Parts List Diagrams

How to Create a Six Sigma Fishbone Diagram

The Six Sigma fishbone diagram is a tool, which is employed during the analysis phase of Lean Six Sigma projects. The Six Sigma fishbone diagram, also known as the cause and effect diagram will help you diagrammatically display the many causes of a problem or an effect. The Six Sigma fishbone diagram identifies the root causes for a process problem, which is the focus of the improvement effort.

The Six Sigma fishbone diagram which analyses the root causes, comprise of two main components namely, brainstorming the most likely root causes and then validating those with data which are the actual root causes.

Usually the members who participate in the process of creating a Six Sigma fishbone diagram consist of both Six Sigma project members and people who perform the process, which is the subject of the project. Both groups chip in with valuable insights concerning the primary root cause of a problem and the questions that should be asked in order to demystify those causes.

Steps to create a Six Sigma fishbone diagram?

Put together the right people and then set expectations regarding the formulation of the Six Sigma fishbone diagram. As is typical of most brainstorming procedures, the participants should be given the impetus to voice their perceptions and ideas they have pertaining to the most possible causes of the problem. The others should retain the judgement until the following step in the process when the potential root causes and checked and validated.

Many teams prefer to use the "five why's" technique to elucidate the potential causes, and then organize them using the Six Sigma fishbone diagram, while others prefer to fill in the fishbone diagram from the start for the purpose of listing and organizing the potential causes.

Begin the exercise by drawing the head of the fish and its central bone. Close to the head of the fish write a brief sentence that describes the problem for which the causes are being deduced.

Next you should draw several lines from the main bone so that they converge at an angle to resemble fish bones. Break the process down to depict separate stages and use them to label the main bone. For example, you can have bones, which represent ordering, marketing, product performance and delivery, marketing and fulfillment stages of the process. You could also label the main bones according to the relevant categories to highlight your process and the problem, such as policies, defects, technology and communication.

This step is followed by the process of creating a Six Sigma fishbone diagram. At this juncture the participants would begin brainstorming why the problems mentioned in the fish head are occurring. This is prompted by the initiator asking about the possible reasons why these problems might have raised. For each of the potential causes a bone is added to the central bone.

The final step in the Six Sigma fishbone diagram involves trailing each of the potential causes down to its root causes. This requires the participants to ask why the customer ended up with the wrong product.

Once the Six Sigma fishbone diagram is complete, the black or green belt heading the project will then proceed to take the team through the process of analyzing the root causes that were brought up and determine which of them would be ascertained with data.

About the Author

Paushali Sahu is a prolific blogger and an avid social media enthusiast at Virtus Social Media. She has authored numerous articles on online marketing, finance, fitness, technology and more. Click here to visit her Facebook business page!

EFIE SIMPLE CHEAP: Part Two : PLANS AND DIAGRAMS