Ishikawa diagram

Ishikawa diagram
One of the Seven Basic Tools of Quality
First described by	Kaoru Ishikawa
Purpose	To break down (in successive layers of detail) root causes that potentially contribute to a particular effect

Ishikawa diagrams (also called fishbone diagrams,^[1] herringbone diagrams, cause-and-effect diagrams) are causal diagrams created by Kaoru Ishikawa that show the potential causes of a specific event.^[2]

Common uses of the Ishikawa diagram are product design and quality defect prevention to identify potential factors causing an overall effect. Each cause or reason for imperfection is a source of variation. Causes are usually grouped into major categories to identify and classify these sources of variation.