For instance, a restaurant could use it to determine why the number of customers has declined over the past year. It is most commonly used in the service industry.

The 4S diagram organizes information into four categories: suppliers, systems, surroundings, and skills. For instance, it could be used to improve the efficiency of a housekeeping business. The 8P diagram organizes information into eight categories: procedures, policies, place, product, people, processes, price, and promotion. For instance, it could be used to identify bottlenecks slowing down the manufacturing process in a candle business. It is most commonly used in the manufacturing industry. The 6M diagram organizes information into six categories: man, machine, material, method, mother nature, and measurement. The different types of Ishikawa diagrams include: The 6Ms Ishikawa diagram Smaller branches can then be added to these affinities to add specific causes during brainstorming sessions. A line, known as the 'spine,' is drawn to the left, and other branches, which are types of causes known as 'affinities,' shoot off above and below it. They are also referred to as Fishikawa, herringbone diagrams, or cause and effect diagrams.Īn Ishikawa diagram places the central problem, known as the 'effect,' on the far right of the diagram.

Because of this structure, Ishikawa diagrams are sometimes referred to as fishbone diagrams. The ribs represent the causes of an event, and the skeleton's head indicates the outcome. Visually, the diagram's structure resembles the skeleton of a fish. The diagram is named after its creator, Kaoru Ishikawa. It is commonly used in product development to brainstorm and outline the different steps within a given process, allocate resources, and determine whether quality control issues are likely to arise. An Ishikawa diagram is designed to show the potential causes of a specific event or process.

Ishikawa diagram template for IT outage