Fishbone Analysis

Ask 5 Whys to Get to the Root Cause

How to Analyze Root Causes Using anĀ Ishikawa Diagram:

  1. Put the problem statement in the head of the fish and the major causes at the end of the major bones. Major causes include:
    • Processes, machines, materials, measurement, people, environment
    • fishbone analysis 5 whys
    • Steps of a process (step 1, step 2, etc.)
    • Whatever makes sense
  2. Begin with the most likely main cause.
  3. For each cause, ask "5 Whys."

    five whys template in Excel

  4. Circle one-to-five ROOT causes (end of the "5 whys" chain).
  5. Verify the root causes with data (Pareto chart or Scatter Diagram).

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