Continuous Improvement Toolkit
FISHBONE DIAGRAM
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
A fishbone diagram provides a structured way to
identify and organize the potential causes of a
problem (or effect).
It allows to establish and
present the cause-and-
effect relationship in an
easy and understandable
format.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
It is called this way because of its visual representation
that looks like the skeleton of a fish.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Used to identify the sources of variation within a
process which causes a problem to occur.
This brings attention to
the primary factors
affecting the quality of
a product or service.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Helps to identify the root causes of and effect in
order to identify a solution that can be effective.
Often used in Lean Six Sigma and other quality
improvement approaches to narrow down the area
of analysis.
Effect
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
The outcome of the fishbone analysis will provide
useful information to later problem-solving tools.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Often used during brainstorming sessions to identify
the causes of an undesirable effect of a problem.
By going through the steps
of drawing the diagram with
your team, everyone gains
insight into the cause-and-
effect, which makes the
solution easier to find later.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
BENEFITS
Provides a clarity about A teamwork exercise that
the causes of an effect helps to capture and
and how to avoid it in organize people's
future. knowledge of a process.
Identifies the potential
factors that may cause Can be used in product
Can be used to identify
an effect to prevent and process design to
the causes of risks.
future problems (cause plan new processes.
prevention).
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
The first step in conducting a fishbone analysis is to
clearly define the effect.
This could be a quality issue,
a technical issue, or simply
not meeting a performance
target.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
The effect will become the head of the fishbone.
Effect
Should be brief.
Use numbers where possible.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
The causes will be placed in the branches of the chart.
Cause
Category Effect
Each cause needs to be put into a category for easier sharing and
reference
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
A fishbone diagram allows to identify the hierarchy of
causes including the possible root causes.
Lines can be used to
connect the series of
linked causes
Sub cause
Potential
cause
Root causes are normally those at the ends of the chains of causes
that do not have any sub causes
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Combining the fishbone with the 5 whys gives the
analysis an extra dimension
Effect
2 3
Potential cause 1
Category
5 whys can be used to dig deeper and go beyond symptoms
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Potential causes in a fishbone diagram are normally
grouped into categories for easier sharing and
reference.
These categories are used to label the different branches on the
fishbone diagram
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
There are different approaches of constructing a
fishbone diagram indicated by the branch labels.
4 8
6
There is no right or wrong way to do that!
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
4 Ms
One of the most basic forms to group the potential
causes of a problem or effect.
These categories typically include Man, Method,
Machine and Material.
Man Method
Machine 4 Material
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
6 Ms
The most common way to categorize potential causes
of a problem or effect.
Commonly used in manufacturing and production
environments.
Man Method
Machine
Material
6 Measurement
Environment
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
6 Ms
Man – Anyone involved with the process and
contributes to the effect Including governance and
support functions.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
6 Ms
Method – How the process is performed and the
specific requirements for doing it.
Rules and Work Common
Procedures
policies instructions practices
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
6 Ms
Machine – The machinery, equipment and tools
required to perform the process.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
6 Ms
Material – All the materials needed to perform a
process.
Raw materials Parts Packaging Information Paperwork
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
6 Ms
Environment – The conditions in which the process
operates.
Location Time Temperature Culture
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
6 Ms
Measurement – The data and metrics that are used to
evaluate the performance of the process.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Different names may be used for the same category
depending on the situation and on the user's choice.
Man – Men – Manpower – People – Labor
Machine – Machinery – Equipment – Tools – Systems
Measurement – Metrics – Inspection
Method – Process – Procedure
Environment – Mother Nature – Milieu
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
8 Ms
Adds Management and Maintenance to the 6 M
categories.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
When you are working on an affinity diagram, you can
use the titles of the affinity groups as the basis for
categorization.
Economic Social Cultural
Economic
The items within each
affinity group can be the
potential causes
Social Cultural
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
When the effect results from a documented or mapped
process, the process steps can be used as the basis for
categorization.
Employee Dept. Manager Controller Payroll Officer
10 20 30 40
Prepare expense Approve Approve Pay
report and Sign and Sign employee
Approve
and sign The process input
variables (design factors)
can be the potential
Pay Prepare causes
employee expense report
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
You may also create subcategories of a main category
and include it in new branches.
Man Man Man
Training Kaizens Suggestions
Measurement Material Method
Remember to avoid writing real names of persons
under the “Man” category
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
You may even rename or create your own branches
that best suit your project.
Mind Body
Soul Heart
Fishbone analysis can also be used in our personal lives to create ideas
about the certain personal issues and how to avoid them
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Typical Categories for Manufacturing and Non-
manufacturing Processes
Manpower Environment Machine
Manufacturing
Material Measurement Method
People Environment Equipment
Administration
and Services
Policies and Procedures
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Now that we have identified the categories, it time to
add to the diagram the possible causes of the effect.
Material
Using water
from the tap Not fresh coffee beans
Low water quality Beans roasted
some time ago Coffee not
tasting
Cleaning SOP Current Long roasting
not followed settings period good
Unclean coffee maker
Over roasting
Machine
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
How to Conduct a Fishbone Analysis
With your team, clearly define the effect that you want to work on
Write the effect statement in a box at the center right of a large piece of paper (or on a
wall) and draw a long horizontal line pointing to the box
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
How to Conduct a Fishbone Analysis
Identify the cause categories using the 6 Ms or any other approach
Write them in boxes parallel to the horizontal line
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
How to Conduct a Fishbone Analysis
Use brainstorming to log all possible causes under the appropriate
categories
Start with the main causes and then the secondary causes and so on
Use 5 whys to get to the root causes
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
How to Conduct a Fishbone Analysis
Take time to ensure the appropriateness of the recorded information
Update the chart as new potential causes become apparent
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
How to Conduct a Fishbone Analysis
Highlight or assign numbers near to the key causes to show their
relative importance
Draw links between causes that are related
4
2 5
3
1
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
How to Conduct a Fishbone Analysis
If necessary, collect data to confirm key causes are real
Plan and implement actions to address the key causes
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Example – Increased Invoice Errors
Environment Equipment Method
Poor ergonomics Cumbersome process
Inadequate printers
Noisy office Incompatible system Manual data entry
System not integrated
Increased
Poor paper quality Low morale
Invoice Errors
Increased workload
Delayed paper supply Poor audit system
Poor technical support
Material Measure Man
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Example – Increased Coolant Consumption
Environment Machine Method
Materials in trench Machine breakdown Adding WBLF to the tank
Adjusting concentration settings
Machine leakage Blocked hoses
Evaporation in summer
High Coolant
Consumption
WBLF measured for all lines Lack of training
Biocide level
Absenteeism
Rounding
Delayed measurement
Antifoam level Poor shift communication
Material Measure Man
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Further Information
Be aware of adding causes which are actually solutions.
The main idea behind the
fishbone analysis is to
brainstorm all possible
causes that may
contribute to a problem,
and not brainstorm
solutions.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Further Information
A cause-and-effect matrix can be used to prioritize the
causes of the problem.
Prioritizing and selecting
the key causes will
minimizes the need for
more statistical analysis
of inputs that are
unlikely to have an
impact on the output.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Further Information
Another way of highlighting the structure of the
possible causes is to use the tree diagram.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Further Information
The measure of success for a fishbone diagram is not
quality of ideas but quantity of ideas.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Further Information
A fishbone diagram can also be used to structure the
thoughts of a team.
Sometimes it is useful to
change the effect statement
into the ideal situation and ask
the team to brainstorm what
produces this ideal situation.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Further Information
Sometimes it is useful to brainstorm out the ideas first
then organize them by category later.
People sometimes tend to focus more on the categories than
the content and this slow down and restricts their thinking
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Further Information
One of the seven basic tools of quality.
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FISHBONE DIAGRAM
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