7 Tools of Quality and Management

7/31/2019 7 Tools of Quality and Management

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Some Tips and Guidelines to the 7 Tools of Quality, 7 Tools of Management andPlanning

7 Tools of Management & Planning

Tool Phase* Why Use It Tips and GuidelinesAffinity

Diagram:Gathering andGrouping Ideas

Define To allow a team to creatively generate

a large number of ideas/issues andthen organize and summarize naturalgroupings among them to understand(or define) a problem and possiblesolutions

1. A typical Affinity has 40-60 items (it

is not unusual to have 100-200 items)2. Use cards or Post-its when grouping

ideas3. Sort in silence4. It is okay for some ideas to stand alone.

These loners can be as important asothers that naturally fit into groupings.

Interrelationship Digraph:Looking forDrivers andOutcomes

Analyze To allow a team to systematicallyidentify, analyze, and classify thecause-and-effect relationships thatexist among all critical issues so thatkey drivers or outcomes are identifiedNote: This is similar to the StreamDiagnostic Chart with little variation.

1. Draw only one-way relationship arrowsin the direction of the stronger cause orinfluence. Make a decision on thestronger direction. Do not draw two-headed arrows.

2. Identify the key drivers (greatestnumber of outgoing arrows) and thekey outcomes (greatest number ofincoming arrows).

TreeDiagram:Mapping thetasks forimplementation

Analyze,Improve(Implement)

To break down the broad causes ofcategories into increasing level ofdetail. Your team can use it to depictlinks between root causes and theireffects on a problem. It can also beused to break down broad goals intoincreasing level of detailed actionsthat can be done to achieve statedgoals.

1. Sources of Goal or driver:Interrelationship Digraph, AffinitydiagramNote: Whatever the source, make surethat the goal or problem follows theSMART or AIMS criteria.

2. Keep first level of detail broad, andavoid jumping to the lowest level oftask.

3. From left to right (goal to means), askhow. From right to left (means togoal), ask why.

ProcessDecisionProgramChart:


To improve implementation throughcontingency planning. This is typicallybased on the results of a TreeDiagram.

1. From Tree Diagram, branch likelyproblems off each branch. Ask, Whatcould go wrong?

2. Branch possible and reasonable


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ContingencyPlanning

responses off each likely problem.

ActivityNetwork:Schedulingsequential and

simultaneoustasks

Improve(Implement)

To allow a team to find both the mostefficient path and realistic schedulefor the completion of any project bygraphically showing total completion

time, necessary sequence of tasks,those tasks that can be donesimultaneously, and the critical tasksto monitor.

1. This tool is (or will be) discussed indetail in IE 141.

2. Precedence Diagramming or ActivityNetwork construction is a topic in

Project Management. In the case ofquality improvement projects, it is usedin the Improve or Implement phase as atool for the expeditious completion of aproject.

InvolvementMatrixDiagram:InvolvingPeople in your

Project

Define,Improve(Implement)

To determine the appropriate level ofinvolvement for different groups ofstakeholders.

Describe and be specific about the levelof involvement required of eachstakeholder group. Not everyoneneeds to be completely involved atevery stage.

PrioritizationMatrix:Weighing YourOptions

Improve(Implement)

To narrow down options through asystematic approach of comparingchoices by selecting, weighing, andapplying criteria.

1. There are three kinds: Full AnalyticalCriteria, Consensus Criteria,Combination ID. Full Analytical Criteriais used when criteria are relatively few(3-6). CC is used when criteria aremany (10-20).

2. Team must reach consensus on thefinal criteria and their meanings, or theprocess is likely to fail.

3. While this tool presents a more

systematic methodology thantraditional decision-making, it is notexact science. Use common sense andjudgment when options are ratedclosely.


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7 Tools of Quality

Tool Phase* Why Use It Tips and GuidelinesPareto Chart:Focus on KeyProblems

Define,Measure,Improve

To focus efforts on the problems thatoffer the greatest potential forimprovement by showing their relativefrequency or size in a descending bar

graph.

1. For one problem, several Pareto chartscan be constructed if the tallest barin one of the graphs can be brokendown further.

2. Typically, cost and frequency can bealternated (but different measurementsystems can still be used)

Run Chart:TrackingTrends

Define,Measure,Improve(Implement), Control

To allow a team to study observeddata from a Check sheet or otherdata-collection source to analyzetrends or patterns over a specifiedperiod of time.

1. Collect 20-25 data points (the more thebetter) to detect meaningful patterns.

2. Do not recomputed the average orredraw the median line every time newdata has been added. Only when therehas been major change in process orprevailing conditions should be averagerecalculated and redrawn, and then

only using the data points after verifiedchange.

ScatterDiagram:MeasuringRelationshipsbetweenVariables


To study and identify the possiblerelationship between the changesobserved in two different sets ofvariables. It immediately provides avisual means to test the strength of apotential relationship. Provides agood follow-up to a Cause-and-Effectdiagram to find out if there is morethan just a consensus connection

between causes and effects

1. Does not predict cause-and-effectrelationships. Only shows the strengthof the relationship between twovariables. The stronger the relationship,the greater the likelihood that changein one variable will affect change inanother variable.

2. An option is to stratify data sets tocheck for other sources of variation

other than the effect of one variable tothe other.

Flowchart:Picturing theProcess

Define,Measure,Improve(Implement)

To allow a team to identify the actualflow or sequence of events in aprocess that any product or servicefollows.

1. When charting old processes or thestatus quo, sequence what is and not,what should be.

Cause-and-EffectDiagram: Findand cure

Analyze To allow a team to identify, explore,and graphically display, in increasingdetail, all of the possible causesrelated to a problem or condition to

1. Make sure everyone agrees on theproblem statement. Follow theguidelines to the formulation of afocused problem statement.


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causes, notSymptoms

discover its root causes. 2. The 5 WHYS Method is very effective indetermining root causes. Start with thefocused problem statement and thenask, Why? five times.

Check Sheet:

Concentratingdefects intomajor causesor categories*

Define,

Measure

A check sheet is a structured,

prepared form for collecting andanalyzing data. This is a generic toolthat can be adapted for a wide varietyof purposes.

1. Use the Check Sheet when data can be

observed and collected repeatedly bythe same person or at the samelocation.

2. Use the Check Sheet when collectingdata on the frequency or patterns ofevents, problems, defects, defectlocation, defect causes, etc.

ControlCharts:RecognizingSources of

Variation

Define,Measure,Improve,Control

To monitor, control, and improveprocess performance over time bystudying variation and its source.

1. Samples must be random. To establishthe inherent variation of a process,allow process to run untouched.

2. Control does not necessarily mean that

the product or service will meet yourneeds. It only means that the process isconsistent. Dont confuse control limitswith specification limits specificationlimits are related to the Voice of theCustomer, not to the Voice of theProcess

7 Tools of Quality and Management

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