MBA - 601

Total Quality
Management
Module 7:
Quality Tools
( Root Cause Analysis

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 Objectives
 To identify the Fish Bone Diagram and when to uses it.
 Practice How to conduct Root-Cause Analysis using Ishikawa
Fishbone diagram.
 Recognize the different categories of causes/problems in
Service industry.
 Be familiar with the different categories of causes/problems
in, Manufacturing industry such as the (5 Ms) of Toyota.
 Identify the different categories of causes/problems in Trade
industry.

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 FISHBONE DIAGRAM

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 Kaoru Ishikawa
• Kaoru Ishikawa (July 13, 1915 - April 16,
1989) a Japanese organizational theorist,

• Professor at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo

• Noted for his quality management innovations
• He is considered a key figure in the development of quality
initiatives in Japan, particularly the Quality Circle.
• Creator of the Fishbone Diagram for Cause and Effect
Analysis

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 Fishbone Diagram

• Also called:
– Ishikawa Diagram or Fishikawa,
– herringbone diagram,
– cause-and-effect diagram

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 Description of fishbone diagram
• A visualization tool for categorizing potential
causes of a problem in order to identify its
root causes.
• It 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.

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 When to Use a Fishbone Diagram
• To identifying possible causes for a problem.
• When a team’s thinking tends to fall into
channels.
• To help employees avoid solutions that merely
address the symptoms of a much larger
problem.

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 Procedure
1. Agree on a problem statement (effect).
2. Write it at the center right of the flipchart or
whiteboard.

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 Procedure
3. Brainstorm the major categories of causes of
the problem (e.g.: 4 Ps, 5Ms, …)

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 Procedure Cont.
4. Brainstorm all the possible causes of the
problem.
5. Ask: Why does this happen? As each idea is
given, the facilitator writes it as a branch
from the appropriate category.

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 Procedure Cont.
6. Causes can be written in several places if
they relate to several categories.

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 Procedure Cont.
7. Again ask why does this happen? about each
cause. Write sub-causes branching off the
causes.

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 Procedure Cont.
8. Continue to ask Why? and generate deeper
levels of causes, you may use 5Whys? Layers
of branches indicate causal relationships.
9. When the group runs out of ideas, focus
attention to places on the chart where ideas
are few.

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 The Categories Typically Include
Manpower: Anyone involved with the process

Methods: How the process is performed and the

specific requirements for doing it, such as policies,
procedures, rules, regulations and laws

Machines: Any equipment, computers, tools, etc.

required to accomplish the job

Materials: Raw materials, parts, pens, paper, etc. used

to produce the final product

Measurements: Data generated from the process

that are used to evaluate its quality

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 Major categories of causes of the problem

Services Manufacturing Marketing Industry

(4 Ps) Or (4 S’s) (5 Ms & 8 Ms) (8Ps) in service marketing
1. Policies 1. Machines 1. Product/Service
2. Procedures 2. Methods 2. Price
3. People 3. Materials 3. Place
4. Plant/Technology 4. Measurements 4. Promotion
Also: 5. Manpower 5. People/personnel
The 4 S's (used in + 6. Process
service industry)[ Added by Others 7. Physical Evidence
1. Suppliers 6. Mother Nature 8. Publicity
2. Systems (Environment)
3. Surroundings 7. Management or
4. Skills Money Power
8. Maintenance

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 Please:
In groups, Start Exercise the Ishikawa
Fishbone Cause and Effect Analysis

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 Any Question for

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 THE FIVE WHYS

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 Sakichi Toyoda:
The son of a poor carpenter, the "King of Japanese Inventors".

• Sakichi Toyoda (February 1867 – October 1930) a Japanese inventor

and industrialist.
• Referred to as the Father of the Japanese industrial
revolution. He is also the founder of Toyota Industries Co.,
Ltd.
• Toyoda developed the concept of 5 Whys.
• This concept is used today as part of applying LEAN
methodologies, Six Sigma and Kaizen to solve problems,
improve quality, and reduce costs.

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 Sakichi Toyoda:
The son of a poor carpenter, the "King of Japanese Inventors".

• He invented numerous weaving devices.

• His most famous invention was the
automatic power loom in which he implemented
the principle of Jidoka (autonomous automation).
• The principle of Jidoka, means the machine stops
itself when a problem occurs, became later a part
of the Toyota Production System.

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 5 Whys Video: the repetitive probing technique
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3w_eIa
7Eq0

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 The Five Whys
Description:
• 5-Whys is an repetitive
probing technique used to explore the cause-
and-effect relationships underlying a
particular problem.
• The primary goal of the technique is to
determine the root cause of a defect or
problem by repeating the question "Why?"
Each question forms the basis of the next
question.
• The "5" in the name derives from an number
of asking the Question (Why?)

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 The Five Whys
Origin:
• Originally developed by Mr. Sakichi
Toyoda and was used within
the Toyota Motor Corporation
during the evolution of its
manufacturing methodologies.
• It is a critical component of
problem-solving training, delivered
as part of the induction into
the Toyota Production System.
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• The architect of the Toyota
Production System, Taiichi
Ohno described the 5 Whys
method as "the basis of
Toyota's scientific approach”:
– “….by repeating why five
times, the nature of the
problem as well as its
solution becomes clear”.
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 Procedure

THE VEHICLE WILL NOT START (THE PROBLEM)

1st Why vehicle did not The battery is dead.
start?
2nd Why battery is dead? The alternator is not functioning.
3rd Why alternator is not The alternator belt has broken.
functioning?
4th Why belt has broken? The alternator belt was well beyond its useful
service life and not replaced
5th Why belt was not The vehicle was not maintained according to
beyond useful service? the recommended service schedule. ( the root
cause)
The Root Cause Poor Compliance with Car Maintenance
Schedule
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 5 Whys Considerations
The questioning could be taken further to a
sixth, seventh, or higher level, but
five iterations of asking why is generally
sufficient to get to a root cause.
Not all problems have a single root cause.
If one wishes to uncover multiple root causes,
the method must be repeated asking a
different sequence of questions each time.

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 5 Whys Template for multiple root causes

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 5 Whys Template for multiple root causes

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 5 Whys Considerations
 The key in 5Whys is to encourage the trouble-
shooter to:
 avoid assumptions and logic traps
 trace the chain of causality from the effect
through any layers of abstraction to a root cause
that still has some connection to the original
problem.
 A key phrase to keep in mind in any 5 Whys exercise
is: "people do not fail, processes do"

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 5 Whys Considerations

• From the Example “Care Not • This is one of the most

Starting”: the fifth why reaching
the root-cause level suggests:
– broken process or
– alterable behavior
important aspects in the 5
Why approach: the REAL ROOT
CAUSE should point toward a process
that is not working well or does not
exist.

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 5 Whys Considerations

• Untrained facilitators will often observe

that answers to 5 Whys seem to point
towards classical answers such as:
– not enough time
– not enough investments
– not enough manpower.
• These answers may be true, but they are
out of our control. Therefore, instead of
asking the question why?, ask why did
the process fail?
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 Disadvantage of 5 Whys
 Not Data Driven
 Intentional and unintentional bias
 Limited to personal experience
 Does not work well with multiple causes
 Does not work well for complicated problems

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 Any Question?

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 Please:
In group, Start Exercise the 5 Whys?

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