7QC Tools for problem solving in Manufacturing Industries.
One of the basic skill for becoming an successful engineer is being a good problem solver. An Engineer is someone who can give engineering solutions to a problem. The fact that is expressed here is that Engineer must be able to give solutions with the knowledge he has acquired learning Engineering principles and concepts.
Any problem solving requires tools as aid. If you have a problem with the Machine you require tools to understand the problem clearly and tools to solve the problem.
As a result of the major industrial revolution in Japan, The Seven Quality Control tools (7QC Tools) was introduced by Kaoru Ishikawa. It is believed that almost 90% of the problems in the shop floor can be solved with these basic yet powerful 7QC tools.
The seven quality control tools are
- Cause-and-effect diagram
- Check sheet
- Control chart
- Histogram
- Pareto chart
- Scatter diagram
- Flow Chart
Let us understand about each tool in crisp.
Cause-and-effect diagram is also called Ishikawa or fishbone diagram. This tool is used to identify what are the various possible causes for an effect or problem. This is very useful to sorts the causes under input sources such as Man, Machine, Material and Method which is shortly known as 4M.
Check sheet is a data collection tool. When there is a need for data from the process Check sheet helps in collecting and analyzing data in a most structured way. Check sheet is a versatile tool and can fit to any kind of requirements.
Control chart is a line Graph used to monitor the process variation and helps understand how a process changes over time. By capturing the current data from the process and comparing it with the historical data we can understand whether the current process has only common cause variation and does not have any special cause variation. The process with only common cause variation is a good process and is predictable.
Histogram is a bar graph which shows the distribution of data. It shows the snap shot of the data taken from a process.
Pareto chart: Pareto principle is a prediction that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. It helps to prioritize the choice to have maximum benefit from the efforts taken. Pareto helps to identify the ” Vital Few” from the ” Trivial many”.
Scatter diagram is a tool for analyzing relationships between two variable. One variable is plotted on the horizontal axis and the other is plotted on the vertical axis and their pattern of intersecting points can graphically show relationship patterns
Flow Chart is a diagram that uses graphic symbols to depict the nature and flow of the steps involved in a process.
A detailed explanation of each of the tools are also published. You can just click over any tool from the above list to read more about the particular tool.
We believe the content posted above has helped you to learn the basic explanation about the 7QC tools. We would be glad to hear your comments in the comments section below.
Few books recommended to read on 7QC Tools are given below
