The Ishikawa diagram or cause-effect diagram is a very well known and accepted method to collect the potential causes of a current problem. The Ishikawa analysis is used to present all ideas on the topic in a clear graphical way within the team in a structured brainstorming session. The methodology helps to prepare a deeper consideration of the root causes of the problem. Here, the individual ideas about the causes and also the relationships between the individual causes are presented. The aim of the Ishikawa Diagram is to visualize problem-relevant factors and their cause-effect relationships systematically and clearly.
For this purpose, all conceivable causes of the problem are recorded in a fishbone diagram, divided into the groups of man, method, material and machine, and if necessary also the environment, and weighted by the participants with regard to their relevance to the problem. To be able to create an Ishikawa diagram, you need an identification of vulnerabilities to be worked on in advance.
The advantage of this method is the holistic approach to the problem, which avoids a one-dimensional view and opens up the possibility of easily involving several people or groups in the problem analysis. The easy-to-learn method provides a good understanding of the problem and its possible causes.
Transformations and the digitization of companies and products mean comprehensive and far-reaching interventions in existing company and system structures. The Ishikawa diagram method helps to analyze existing dependencies and possible causes of problems, as well as the “causes behind the causes” in order to derive necessary measures in the following step. The digitization project or the planned transformation is named as the topic/task and all dependencies from different areas and from different experts are shown in predefined clusters (e.g., departments, employees, IT systems, resistors). The method helps to collect and structure the root causes and maximum influencing factors and dependencies to show the problem-cause-effect relationship. The method can be used both as a team or alone on site or digitally online and, as a collection of causes, represents an approach to structured brainstorming.
