Flow Chart and Cause-Effect Diagram

Flow Charts

Flow charts are pictorial representations of a procedure. By breaking the procedure down within its constituent steps, flowcharts could be useful in identifying where errors are likely to be found within the system.

Cause-Effect Diagram

This diagram, also known as an Ishikawa diagram (or fish bone diagram), is used to relate multiple possible causes with a single effect. Therefore, given a particular result, a diagram is constructed to identify and organize probable causes for it.

The basic branch represents the effect (the quality features in which is intended to be improved and controlled) and is classically labeled on the right side of the diagram. Each main branch of the diagram corresponds to a major cause (or class of causes) that directly associates to the effect.

Minor branches correspond to more detailed causal factors. This category of diagram is useful in any analysis, as it described the relationship among cause and effect in a rational manner.