But you should continue browsing through all 13 tools.

You will discover that

potential problem analysis
and
process decision program chart
are designed for simi-
lar purposes and applications. Then read the sections for each of the three tool
s care-
fully in order to decide which one is most appropriate for your teams situation.
GENERIC TOOLS
If you walked into a hardware store and asked for a saw, the clerk would respond,
What
kind
of saw? Saw is a name for a broad group of tools; there are many spe-
cific saws designed for particular purposes. Similarly, there are several generi
c kinds of
quality tools that can be customized for particular purposes.
F
or example, graph is a general name for a generic tool. There are hundreds of
types of graphsline graphs, bar charts, pie charts, box plots, histograms, contro
l
c
harts, and so onwhich have been developed over the years to respond to specific
needs or uses for graphs. People have named and described these graph variations
so
that others wont have to keep reinventing the wheel, or the graph, in this case.
Anyone familiar with the general definition of grapha visual display of numer-
ical data to achieve deeper or quicker understanding of the meaning of the numbe
rs
might devise a new way of displaying data to suit a particular need. That type o
f graph
might be used only once, or it might become another named graph that others with
the
same need could use.
Quality improvement practitioners are creative and inventive, so many tool varia
-
tions have been devised. This book does not include many that are straightforwar
d
applications of the generic tool, which is especially common with check sheets,
matri-
ces and tables. It does include ones that are in some way unique, where there wa
s a cre-
ative or conceptual jump between the generic tool and the variation. Separate en
tries are
allotted for tools that have complex procedures (such as the control chart) or a
narrower
application (such as the decision matrix). Otherwise, the variation is described
under
the generic tools listing. Each of the generic tools has its own entry.
So what are these generic tools? Here is a list, with examples of unique variati
ons:
Check sheet and checklist:
defect concentration diagram, project charter
c
hecklist, guidance questions
Flowchart:
deployment flowchart, macro flowchart, process mapping, top-
down flowchart, work flow diagram
Graph:
control chart, histogram, Pareto chart, run chart, scatter diagram
Matrix Diagram:
decision matrix, prioritization matrix, house of quality
T
able:
contingency table, check sheet,