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Basic quality tools

The 7 basic quality tools as simple, direct pages: paste your data and download a ready chart. Check sheet, Pareto chart (with stratification and before × after), histogram (with dot plot), vertical or horizontal box plot, scatter diagram, run chart and waterfall chart of OEE losses or price to profit; shortcuts to the Ishikawa diagram and control charts.

Guide

The 7 basic quality tools

Check sheet, Pareto, fishbone, histogram, scatter diagram, control chart and stratification: what each is for, when to use it and how to combine them in PDCA. Free.

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Check sheet New

Build the check sheet by choosing the items and columns (days, shifts or hours), the location grid on the part or the measurement classes; fill it in by tapping the cells, with tally marks in groups of 5; see the totals by item and by column; print the sheet blank or filled in on A4 and take the totals to a Pareto chart or histogram.

Tally marks, A4, Pareto, histogram

Pareto chart New

Paste the categories with their counts (or the list of occurrences) and the page draws the Pareto chart with the cumulative curve and cut-off line, points out the vital few, groups “Other”, compares frequency vs cost, Pareto by stratum and before vs after, and exports PNG, one-page PDF and xlsx.

Vital few, 80/20, cost, strata

Fishbone diagram New

List the causes by category (6M or your own categories) with sub-causes, votes and status, and the page draws the fishbone automatically, highlights the prioritized causes, builds the Pareto of causes, records the 5 whys down to the root cause and exports PNG, SVG and A4 landscape PDF.

Cause and effect, 6M, 5 whys

Histogram New

Paste measurements from Excel and get a histogram with automatic or adjustable bins, normal curve, mean and ±3s, specification limits with % out, a dot plot for small samples, overlaid, stacked or paneled groups, a plain-language reading of the shape and a frequency table.

Shape, bins, % out

Box plot New

Paste one or several columns (machines, shifts, suppliers) and get the box plot in vertical or horizontal orientation, with Minitab-method quartiles, whiskers to 1.5 × IQR, outliers labeled with value and row, the mean, individual points, a median-CI notch, ordering by median and specification limits.

Quartiles, outliers, groups

Scatter plot New

Basic quality tool to see whether two variables move together: paste X and Y (and, if you like, a group column) and the page draws the scatter diagram with the line, r and R² on the figure itself, a plain-language strength statement, the points far from the line and the quadrant reading, ready to download as PNG, PDF or spreadsheet.

X × Y, r, R², groups

Run chart New

Paste a measure in time order (daily scrap, setup time, complaints per week) and the page draws the run chart with the median, goal and limits, highlights shifts of 6 or more points and trends of 5 or more by itself and counts the runs with the Provost and Murray table, explaining each signal in plain language.

Median, shifts, trends

Waterfall chart New

Show where a value comes from and where it goes: enter the starting value, the increases and decreases and, if you like, subtotals, and the page draws the waterfall with colors for increase, decrease and total, connectors between bars and the value and % on each one. Ready-made templates for OEE losses (from calendar time to productive time, with OEE at the end) and for selling price to profit.

OEE losses, price → profit

Also useful

Control charts

Paste measurements to build Xbar-R, Xbar-S, I-MR, I-MR-R/S, P, NP, C, U, Laney P′/U′, EWMA or CUSUM charts with tests 1 to 8, stages, historical limits, unequal subgroups and the within sigma for Cpk.

X̄-R, I-MR, P, U, EWMA, tests 1–8