Tool leading to the root

cause of a problem
Today we are going to talk about a tool that leads us to the
Cause of a problem .

The fishbone diagram is used to find the root cause of a problem

What is Fishbone Diagram ?

A fishbone Diagram also known as cause and effect diagram is a way to
Visualize potential causes of a problem which eventually leads us to the root
Cause of a problem .

Fishbone diagrams are considered One of seven basic quality tools and are used in the
“analyze” phase of Six sigma’s define, measure,analyze,improve , control ,approach
to problem solving .

Define Measure Analyze

Improve Control Approach

It’suseful in product development and
troubleshooting processes.

The fishbone diagram looks much like a

skeleton of a fish
It typically works from right to left.
To create fishbone Diagrams the root
problem is listed in the head of the fish

Proble
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The backbone is a horizontal arrow pointing to the head
atleast four overarching causes of the problem branch off
from the spine with the arrows. Causes can include
methods , skills , equipment , people , environment,
materials and many other factors.

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For each overarching cause there might be
supporting information and contributing
factors and they are written down to branch
off their corresponding cause
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The process of breaking down each cause
is continued until the root causes of the
problem have been identified
After analyzing the diagram the root
cause is identified and noted down at the
end of the diagram
 Problem

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