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Edwards Deming to go to Japan and train hundreds of Japanese engineers, managers and scholars in statistical process control. Deming also delivered a series of lectures to Japanese business managers on the subject, and during his lectures, he would emphasise the importance of what he called the basic tool that were available to use in quality control. One of the members of the JUSE was Kaoru Ishikawa, at the time an associate professor at the University of Tokyo. Ishikawa had a desire to democratise quality: that is to say, he wanted to make quality control comprehensible to all workers, and inspired by Demings lectures, he formalised the Seven Basic Tools of Quality Control. Ishikawa believed that 90% of a companys problems could be improved using these seven tools, and that with the exception of Control Charts they could easily be taught to any member of the organisation. This ease-of-use combined with their graphical nature makes statistical analysis easier for all. The seven tools are: Cause and Effect Diagrams Pareto Charts Flow Charts Check sheet Scatter Plots Control (Run) Charts Histograms
Flow Chart: A flow chart shows the steps in a process i.e., actions which transform an input to an output for the next step. A flowchart is a type of diagram that represents a process, showing the steps as boxes of various kinds, and their order by connecting them with arrows. These diagrammatic representations give solution to a given problem. Process operations are represented in these boxes, and arrows; rather, they are implied by the sequencing of operations. Flowcharts are used in analysing, designing, documenting or managing a process or program in various fields. It is also known as Process Maps and Process Flow Diagrams Flow charts are useful tools for communicating how processes work, and for clearly documenting how a particular job is done. It is an effective way to clarify understanding Actions of the process, and helps thinking about where the process can be improved. It can be used to: Define and analyse processes Build a step-by-step picture of the process for analysis, discussion, or communication. Define, standardize or find areas for improvement in a process. Most flow charts are made up of three symbols: Elongated circles, which signify the start or end of a process; Rectangles, which show instructions or actions; and Diamonds, which show decisions that must be made
Pareto Chart: A Pareto chart, named after Vilfredo Pareto, is a type of chart that contains both bars and a line graph, where individual values are represented in descending order by bars, and the cumulative total is represented by the line. The purpose of the Pareto chart is to highlight the most important among a (typically large) set of factors. In quality control, it often represents the most common sources of defects, the highest occurring type of defect, or the most frequent reasons for customer complaints, and so on. Based upon the Pareto Principle that states that 80% of a problem is attributable to 20% of its causes, or inputs, a Pareto Chart organises and displays information in order to show the relative importance of various problems or causes of problems. It is a vertical bar chart with items organised in order from the highest to the lowest, relative to a measurable effect: i.e. frequency, cost, time. A Pareto Chart makes it easier to identify where the greatest possible improvement gains can be achieved. By showing the highest incidences or frequencies first and relating them to the overall percentage for the samples, it highlights what is known as the vital few. Factors are then prioritized, and effort focused upon them.
Histograms: Histograms are bar graphs that present the frequency distribution of data. The horizontal axis represents the class interval of data while the vertical axis represents the frequency of each class interval. Not only for displaying data, histogram can also be used as a tool for summarizing and analysing data. They are used to measure the frequency distribution of data that is commonly grouped together in ranges or bins. Bins are used when the data is spread over a wide range. For example, in the list 3, 5, 9, 12, 14, 17, 20, 24, 29, 31, 45, 49, instead of looking for the occurrence of each number from 1 to 49, which would be meaningless, it is more useful to group them such that the frequency of occurrence of the ranges 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40 and 4150 are measured. These are called bins. Histograms are very useful in discerning the distribution of data and therefore patterns of variation. They monitor the performance of a system and present it in a graphical way which is far easier to understand and read than a table of data. Once a problem has been identified, they can then also be used to check that the solution has worked. The shape of the histogram gives some clues for analysing the process. When the data is stratified based on the factors which are thought to cause variation, the cause of variation become more easily detected. Check Sheet: They are used to capture data in a manual, reliable, formalised way so that decisions can be made based on facts. As the data is collected, it becomes a graphical representation of itself. Areas for improvement can then be identified, either directly from the check sheet, or by feeding the data into one of the other seven basic tools. Simply, a table is designed to capture the incidences of the variable(s) to be measured. Tick marks are then manually put in the relevant boxes. As the ticks build up, they give a graphical representation of the frequency of incidences. Below is a typical example.
Scatter Plots: A Scatter Diagram, or Chart, is used to identify whether there is a relationship between two variables. It does not prove that one variable directly affects the other, but is highly effective in confirming that a relationship exists between the two. It is a graphical more than statistical tool. Points are plotted on a graph with the two variables as the axes. If the points form a narrow cloud, then there is a direct correlation. If there is no discernible pattern or a wide spread, then there is no or little correlation. If both variables increase as the other increases then they are said to be positively correlated. If the one variable decreases as the other increases, then they are said to be negatively correlated. These are linear correlations; they may also be nonlinearly correlated.
Control Chart: Control charts were invented by Walter A. Shewhart in 1920s. These quality tools consist of line graphs completed with maximum limit and minimum limit which provide control area. The maximum limit often called upper control limit and the minimum limit often called lower control limit, while the central line represents an estimate of the process mean. Since the value is within control area, the process can be stated as a controllable process. The value outside control area indicates that the process is no longer stable because of some variation causes. Thus, this process needs proper corrective actions to eliminate the sources of variation. Control charts also show the process change over time. If the change is good, its cause should be identified and possibly become the new process. Otherwise if the change is bad, its cause should be identified and then be eliminated.
Conclusion: The seven basic tools of quality can be used singularly or in tandem to investigate a process and identify areas for improvement, although they do not all necessarily need to be used. If a process is simple enough or the solution obvious enough any one may be all that is needed for improvement. They provide a means for doing so based on facts, not just personal knowledge, which of course can be tainted or inaccurate. Ishikawa advocated teaching these seven basic tools to every member of a company as a means to making quality endemic throughout the organisation. References: IGNOU; Total Quality Management.