Fishbone analysis, also known as cause-and-effect diagram or Ishikawa diagram, is a tool used to identify and organize potential causes for a particular problem or effect. It was created by Kaoru Ishikawa to show the causes of a specific event. To conduct a fishbone analysis, a team agrees on a problem, writes it in a box, and draws lines extending from it to categorize potential causes under generic headings like materials, methods, measurements, people, machines, and environment. An example fishbone diagram analyzes potential causes for dough wastage in a bakery under these categories.

1. Fishbone Analysis: Cause and
Effect Diagram
By: Tarun Yadav, B.Tech, Food Technology and
Management, NIFTEM

2. Introduction
Fishbone Analysis:
• The best way of solving a problem is that first understand
the problem properly. Understanding a problem includes
understanding its root causes, which is very important in
order to solve any problem completely.
• Therefore, different management tools can be used to find
out and understanding the problem and its causes. One of
the popular management tool is Fishbone analysis of the
problem.
• Fishbone analysis is also know as Cause-Effect diagram or
Ishikawa Diagram.
• It was first created by Kaoru Ishikawa (1968) and used for
showing the causes of a particular event.

3. Use of Fishbone Analysis
• Fishbone analysis can be used :
1. While identifying a problem,
2. When a team thinking tends to fall into ruts.
3. While discussing and presenting the problem and its
causes with others ( team discussion).
4. While finding out the root causes of a particular problem.

4. How to conduct Fishbone analysis
• Find out a problem on which all the team
member agrees.
• Write the problem on the right hand center of
the paper or board. And draw a box around it.
• Now draw a horizontal line that goes straight into
the problem box.
• Draw vertically slanted lines across the horizontal
line and write down the heading of the problem
causes. Generally all the causes are divided under
the generic headings.

5. • Conduct a brain storming exercise among the
team members to find out the possible causes
of the problem.
• Then divide all the problems under the
heading written on the slanted lines as the
subheadings.
• Write down all the causes under the headings.
A problem can be written down in more then
once if it lies under more than one heading.
• At last try to find out the solution, which may
be implied to solve the problem or its causes.

6. Generic headings which are generally
used :
1. Manpower(people)
2. Machine
3. Material
4. Method
5. Measurement
6. Environment
Example: Fishbone analysis for

7. • Example: Lets take an example of a bakery
industry. Fishbone analysis is used here to find
out the possible causes which may be related
to the dough wastage in the bakery industry.
By conducting Brain storming exercise among his
team, a manager gets the below given points
which may be the possible causes of the dough
wastage.

8. Dough
wastage
Manpower Machine Method
Material Measurement Environment
1.Unskilled Operator
2. New/untrained Labor
3. Improper Maintenance
3. Damaged molder
1.Faulty mixer
2. Damaged Rotary knife
6. Improper alignment
of belts.
5.Improper machine
sealing
4. Faulty Valves
3. Wrong calibration
method
2. SOP and procedures
not followed
1.Improper /wrong
measuring method
1. Wrong measuring
method
3. Different ingredients
2. Water
1.Different material
supplier
2. Faulty load cells
3. Improperly calibrated
Tools
1. Surrounding moisture
2. Room temperature
3. Outside climate