7QC tools are the most important tools that are used to analyze the Non-conforming products or services. As you know that the manufacturing process is a dynamic operation where common or special causes are always available at any extent. For analysis, the common and special cause’s 7QC tools are usually used. 7QC tools consist of [1] Pareto chart [2] Cause and Effect Diagram [3] Histogram [4] Scatter Diagram [5] Control Chart [6] Check sheet [7] Graph /Process flow. We have prepared a simple Excel template/ format and offering it here to our valuable readers to download these formats /templates. Links are given below to download the 7QC Tools Excel Template.
The Techiequality.Com has been helping its readers with all extensions to enhance their skills with best industrial practices w.r.t QA, QC, Six Sigma concept, Lean design, lean manufacturing, business excellence, 5’S, etc. So mentioned some posts below that you would love to read…
Shanti Gopal Pradhan is an experienced professional in Quality Management Systems, QA, Operations, Business Excellence, and Process Improvement. He has strong expertise in international standards including IATF 16949, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, and ISO 17025, along with methodologies such as TQM, TPM, and Six Sigma.
He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering along with an MBA, combining strong technical acumen with strategic business insight, he is a Certified Internal Auditor, Lead Auditor, and Six Sigma Black Belt, with a proven track record in driving quality transformation and operational excellence.
The 7QC Tools (Also Known as “Seven Basic Tools of Quality”) originated in Japan. First emphasized by Kaoru Ishikawa, a professor of engineering at Tokyo University and the father of “quality circles”. These tools are used to solve critical quality-related issues. You can use the 7 basic tools of quality to help understand and solve problems or defects in any industry. With the help of Excel, you can plot the graphs / Diagrams to resolve the daily quality problems. I will help you to understand the basic ideas and knowledge of 7QC Tools and their usage.
For solving problems seven QC tools are used Pareto Chart, Cause & Effect Diagram, Histogram, Control Charts, Scatter Diagrams, Graphs/Process Flow Diagram, and Check Sheets. All these tools are important tools used widely in the manufacturing field to monitor the overall operation and continuous process improvement. seven QC tools are used to find out the Root cause of the problem and implement the action plan to improve the process efficiency.
Enhances customer satisfaction through improved quality product
Reduce cycle time and improve efficiency
Control cost of poor quality / Cost of quality
Reduce defects and optimize the production
Reduce variations and improve the quality of Products
Encouragement of teamwork and confidence
Enhancement of customer focus.
Pareto Chart:-
A Pareto Chart is named after the Italian Economist Vilfredo Pareto. It is a type of chart that contains both bars and a line graph, where the individual values are represented in the bar graph in descending order (largest to smallest value) and the cumulative percentage is represented in the line graph.
Click here to learn “How to Plot Pareto Chart In Excel”.
Understanding the Pareto Chart principle (The 80/20 rule):
The Pareto principle is also known as the 80/20 rule derived from the Italian Economist Vilfredo,
The principle is understood as –
20% of the input creates 80% of the results
Or
80 % of the effects come from 20% of the causes.
Pareto Chart Example
[Figure-1]
In the above Pareto Chart[Figure-1], we can see the cumulative% in the line graph, According to the Pareto Chart principle 80/20 rule, the 80% cumulative in the line graph is filling under the low hardness, which means BH, Damage, SH and Low hardness defers are coving the 80% of contribution over total types of defects. And those 80 % of contributions were due to the 20% caused.
Histogram:-
The histogram is one of the 7QC tools, which is the most commonly used graph to show frequency distribution.
Helps summarize data from a process that has been collected over a period of time.
Click here to know the “How to Plot Histogram in Excel:
Histogram Template
[Figure-2]
Fish-bone Diagram/Cause and Effects /Ishikawa Diagram:-
The cause and Effects Diagram looks like a fish that’s why it’s called Fish-bone Diagram, also called the Ishikawa diagram.
It’s a visualization tool for categorizing the potential causes of a problem in order to identify its root causes.
CFT members are identifying the potential cause through the Brainstorming process of individuals and together.
The Potential cause is related w.r.t below as
Machine
Manpower
Environment
Method
Materials
Measurement
[Figure-3]
Scatter diagram:-
The scatter diagram graphs pairs of variable data, with one variable on each axis, to look for a relationship between them. If the variables correlate, the points will fall along a line or curve. The better the correlation, the more points will strongly cluster to the line. It generally gives the idea of the correlation between the variables.
[Figure-4]
In the above figure-4, the positive and Negative correlation is only due to the direction, and in both the correlation, points are clustered to the line but in the last figure in figure-4, Points are not clustered to the line but spread over the X and Y-axis.
Control Chart:-
A line on a control chart is used as a basis for judging the stability of a process. If the observed points are beyond a control limit then it is evidence that special causes are affecting the process.
Control Charts can be used to monitor or evaluate a process.
There are basically two types of control charts, those for variable data and those for attributes data.
Click here to learn more about the Control Chart and Statistical Process Control.
Benefits:-Higher Quality, Lower Unit Cost, Higher effective Capability, etc.
Selection of Control Charts based on Attribute / Variable Type Data:-
Check Sheet is a simple document used for collecting data in real time. Variable or Attribute type data is collected through a Check sheet. A check sheet generally helps to make the decision on the basis of a fact and to collect the data for analysis and evaluation.
Sample check Sheet:-
Logo
Title:-………
Format No-
Issue no-… rev. no-
Date-
Parameters
Specification
Observations
Remarks
Checked by:- Verified by:-
Process Flow diagram/Graphs:-
A process flow diagram is a diagram used to indicate the general flow of plant processes and equipment.
The 7QC tools are the most commonly used tool in the industry for improvement, With the help of the 7QC tools you can understand the process/activities, analyze the data, and interpret the result/graph/output.
Shanti Gopal Pradhan is an experienced professional in Quality Management Systems, QA, Operations, Business Excellence, and Process Improvement. He has strong expertise in international standards including IATF 16949, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, and ISO 17025, along with methodologies such as TQM, TPM, and Six Sigma.
He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering along with an MBA, combining strong technical acumen with strategic business insight, he is a Certified Internal Auditor, Lead Auditor, and Six Sigma Black Belt, with a proven track record in driving quality transformation and operational excellence.
