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, herringbone diagrams, cause-and-effect diagrams) are causal diagrams created by Kaoru Ishikawa that show the potential causes of a specific event.
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.