ABSTRACT
Statistical methods and tools have become as much an integral part of Total Quality Management (TQM) in various manufacturing and service industries as the teamwork needed to apply them. Statistical tools are useful in the design, implementation, and maintenance phases of TQM. Seven basic statistical tools serve as communication devices: flowchart, cause-and-effect diagram, histogram, pareto chart, scatter diagram, trend chart, and control chart. The activity symbol in a flowchart is a rectangle. A brief description of that activity is contained within the rectangle. In the beginning of an improvement process, it may be helpful to flowchart the overall schema and examine the major steps. This helps determine the major suppliers, inputs, actions, outputs, and customers. The scatter diagram shows the relationship between the key process variables and the key quality characteristics. A control chart displays the performance of a process over time and is used to determine whether that process is consistent and operating in statistical control.
