8/3/2019 Fishbone Diagram (Cause and Effect)

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BasicToolsforAnalyzing

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Man power, Person n el,Staffin g, etc.

Mat erials, Policies,Regulation s, etc.

CAUSE AND EFFECT DIAGRAM

What it is:

Graphically illustrates the relationship between a given ou tcome and all the

factors that influence this outcome. Sometimes called an Ishikawa or

fishbone" d iagram, it helps show th e relationship of the parts (and su b-

parts) to the whole by:

Determining the factors that cause a positive or negative outcome (oreffect)

Focusing on a sp ecific issue w ithout resorting to complaints and irrelevant

discussion

Determining the root causes of a given effect

Identifying areas where there is a lack of data

How to use it:

Specify t he effect t o be analyzed.The effect can be p ositive (objectives) or

negative (problems). Place it in a box on the right side of the d iagram.

Th eProblem,Objective,Goal, etc.

List the major categories of the factors t hat influence the effect being

studied.The 4 Ms (method s, manp ower, materials, machinery) or the

4 Ps (policies, procedu res, people, plant) are common ly used as a starting

point.

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Basic

ToolsforAnalyzing

Data

Identify significant factors. Look for factors that ap pear repeated ly and list

them. Also, list those factors that have a significant effect, based on the d ata

available.

Categorize and prioritiz e your list of causes. Keep in mind that th e location

of a cause in you r d iagram is notan indicator of its imp ortance. A sub-factormay be the root cause to all of your p roblems. You m ay also decide to

collect more data on a factor that had not been p reviously identified.

Helpful hint:

How do our p eople influence...?

Wh at procedures are causing...?

What regulations affect...?

How does our equ ipm en t affect...?

Factorsan d

Subfactors

Plan t, Machin es, Equ ipm ent , etc.Procedures, Meth od s, Specs, etc.

Materials, Policies, Regulations, etc.Person n el, Staffin g, etc.

Th eProblem,Objective,Goal, etc.

Identify factors and subfactors. Use an idea-generating technique from

Section 2 to identify the factors and subfactors with in each major category.

An easy way to begin is to u se the major categories as a catalyst. For ex-ample, What p olicies are causing . . . ?

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ToolsforAnalyzingData

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Basic Tools for AnalyzingData

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Th e publication team for an en gin eering departm en t wan ted to im prove the accuracy of th eir user docum en tation .

As part of a first step, th ey created a cau se an d effect diagram t o get a picture of wh at causes a do cum en t to b e

error-free. Th e diagram below illustrates wh at th is particular team con sidered imp ortan t at th eir first m eetin g.

Cause and Effect Diagram Example