Abstract

Standard quality tools and techniques have specific purposes and applications. The Ishikawa diagram is often used to display problems and their root causes. The Pareto chart graphs the degree of contribution of each cause underlying a problem, and is often used as a follow-up to the Ishikawa diagram. Traditionally, the Pareto chart depicts objective measurements of the contributing causes shown in the Ishikawa diagram. A rougher but quicker version of the Ishikawa diagram's graphic analysis can be achieved by simply estimating the relative degrees of the contributing factors. It is essential that such a chart include a clear explanation that it is based on estimation, and ideally, actual data should be gathered for confirmation or disproof of the estimated results.