Continuous Improvement and

The 7 Basic Quality Tools

~
The DMAIC Process

To a hammer, everythings a nail

How many tools do you have in your improvement tool kit ?

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7 Basic Quality Tools

Cause-and-effect diagram
also called Ishikawa or fishbone chart

Identifies many possible causes for an effect or problem and

sorts ideas into useful categories.

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7 Basic Quality Tools

Check sheet

A structured, prepared form for collecting and analyzing data; a

generic tool that can be adapted for a wide variety of data
gathering purposes.

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7 Basic Quality Tools

Control charts

Graphs used to study how a process changes over time

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7 Basic Quality Tools

Flow Chart

Visually shows sequential steps in a process using commonly

accepted symbols.

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7 Basic Quality Tools

Histogram

The most commonly used graph for showing frequency

distributions, or how often each different value in a set of data
occurs.

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7 Basic Quality Tools

Pareto chart

Shows on a bar graph which factors are more significant.

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7 Basic Quality Tools

Scatter diagram

Graphs pairs of numerical data, one variable on each axis, to

look for a relationship.

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 DMAIC
Define Measure Analyze Improve Control Process
Model

DMAIC What is it?

The Quality Council of Indiana, in the QMC/OE Body of knowledge defines DMAIC
as a process improvement tool and discusses it under management tools.

GE summarized the DMAIC process steps as:

Define the customers critical-to-quality issues and core business process

Measure the performance of the core business process involved
Analyze the data and determine root causes or improvement opportunities
Improve the target process with creative solutions to fix and prevent problems
Monitor the process to sustain the improvements

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 Define Measure Analyze Improve Control
Define
Phase

Define
Select and define project scope
- what needs fixing
- what are project goals and objectives
Define customer critical characteristics / features
- who is the customer (internal / external)
- what product or service is provided to the customer
Select team
- champion
- leader
- members
Develop improvement / implementation plan
Create support infrastructure

Some other skills and tools

Brainstorming
Teaming
Planning / Project Management
Action Plans
Run Chart / Trend Chart

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 Define Measure Analyze Improve Control
Measure
Phase

Measure
Understand the process
- process map / flow chart
- determine current performance
- estimate capability of the process
Identify critical process / product impacts
- Key process input variables (KPIV) the Xs
- Key process output variables (KPOV) the Ys
Determine measurement system reliability
- conduct measurement system analysis (MSA)
Determine key metrics
Understand Cause and Effect
Use selective control charting as a diagnostic

Some other skills and tools

Process Capability Study (Cp, Cpk)
MSA Studies (GR & R, Anova)
Run Chart / Trend Chart

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 Define Measure Analyze Improve Control
Analyze
Phase

Analyze
Assess process variation
Determine components of variation (multi-var charts)
Determine the defect cause
Identify critical process / control elements
- products
- features
- process
Assess process capability
Determine potential improvement actions
- conduct hypothesis tests
- conduct ANOVA

Some other skills and tools

Brainstorming
Process Capability Study (Cp, Cpk)
Statistical Analysis (e.g. DOE, Anova)
5 Why Root Cause Analysis

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 Define Measure Analyze Improve Control
Improve
Phase

Improve
Implement improvement actions
Optimize the process
Implement actions to reduce variability
- target tolerancing
- process controls
- preventive / corrective actions
Implement actions to eliminate defects
- Special cause variation

Some other skills and tools

Action Plans
Statistical Analysis (e.g. Cpk)
Statistical Analysis (e.g. DOE, Anova)
Sample Plans
Quality Control Plans

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 Define Measure Analyze Improve Control
Control
Phase

Control
Monitor and control the process over time
- control plans
- control charts
Mistake proof
Reduce common cause (random) variation
Rule of Thumb: Cp 2 , Cpk 1.5

Some other skills and tools

Poka-yoke (mistake proof)
Statistical Analysis (e.g. Cpk)
SPC
Sample Plans
Control Plans
PDCA (PDSA) Cycle

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Anything More?

Who said:
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and
expecting different results.

Albert Einstein

How many tools do you have in your quality tool kit ?

References:
7 Basic Tools: Excerpted from Nancy R. Tagues The Quality Toolbox, Second Edition, ASQ Quality Press, 2004, page 15.
CMQ/OE Primer 2010, Quality Council of Indiana

Learn More:
The Quality Toolbox, Second Edition, Tague, Nancy R.
Implementing Six Sigma: Smarter Solutions Using Statistical Methods, 2nd Edition, Breyfogle, Forrest W

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