ABSTRACT
This chapter considers four basic tools that a problem-solving team must make use of if the team is to successfully determine the root cause of the problem it is addressing. The four tools are the run chart, the Pareto chart, the cause-and-effect diagram, and the causal chain. One of the keys to solving problems is knowing when the problem began and when it has occurred since its inception. Pareto charts are really quite simple to create. Along the horizontal or x-axis, authors simply place what they are comparing, and then place whatever they are measuring along the vertical or y-axis. Their third tool, the cause-and-effect diagram, or fishbone diagram, is one of the most popular tools ever developed. The construction of a cause-and-effect diagram starts by identifying and defining the outcome or effect being studied, and placing it to the far right side of a straight line.
