7QC Tools, also known as 7 basic tools of Quality was originated in Japan by Professor Kaoru Ishikawa at Tokyo University. He is famously known as the Father of Quality Circles. The objective of this 7qc tools is to help solve critical quality related issues. By using these 7 basic tools of quality one can easily understand and solve problems or defects arising in any industry. All these tools are widely used in manufacturing field to monitor the overall manufacturing operations and promote continuous process improvement. Through this one can easily find the root cause of the problem and implement action plan to improve the overall work efficiency. Let’s have a look at the 7QC tools
Pareto Chart
An 80/20 principal is followed in this chart which stands for, 80% of your effect is caused by 20% of your causes. In simple terms, 80% of your sales happen due to 20% of your customers. This signifies that one should be firm and should prioritize what is important to improve your processes.
Cause and Effects Diagram (Fishbone Diagram)
This diagram helps to determine the root cause of a problem that is it helps to understand the factors that are causing the problems. The diagram looks like the bones of a fish, where each main (big) bone represents a specific category (eg. Environment, manpower, machine, etc.) of the possible root cause, and smaller bones represent the problems in each of the categories (Eg. Environment – exposed pipes, Manpower – Inexperienced workforce, Machines – heat exchanger leak).
Histogram
This allows you to see the center of data, the range of data, the distribution of data. It is similar to bar chart where it shows you the frequency of the problems caused so that an effective action plan is created.
Scatter Diagram
They are widely used in problem-solving to establish the causes and effects of the root cause. The variable data is plotted along with the x-axis and y-axis, where it shows the positive and negative correlation between the two data.
Control Chart
This is a very powerful tool to find or investigate the source of variation present in the manufacturing process. It makes us understand when to take the necessary actions to eliminate the variations.
Check Sheet
This is a form of collected data that is used for further analysis. The data may be numerical, observations and opinions.
Process Flow Diagram(PFD) & Graphs
This is the representation or diagram that indicates the overall flow of plant processes and equipment.
With 7QC Tools one can make quick decisions and judgments regarding problem-solving techniques, the overall process can be effectively measured, promote continual improvement in processes and services & most importantly improve quality, productivity leading to customer satisfaction.
Displaying each of the 7qc tools will promote visual management as it will provide transparency to your employees, visitors, shareholders on what improvement parameters are followed, how they are tackled, and many more. Such visual techniques provide confidence and make sure your people know the actions they need to take to be better.
Good lean organizations have visuals for almost all important things, which makes it easy to see problems and take immediate actions when any issue occurs.