The Psychology of Quality and More

Second seven tools

In the quality improvement movement in Japan in the latter half of the 20th century, the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) were influential in defining a set of basic tools that could be used for improving processes. These came to be known as the first seven tools.

These mostly were useful for quantitative problems, so a second set of seven tools was defined for the more qualitative problems that arise, such as around customer needs. These are:

1. Relations Diagram
2. Affinity Diagram
3. Tree Diagram
4. Matrix Diagram
5. Matrix Data Analysis Chart
6. Process Decision Program Chart
7. Activity Network

Just to complicate things, the Matrix Data Analysis Chart, which is somewhat complex to use, is often replaced with the Prioritization Matrix. And for further fun, alternative names are used, for example the Relations Diagram is sometimes called the 'Interrelationship Digraph'.

They also get called the 'Seven Management and Planning Tools.' 

Beware of scary big names. They often conceal very simple tools, which is what they have to be, if they are  to become widely used.

See also: