Mathews Malnar and Bailey, Inc. Quality engineering, applied statistical consulting, and training services for R&D, product, process, and manufacturing engineering organizations.

The Seven Tools of Quality

Course Description: The seven tools of quality are a collection of seven fundamental problem-solving tools consisting of: cause and effect diagrams, process maps, data/check sheets, histograms, Pareto charts, scatter plots, and run charts. These seven tools have been packaged together because everyone in an organization, from the very top to the very bottom of the organization chart, should be familiar with these tools and be ready to use them in problem-solving and process improvement activities. The purpose of this course is to present guidelines for the use of each of these methods and to give students a chance to use them in classroom (i.e. contrived) or work-related hands-on exercises. The role and interrelationship of these tools will be discussed in the context of the Shewhart PDCA (plan, do, check, act) process improvement cycle. Students will also be introduced to gage R&R studies since they play such an important role in validating the data collected for analysis with the seven tools.

Who Should Take This Course: This course is intended for anyone, from the top to the bottom of the organization chart, who will be participating in problem-solving and process improvement activities. The course is suitable for people who work in product or process engineering, manufacturing, research, service industry, and business administration operations.

Prerequisite: There is no prerequisite for this course.

Course Format: This course is best taught in several short sessions so that students have a chance to assimilate the material that was covered in each class and have a chance to apply each method before the next session. The course takes a total of 8-12 hours to complete, depending on how much time is allocated to in-class exercises.