The Seven Quality Control Tools
The 7 Quality Control Tools were developed by Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, an engineering professor at the University of Tokyo. They’re essentially a set of graphical techniques that can be used to identify and fix problems that undermine product or process quality.
Before we dig in, it helps to consider quality control (QC) from Dr. Ishikawa’s perspective. He defined QC as the process of designing, developing, producing, marketing, and maintaining offerings that give the most value to consumers through the most cost-effective means possible.
While you may associate QC with the production line, Dr. Ishikawa believed Total Quality Control (TQC) should be applied to all functions — from the admin desk and sales to the C‑suite, marketing, and production.
The 7 QC Tools provide Lean practitioners with a systematic approach for identifying and troubleshooting quality issues.
In this online course, you’ll learn the seven quality control tools and how to use them within your organization.
What You’ll Learn in This 7 Quality Control Tools Online Training Course
In this video course series, Lean expert Ron Pereira walks participants through each of the 7 Quality Control Tools. Here’s a quick overview of what’s on the syllabus:
- Graphs. In the first few segments, Ron will show you how to use graphs to gather, arrange, and share data, as well as compare quantities or quantity changes and make judgments.
- Checksheet. The checksheet is used to gather and arrange data by type to evaluate quality. Ron will show you how to use this simple yet powerful tool to determine whether jobs have been completed without any issues, and how to prevent errors from happening in the first place.
- Pareto Chart. Pareto charts classify defects and problems by type, with quantities presented in descending order. Ron will teach learners how to use Pareto charts to identify priorities and determine which parameters stand to make the biggest impact.
- Cause & Effect Diagram. Cause-and-effect diagrams are used to help workers identify and understand the root cause of a problem so that they can solve it quickly.
- Scatter Diagram. Scatter diagrams represent the value of two different variables. Here, Ron explains how scatter diagrams can be used to understand the relationships between variables alongside determining whether or not there’s correlation.
- Histogram. Histograms are charts designed to represent distribution by the mean and take on different shapes based on the condition of the distribution. You’ll learn to calculate process capability (Cp) and performance capability (Cpk) and create histograms.
- Control Chart. Finally, Ron will show participants how to use a control chart to monitor any operational process’s performance and determine how stable and predictable that process is. He’ll also teach learners how to use this chart to spot common causes of variation.
Benefits of Gemba Academy’s 7 Quality Control Tools Training Course
This course series aims to help teams make quality control a way of life, and by extension, will help reduce defects, waste, and other quality issues.
Long-term practitioners can expect to see improved customer satisfaction, trust, and lasting loyalty. Internally, consistent QC practices allow organizations to reduce costs by eliminating rework, delays, and handling complaints.
Bottom line: Mastering QC has a direct impact on both reputation and revenue. This online training course gives learners the tools, templates, and context for making that happen.
Get a feel for Gemba Academy’s approach to Lean learning by watching the first video in each coarse for free. Check out the introduction to the seven quality control tools online training course today.