Unit 6 Dashboarding and The Seven Quality Tools

Overview

Welcome to Unit 6 of LDRS 220!

In this unit, we will consider the tools of monitoring and controlling an organization. These would be in the forms of charts that are used by leaders to make decisions within their organization. In every case, the charting should reflect the priorities of any organization (Always Safety first, then Quality, then Delivery (to the customer), then Productivity.) These priorities should never waver and remain in order, regardless of initiative and economic cycles. Their acronym is SQDP.

These charts are powerful tools to monitor (collect data and report it) any organization. This “monitoring” then allows leaders to make informed decisions accordingly (referred to as the “controlling” phase by leadership).

For all of the charts except Quality, they will vary in their presentation, specific to the organizational needs.

As for Quality charting, these are commonly called the Seven Quality Tools.

Six of the seven are charts/diagrams and one is more of a work sheet. Most are related to each other in some manner – we will discuss this inter-relationship later on in the unit.

The checksheet might be the most rudimentary, but it does not mean it is not powerful. This is the simplest form of data collection and can be tabulated on a simple sheet of paper, a white board, a chalk board, or other simple surface.

The histogram is likely the most common. It is usually expressed as “the bell curve.” In context with the last unit, this is where standard deviation is presented in a visual format.

The Pareto Chart is commonly created as a “resorted” histogram and is usually designed to highlight priorities. This is a very powerful tool for organizational problem solving.

Control Charts are easily identified as “horizontal” histogram that included pass/fail barriers (above or below the center area are “fails”). These were discussed in the last unit. As a reminder, the ‘barriers’ are called Upper Control Limit (UCL) and Lower Control Limit (LCL).

Scatter/Plot Diagrams are similar to histograms, but consider TWO points of data, focusing on their inter-relationship with each other. The data, then, has a trendline inserted (automatic in Excel) to show a “mean” average (similar to the center of a histogram).

The Cause and Effect Diagram is commonly built using the Pareto chart to determine priorities (in this context, problem solving). The C&E is put together using a “fishbone” diagram (by Ishakawa) and branched out to 6 major avenues. Each problem is plugged into this diagram, respective to the appropriate branch. Using the “5-Why’s” technique, the organization can then dig to find the root cause of the problem – commonly yielding the resolution, too.

The last tool is the Flow Chart. These can be very powerful when analyzing a process. The visual display is shared with the stakeholders – this communication tool reduces confusion and mis-steps. There are powerful software tools to do this, some are premium and some are free.

It is common that all charting for leadership be collected and displayed at a single location. This would be in the form of a Dashboard.

Topics

This unit is divided into the following topics:

The Seven Basic Quality Tools
Flow Charts
Checksheets and Histograms
Cause and Effect Diagrams

Learning Outcomes

When you have completed this unit, you should be able to:

Assess what topics to Dashboard
Describe each of the 7 Quality Tools
Create an effective Process Flow Chart
Use a Checksheet to develop a Histogram
Express and extrapolate meaningful statistical data using the 7 Quality Tool

Activity Checklist

Here is a checklist of learning activities you will benefit from in completing this unit. You may find it useful for planning your work.

Learning Activities

Complete the How to Create a Flow Chart activity
Complete the How to Create a Cause and Effect Diagram activity
Complete the Flow Charting activity
Complete the Checksheets and Histograms activity
Complete the Cause and Effect Diagrams activity

Assessment

In this course you demonstrate your understanding of the course learning outcomes in different ways, including papers, projects, discussions and quizzes. Please see the Assessment section in Moodle for assignment details and due dates.

Resources

Here are the resources you will need to complete this unit.

Kline, G. and Dabney, A. ; (2013) The Cartoon Introduction to Statistics. New York: Hill and Wang
- 978-0-8090-3359-1
- (CIS)
Mullis, D. and Orloff, J.; (1998) The Accounting Game. Naperville, Ill: Sourcebooks.
- 978-1-4022-1186-7
- (TAG)
Other online resources will be provided in the unit.

Planning Ahead

Before you examine the topics in this unit, take a moment to watch this video that has been provided by the instructor. This video will introduce each topic and help support your learning. You are encouraged to re-watch this video if you are struggling with any of the concepts you will be learning about in this section.

6.1 The Seven Basic Quality Tools

As you read in the “Overview,” Unit 6 will include emphasis on the Seven Quality Tools. We begin this Unit by introducing these tools - each has its own place in an organization. It is important to understand that the type of organization may determine which set of tools would be more valuable than the others - in other words, not all organizations will use all of the tools.

The following video helps to explain:

Watch: The Seven basic quality tools

Now that the Seven Quality Tools have been introduced, it is time to turn our focus to developing a deeper understanding of how these tools are constructed. This, in turn, will provide us with a greater ability to use them. The video below explains (Note: One thing to consider, there is some argument as to whether these are “QC” tools or “QA” (Quality Assurance) tools. Either way, they are described well in this video):

Watch: The Competitive Environment Explained

6.2 Flow Charts

We begin our study of the Seven Basic Quality Tools by looking at Flow Charts. Flow Charts play a critical role when analyzing a process within an organization. Essentially, a Flow Chart is a visual communication tool that can be shared with the stakeholders with the intention of reducing confusion and mis-steps. While there are powerful software tools to do this, it is important to note that some are premium and some are free.

Before we turn our attention to learning how to create a Flow Chart, you are required to download a free software program – yEd Graphic Editor. This software is very comparable to Microsoft Visio, but is free and simple to use. Within the context of this course, we will be focusing on the flow-charting functions. We will also take advantage of the “One Click Layout” feature of this software – a great way to rapidly build a (draft) flow chart and then use the automatic function to make it professional looking. This also allows you to quickly spot areas that need improvement. These steps are repeated until the flow chart meets your expectations.

To download the program, follow the link below:

yED Graphic Editor

There are MANY uses of this software and we will use only a small portion of the capabilities. It is strongly recommended to pursue these capabilities outside of the scope of this course.

Activity: How to Create a Flow Chart

Now that you have downloaded the yED Graphic Editor, we are going to focus on learning the skills to use it effectively…

This first video provides a general overview of the capabilities of this software:

Watch: yEd Graph Editor in 90 seconds

This next tutorial will help get you started in entering and editing with yEd. It may help to view this video more than once to ensure you understand how these functions work. Watch below:

Watch: Basic editing with yEd

This final video provides additional tutorial information specific to flow charting. The more you view this video, the easier it will be to complete the group activity.

Be sure you understand how to use the “One Click Layout” function to your advantage. Watch below:

Watch: Process mapping with yEd | Free visio alternative

6.3 Checksheets and Histograms

To some extent, all of us have probably seen, or used, a Checksheet before. To many, it might seem to be quite rudimentary, however, that does not mean that it is not a powerful method for data collection. As one of the simplest methods of data collection, they allow for data to be tabulated on a simple sheet of paper, a white board, a chalk board, or any other simple surface.

Often, Checksheets will be used to collect data that can then be entered into a Histogram. Histograms are typically the most commonly used of the Seven Quality Tools. Histograms are usually expressed as “the bell curve” so that standard deviation can be presented in a visual format.

Finally, organizations will often re-sort data in a Histogram to create a Pareto Chart. Pareto Charts are commonly created as a “resorted” histogram and is usually designed to highlight priorities in descending order. This is a very powerful tool for prioritizing organizational problem solving.

6.4 Cause and Effect Diagrams

Cause and Effect diagrams are rather different from the other Seven Quality Tools, however, that does not mean they are less powerful. A Cause and Effect diagram is an important tool when performing a “root cause” (of a problem) analysis. There are six common types of failures that should capture all aspects of a problem.

The Cause and Effect Diagram is commonly built in conjunction with a Pareto Chart (in the context of problem solving). A Cause and Effect diagram is put together using a “fishbone” diagram (by Ishakawa) and branched out to 6 major avenues (Recall that there are six common types of failures that should capture all aspects of a problem). Each problem is input into this diagram, respective to the appropriate branch. Using the “5-Why’s” technique, the organization can then investigate the root cause of the problem in the hopes of yielding a resolution.

Activity: How to Create a Cause and Effect Diagram

We now turn our focus to learning how to create a Cause and Effect/Fishbone Diagram. To create this diagram, we will be using MS Excel.

While there could be several uses for a Fishbone Diagram, we will focus on using this layout for a Cause and Effect analysis. With a template created, the Cause and Effect data can quickly and easily be entered.

This first video will demonstrate how to do this using Excel:

[Insert Video: ]

Watch: Creating a fishbone diagram template in excel

Adding to the prior video, this clip allows you to formulate a “plan” for entering Cause and Effect data. There are commonly 6 categories, or silos, of cause types. While the headers may vary, the idea is to consider as many contributors (to problems) as possible.

In performing this operation, you will be using the concept of asking the “5-why’s” to get to the root cause. Watch below:

Watch: Whiteboard: Cause and Effect Diagrams

Activity: Flow Charting

This Learning Activity will involve using data from Unit 4 to create a flow chart using yEd.

Note: It is possible to do this assignment using Excel, but this method is more labor intensive than using the yEd Graphic Editor.

To begin this activity, you will need to access the data from Unit 4 (budgeting). After revisiting the all of the learning activities from Unit 4, your task is to create a Flow Chart of ‘all activities/student responsibilities from that unit’ using yEd. Be sure to include elements such as reading, watching videos, and learning activities.

The following is a list of suggestions to consider as you create your Flow Chart:

Initially, do not worry about the overall look of your Flow Chart - it is more important to input data onto the screen. Once you have input your data, click on the “Layout/One Click Layout” button and watch the result. (It cleans up the flow chart.)
Adjust/revise your data and Flow Chart as necessary (remember to re-click the “One Click Layout” button as many times as necessary- ultimately, the goal is to use these tools to create the most professional looking product possible)

When your flow chart is completed, save it. Then EXPORT it, saving it as a pdf. You will submit this in Moodle, along with your other charts. (Or, you may be able to screen-shot this chart and copy it into a new Excel tab used in the Activities below.)

Activity: Checksheets and Histograms

This activity focuses on practicing collecting data onto a Checksheet and then entering it into a Histogram. After a Histogram has been created, you will then resort the data to create a Pareto Chart. In many organizations, this is a critical part of their functions. While the Checksheets can be rudimentary (on a piece of paper, for example) they can also be electronic.

Usually, Histograms and Pareto Charts are created using Excel. Your team can choose a bar chart or a line chart – as this does not matter, but it is usually a vertical bar chart. If your data is correct (for example, with a large enough sampling) you should have a relatively smooth “bell curve.”

Once you have created a Histogram, the creation of a Pareto Chart will be performed to sort the highest “frequency” to the smallest. In this exercise, “7” is the likely ‘mean’ average. Therefore, this would very likely be the left-most bar of the bar chart. Follow the steps below:

Step 1:

To begin, you will build a Checksheet - it does not matter whether this is electronic, on a piece of paper, on a chalkboard, or on a whiteboard. I suggest using a piece of paper to make it easier. Your Checksheet should have two columns. The first column should have rows numbered 2-12 (they can only be 2-12 for this exercise). The second column will be empty for now.

Next, you are going to roll a pair of dice 100 times. Each time you roll the dice, you are going to record the total of both. For example, if *dice #1* rolls 2 and *dice #2* rolls 3, you would add this together and record the total of 5. You will tally each total in the empty column beside the corresponding number (for example, in the case above, you would make a mark next to “5” to keep track of how many times the dice totaled “5”).

Step 2:

Once you have rolled the dice 100 times, you will take the data from your Checksheet to create a Histogram - this will be done using Excel.

Using Excel, you will build a vertical bar chart to display the data collected in Step 1. To do this, your X-Axis (along the bottom) should be 2-12; on your Y-Axis (along the left side), you should input the frequency of the dice rolls totaling the corresponding number.

The resulting Histogram should be a relatively smooth bell-shaped curve.

Step 3:

We begin by opening a new “tab” in Excel. Next, copy the data from Step 2 into this new tab. After you have copied it over, you are going to re-sort it from “most-frequent” to “least-frequent.” Using this re-sorted data, you will build another chart - this chart will visually demonstrate the frequency of each dice roll. This resulting new chart is called a Pareto Chart.

For this exercise, the most frequent number should be 7 (but may be 6 or 8). The least frequent numbers should be 2 or 12. (The X-Axis numbers will NOT be in order.)

When your Histogram and Pareto charts are completed, save this file.

Activity: Cause and Effect Diagrams

While a Cause and Effect Diagram can be built on a piece of paper or a chalk/white board, for the sake of this exercise, we will be using Excel to learn how to create one.

Add a new tab to your above file for this Activity.

The “fishbone,” or Ishikawa, diagram has a handful of uses. For the sake of this course, we will use this layout to build a Cause and Effect diagram. The “head” is the problem and each major “bone” forms a silo that can help to categorize the sub-issues that surround the problem.

The details of the Cause and Effect are developed using the “5-why’s” technique. You are encouraged to perform a web search to understand this topic further – before proceeding with the next step in this activity.

Using knowledge you acquired, you will create an Excel template - you may want to revisit those tutorial videos prior to proceeding.

Once you have created your template, you can populate it using the scenario below:

Using the scenario problem (or use your own), “My goat ate my homework and that’s why its late,” complete a Cause and Effect diagram.

HINT: *Remember to consider the “5-Why’s” technique*

When your Cause and Effect diagram is completed, save your file.

Assessment

Refer to the course schedule for graded assignments you are responsible for submitting. All graded assignments, and their due dates, can be found on the “Assessment” tab.

For this unit, the Learning Activities become the file(s) you submit in Moodle. If possible, try to copy all of your activities into a single Excel file. You are welcome to submit more than one file, but Moodle may not allow you to submit more than a single file. If this occurs, you are welcome to submit your files via email directly to the instructor.

BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME IN ALL FILES SUBMITTED.

Checking your Learning

Before you move on to the next unit, you may want to check to make sure that you are able to:

Assess what topics to Dashboard
Describe each of the 7 Quality Tools
Create an effective Process Flow Chart
Use a Checksheet to develop a Histogram
Express and extrapolate meaningful statistical data using the 7 Quality Tool