should be SLIGHT and GRADUAL!

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Control Lines
A

control chart is a graph or chart with

limit lines, called control lines.
There are basically three kinds of control
lines:
the upper control limit (UCL),
the central line (actual nominal size of
product),
the lower control limit (LCL).

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The Xbar & R Control Chart

An

Xbar & R Control Chart is one

that shows both the mean value (
X ), and the range ( R ).
The Xbar portion of the chart
mainly shows any changes in the
mean value of the process, while
the R portion shows any changes
in the dispersion of the process.

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This

chart is particularly useful in

that it shows changes in mean
value and dispersion of the
process at the same time, making
it a very effective method for
checking abnormalities within the
process; and if charted while in
progress, also points out a problem
in the production flow in real time
mode.

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7. Fishbone diagram
Cause

& Effect Diagrams

Identifying the Likely Causes of Problems
Also called Fish or Fishbone Diagram and
Ishikawa Diagrams

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Cause

and Effect analysis helps you to

think through causes of a problem
thoroughly.
Their major benefit is that they push you to
consider all possible causes of the
problem, rather than just the ones that are
most obvious

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