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The 7 Quality Control Tools

1. Check sheet
The check sheet is a simple document that is used for collecting data in
real-time and at the location where the data is generated. The document is
typically a blank form that is designed for the quick, easy, and efficient
recording of the desired information, which can be either quantitative or
qualitative. When the information is quantitative, the checksheet is
sometimes called a tally sheet.
A defining characteristic of a check sheet is that data is recorded by
making marks (checks) on it. A typical check sheet is divided into regions,
and marks made in different regions have different significance. Data is read
by observing the location and number of marks on the sheet. 5 Basic types
of Check Sheets:

Classification: A trait such as a defect or failure mode must be

classified into a category.

Location: The physical location of a trait is indicated on a picture of

a part or item being evaluated.

Frequency: The presence or absence of a trait or combination of

traits is indicated. Also number of occurrences of a trait on a part can be
indicated.

Measurement Scale: A measurement scale is divided into intervals,

and measurements are indicated by checking an appropriate interval.

Check List: The items to be performed for a task are listed so that,
as each is accomplished, it can be indicated as having been completed.
Sample Check Sheet

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2. Pareto Analysis (Pareto Chart)

A Pareto chart, named after Vilfredo Pareto, is a type of chart that contains
both bars and a line graph, where individual values are represented in
descending order by bars, and the cumulative total is represented by the
line.
The left vertical axis is the frequency of occurrence, but it can alternatively
represent cost or another important unit of measure. The right vertical axis is
the cumulative percentage of the total number of occurrences, total cost, or
total of the particular unit of measure. Because the reasons are in decreasing
order, the cumulative function is a concave function. To take the example
below, in order to lower the amount of late arrivals by 78%, it is sufficient to
solve the first three issues.
The purpose of the Pareto chart is to highlight the most important among a
(typically large) set of factors. In quality control, it often represents the most
common sources of defects, the highest occurring type of defect, or the most
frequent reasons for customer complaints, and so on. Wilkinson (2006)
devised an algorithm for producing statistically based acceptance limits
(similar to confidence intervals) for each bar in the Pareto chart.
Sample Pareto Charts

Example 1

Example 2

Example 1 shows how many customer complaints were received in each of five
categories.
Example 2 takes the largest category, documents, from Example 1, breaks it
down into six categories of document-related complaints, and shows cumulative
values.
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If all complaints cause equal distress to the customer, working on eliminating

document-related complaints would have the most impact, and of those, working on
quality certificates should be most fruitful.

3. Cause and Effect Diagram

Also Called: CauseandEffect Diagram, Ishikawa Diagram
Variations: cause enumeration diagram, process fishbone, timedelay
fishbone, CEDAC (causeandeffect diagram with the addition of cards),
desiredresult fishbone, reverse fishbone diagram
The fishbone diagram identifies many possible causes for an effect or
problem. It can be used to structure a brainstorming session. It immediately
sorts ideas into useful categories.
When to Use a Fishbone Diagram

When identifying possible causes for a problem.

Especially when a teams thinking tends to fall into ruts.

Fishbone Diagram Procedure

a) Materials needed: flipchart or whiteboard, marking pens.
b) Agree on a problem statement (effect). Write it at the center right of
the flipchart or whiteboard. Draw a box around it and draw a horizontal
arrow running to it.
c) Brainstorm the major categories of causes of the problem. If this is
difficult use generic headings:
Methods
Machines (equipment)
People (manpower)
Materials
Measurement
Environment
d) Write the categories of causes as branches from the main arrow.
e) Brainstorm all the possible causes of the problem. Ask: Why does this
happen? As each idea is given, the facilitator writes it as a branch
from the appropriate category. Causes can be written in several places
if they relate to several categories.
f) Again ask why does this happen? about each cause. Write sub
causes branching off the causes. Continue to ask Why? and generate
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deeper levels of causes. Layers of branches indicate causal

relationships.
g) When the group runs out of ideas, focus attention to places on the
chart where ideas are few.

Fishbone Diagram Example

This fishbone diagram was drawn by a manufacturing team to try to

understand the source of periodic iron contamination. The team used the six
generic headings to prompt ideas. Layers of branches show thorough
thinking about the causes of the problem.
For example, under the heading Machines, the idea materials of
construction shows four kinds of equipment and then several specific
machine numbers.
Note that some ideas appear in two different places. Calibration shows up
under Methods as a factor in the analytical procedure, and also under
Measurement as a cause of lab error. Iron tools can be considered a
Methods problem when taking samples or a Manpower problem with
maintenance personnel.

4. Scatter Plot
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A scatter plot is effectively a line graph with no line - i.e. the point intersections
between the two data sets are plotted but no attempt is made to physically draw a
line. The Y axis is conventionally used for the characteristic whose behavior we
would like to predict. It is used to define the area of relationship between two
variables.

The scatter diagram graphs pairs of numerical data, with one variable on
each axis, to look for a relationship between them. If the variables are
correlated, the points will fall along a line or curve. The better the
correlation, the tighter the points will hug the line.
When to Use, a Scatter Diagram

When you have paired numerical data.

When your dependent variable may have multiple values for each
value of your independent variable.
When trying to determine whether the two variables are related, such
as
When trying to identify potential root causes of problems.
After brainstorming causes and effects using a fishbone diagram, to
determine objectively whether a particular cause and effect are
related.
When determining whether two effects that appear to be related both
occur with the same cause.
When testing for autocorrelation before constructing a control chart.
Scatter Diagram Example

The ZZ-400 manufacturing team suspects a relationship between product

purity (percent purity) and the amount of iron (measured in parts per million
or ppm). Purity and iron are plotted against each other as a scatter diagram,
as shown in the figure below.
There are 24 data points. Median lines are drawn so that 12 points fall on
each side for both percent purity and ppm iron.
To test for a relationship, they calculate:
A = points in upper left + points in lower right = 9 + 9 = 18
B = points in upper right + points in lower left = 3 + 3 = 6
Q = the smaller of A and B = the smaller of 18 and 6 = 6
N = A + B = 18 + 6 = 24

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Then they look up the limit for N on the trend test table. For N = 24, the limit
is 6.
Q is equal to the limit. Therefore, the pattern could have occurred from
random chance, and no relationship is demonstrated.

5. Histogram
A histogram is a graphical representation of the distribution of numerical
data. It is an estimate of the probability distribution of a continuous
variable (quantitative variable) and was first introduced by Karl Pearson. To
construct a histogram, the first step is to "bin" the range of valuesthat is,
divide the entire range of values into a series of intervalsand then count
how many values fall into each interval. The bins are usually specified as
consecutive, non-overlapping intervals of a variable. The bins (intervals)
must be adjacent, and are often (but are not required to be) of equal size.
If the bins are of equal size, a rectangle is erected over the bin with height
proportional to the frequency the number of cases in each bin. A
histogram may also be normalized to display "relative" frequencies. It then
shows the proportion of cases that fall into each of several categories, with
the sum of the heights equaling 1.
However, bins need not be of equal width; in that case, the erected rectangle
is defined to have its area proportional to the frequency of cases in the
bin The vertical axis is then not the frequency but frequency density the
number of cases per unit of the variable on the horizontal axis. Examples of
variable bin width are displayed on Census bureau data below.
As the adjacent bins leave no gaps, the rectangles of a histogram touch each
other to indicate that the original variable is continuous.

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Histograms give a rough sense of the density of the underlying distribution of

the data, and often for density estimation: estimating the probability density
function of the underlying variable. The total area of a histogram used for
probability density is always normalized to 1. If the lengths of the intervals
on the x-axis are all 1, then a histogram is identical to a relative
frequency plot.
A histogram can be thought of as a simplistic kernel density estimation,
which uses a kernel to smooth frequencies over the bins. This yields
a smoother probability density function, which will in general more
accurately reflect distribution of the underlying variable. The density
estimate could be plotted as an alternative to the histogram, and is usually
drawn as a curve rather than a set of boxes.
Another alternative is the average shifted histogram, which is fast to
compute and gives a smooth curve estimate of the density without using
kernels.
A frequency distribution shows how often each different value in a set of data
occurs. A histogram is the most commonly used graph to show frequency
distributions. It looks very much like a bar chart, but there are important
differences between them.
When to Use a Histogram

When the data are numerical.

When you want to see the shape of the datas distribution, especially
when determining whether the output of a process is distributed
approximately normally.
When analyzing whether a process can meet the customers
requirements.
When analyzing what the output from a suppliers process looks like.
When seeing whether a process change has occurred from one time
period to another.
When determining whether the outputs of two or more processes are
different.
When you wish to communicate the distribution of data quickly and
easily to others.
Histogram Example

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Prices of houses sold in Ames in 2009

6. Stratification
Stratification is a technique used in combination with other data analysis
tools. When data from a variety of sources or categories have been lumped
together, the meaning of the data can be impossible to see. This technique
separates the data so that patterns can be seen.
When to Use Stratification

Before collecting data.

When data come from several sources or conditions, such as shifts,
days of the week, suppliers or population groups.
When data analysis may require separating different sources or
conditions.
Stratification Example
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The ZZ400 manufacturing team drew a scatter diagram to test whether product
purity and iron contamination were related, but the plot did not demonstrate a
relationship. Then a team member realized that the data came from three different
reactors. The team member redrew the diagram, using a different symbol for each
reactors data:

Now patterns can be seen. The data from reactor 2 and reactor 3 are circled. Even
without doing any calculations, it is clear that for those two reactors, purity
decreases as iron increases. However, the data from reactor 1, the solid dots that
are not circled, do not show that relationship. Something is different about reactor
1.

7. Control Charts
The control chart is a graph used to study how a process changes over time.
Data are plotted in time order. A control chart always has a central line for
the average, an upper line for the upper control limit and a lower line for the
lower control limit. These lines are determined from historical data. By
comparing current data to these lines, you can draw conclusions about
whether the process variation is consistent (in control) or is unpredictable
(out of control, affected by special causes of variation).
Control charts for variable data are used in pairs. The top chart monitors the
average, or the centering of the distribution of data from the process. The
bottom chart monitors the range, or the width of the distribution. If your data
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were shots in target practice, the average is where the shots are clustering,
and the range is how tightly they are clustered. Control charts for attribute
data are used singly.
When to Use a Control Chart

When controlling ongoing processes by finding and correcting problems as

they occur.
When predicting the expected range of outcomes from a process.
When determining whether a process is stable (in statistical control).
When analyzing patterns of process variation from special causes (nonroutine events) or common causes (built into the process).
When determining whether your quality improvement project should aim to
prevent specific problems or to make fundamental changes to the process.

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