Published:

02/24/2011 09:21am

Seven Quality Management Tools

I received an email requesting a quick review of the Seven Quality Management Tools that are available to quality personnel. Here is a quick look.

1. Flowchart - Map of sequential steps and decision points in a process. A flow chart is a good tool for a team which helps the group to understand the work flow of a process.

2. Check Sheet - This tool is often referred to as a "tally sheet" that gathers information on frequency / occurrences of defects or events.

3. Cause and Effect Diagram - This tool is also known as the Ishakawa and Fishbone diagram. The tool incorporates the four Ms (manpower, machinery, methods and materials) or four Ps (people, policies, procedures and plant). These categories are used to identify likely causes of problems.

4. Pareto Chart - The Pareto principle (80% of variation is caused by 20% of the variables) is a good tool to show priority of issues. The cumulative line displays a rolling cumulative value of all identified issues.

5. Control Chart - A refinement of the Run Chart which illustrates upper, lower and median points indicating how a process is behaving.

6. Histogram - A visual display of frequency distribution variables in graphical form.

7. Scatter Diagram - This diagram easily displays a correlation between plotted variables.

The common denominator of these seven quality tools is the fact they are "visual presentation" tools, proving value-added when presenting material to upper management.

If you can illustrate a point, it is better understood and remembered.

Until next time, Think Quality!!

Warren Alford