basic quality management tools

To visually document a process, show the sequence of activities, and identify redundancies or improvement opportunities.

plus compares and contrasts actual versus ideal flow of a process → objective assessment based on data

What is a flowchart used for?

supplier input process output customer (SIPOC) diagram - flowcharts

• identify basic elements of a process and project boundaries

• transferring customer requirements into output requirements 

swim lane flowchart 

when the process goes across different functions or departments 

value stream mapping 

• process map with data (such as time, error rate, etc).

• process flow, material flow, information flow,

• foundation for Lean

check sheet

• data collection tool

• creates easy-to-understand data 

• determine the time period to be covered

     — day, week, shift, quarter, etc 

• data are collected and recorded for specific conditions or events of interest → tracking 

• makes patterns in the data become obvious 

• builds with each observation a clearer picture of the facts 

histogram

• displays large amounts of data that are difficult to interpret in tabular form

• charts frequency of occurrence 

      — shows centering, variation, and shape

      — illustrates the underlying distribution of the data

       — normality check for further statistical analysis 

• provides info for evaluating and predicting performance

variation analysis tools

identify the source and existence of variations to take care of

• run chart

• control chart

run chart 

• time-series chart

• simple, quick, and easy charts that require calculation only of a median

• monitors the performance of processes over time to detect trends, shifts, and cycles

• focuses attention on truly vital changes in the process

• allows a team to compare performance before and after implementation of a solution to measure its impact

control chart 

identifying causes

• cause-and-effect diagram (fishbone)

• pareto chart

verifying causes

• scatter plots

• regression

• ANOVA

• design of experiments

cause and effect diagram

fishbone diagram’s 4M

• manpower

EX] workforce

• machinery

EX] facilities and equipment, technology

• material

EX] raw materials, information

• methods

EX] processes, policies

pareto diagram

scatter diagram

• check if two variables are elated

• provides both a visual and statistical means to test the strength of a relationship

— without calculating correlation

— helps create or refine hypotheses

application of the basic tools in six sigma