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8 - PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT

8.1.2.3 Seven Basic Quality tools

The seven basic quality tools, also known in the industry as 7QC Tools, are used within the context of the PDCA
Cycle to solve quality-related problems. As conceptually illustrated in Figure 8-7, the seven basic quality tools are:

• Cause-and-effect diagrams, which are also known as fishbone diagrams or as Ishikawa diagrams. The
problem statement placed at the head of the fishbone is used as a starting point to trace the problem’s
source back to its actionable root cause. The problem statement typically describes the problem as a gap
to be closed or as an objective to be achieved. The causes are found by looking at the problem statement
and asking “why” until the actionable root cause has been identified or until the reasonable possibilities
on each fishbone have been exhausted. Fishbone diagrams often prove useful in linking the undesirable
effects seen as special variation to the assignable cause upon which project teams should implement
corrective actions to eliminate the special variation detected in a control chart.
• Flowcharts, which are also referred to as process maps because they display the sequence of steps and
the branching possibilities that exist for a process that transforms one or more inputs into one or more
outputs. Flowcharts show the activities, decision points, branching loops, parallel paths, and the overall
order of processing by mapping the operational details of procedures that exist within a horizontal value
chain of a SIPOC model (Figure 8-6). Flowcharts may prove useful in understanding and estimating
the cost of quality in a process. This is obtained by using the workflow branching logic and associated
relative frequencies to estimate expected monetary value for the conformance and nonconformance
work required to deliver the expected conforming output.

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