Ursachen-Wirkungs- Diagramm / Fischgrät-Diagramm

• The purpose and usage of the Cause and Effect Diagram.
• A brief historical background.
• A useful example on how to make and interpret a Cause and Effect Diagram.
• Some software suggestions for constructing Cause and Effect Diagrams.
• Related topics
• References.

PURPOSE and USAGE

To provide a pictorial display of a list in which you identify and organize possible causes of problems, or factors needed to ensure success of some effort.

It is an effective tool that allows people to easily see the relationship between factors to study processes, situations, and for planning.

| HISTORY | EXAMPLE | SOFTWARE | RELATED TOPICS | REFERENCES |

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The cause-and-effect diagram is also called the Ishikawa diagram (after its creator, Kaoru Ishikawa of Japan), or the fishbone diagram (due to its shape).

It was created so that all possible causes of a result could be listed in such a way as to allow a user to graphically show these possible causes. From this diagram, the user can define the most likely causes of a result.

This diagram was adopted by Dr. W. Edwards Deming as a helpful tool in improving quality. Dr. Deming has taught Total Quality Management in Japan since World War II. He has also helped develop statistical tools to be used for the census and taught the military his methods of quality management. Both Ishikawa and Deming use this diagram as one the first tools in the quality management process.

| PURPOSE | EXAMPLE | SOFTWARE | RELATED TOPICS | REFERENCES |

USEFUL SOFTWARE

Cause and Effect Diagrams are typically constructed through brainstorming techniques. As a result, they are often drafted by hand on paper. However, two software packages capable of displaying the diagram professionally are AutoCad and CADKEY.

| PURPOSE | HISTORY | EXAMPLE | RELATED TOPICS | REFERENCES |

RELATED TOPICS:

Other tools related to quality control are:

• flowchart
• pareto chart
• run (trend) chart
• histogram
• control chart
• scatter diagram
• checksheet

Also, look for information on:

• Deming
• Ishikawa
• TQM
• JIT

| PURPOSE | HISTORY | EXAMPLE | SOFTWARE | REFERENCES |

Index