Create Ishikawa Diagrams with Python and Matplotlib

Introduction

In this lab, we will learn how to create an Ishikawa diagram, also known as a fishbone diagram or cause-and-effect diagram. Ishikawa diagrams are commonly used to identify problems in a system by showing how causes and effects are linked. We will use Python and the Matplotlib library to create the diagram.

VM Tips

After the VM startup is done, click the top left corner to switch to the Notebook tab to access Jupyter Notebook for practice.

Sometimes, you may need to wait a few seconds for Jupyter Notebook to finish loading. The validation of operations cannot be automated because of limitations in Jupyter Notebook.

If you face issues during learning, feel free to ask Labby. Provide feedback after the session, and we will promptly resolve the problem for you.

Install Matplotlib

Before we begin, we need to make sure we have Matplotlib installed. If you haven't already, you can install it using the following command:

!pip install matplotlib

Import Libraries

We will begin by importing the necessary libraries. We will be using Matplotlib and the Polygon and Wedge classes from the matplotlib.patches module.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib.patches import Polygon, Wedge

Create the Fishbone Diagram

Now we will create the fishbone diagram. We will start by creating a figure and axis object.

fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(10, 6), layout='constrained')

Next, we will set the x and y limits for the axis and turn off the axis.

ax.set_xlim(-5, 5)
ax.set_ylim(-5, 5)
ax.axis('off')

Define the Functions

We will define three functions that we will use to create the diagram.

Problems Function

The first function is the problems function. This function takes in the category name, the x and y positions of the problem arrow, and the angle of the problem annotation. It uses the annotate method to create the problem arrow and annotation.

def problems(data: str,
             problem_x: float, problem_y: float,
             prob_angle_x: float, prob_angle_y: float):
    ax.annotate(str.upper(data), xy=(problem_x, problem_y),
                xytext=(prob_angle_x, prob_angle_y),
                fontsize='10',
                color='white',
                weight='bold',
                xycoords='data',
                verticalalignment='center',
                horizontalalignment='center',
                textcoords='offset fontsize',
                arrowprops=dict(arrowstyle="->", facecolor='black'),
                bbox=dict(boxstyle='square',
                          facecolor='tab:blue',
                          pad=0.8))

Causes Function

The second function is the causes function. This function takes in the list of causes, the x and y positions of the cause annotation, and whether the cause should be placed above or below the problem arrow. It uses the annotate method to create the cause annotation and arrow.

def causes(data: list, cause_x: float, cause_y: float,
           cause_xytext=(-9, -0.3), top: bool = True):
    for index, cause in enumerate(data):
        coords = [[0, [0, 0]],
                  [0.23, [0.5, -0.5]],
                  [-0.46, [-1, 1]],
                  [0.69, [1.5, -1.5]],
                  [-0.92, [-2, 2]],
                  [1.15, [2.5, -2.5]]]
        if top:
            cause_y += coords[index][1][0]
        else:
            cause_y += coords[index][1][1]
        cause_x -= coords[index][0]
        ax.annotate(cause, xy=(cause_x, cause_y),
                    horizontalalignment='center',
                    xytext=cause_xytext,
                    fontsize='9',
                    xycoords='data',
                    textcoords='offset fontsize',
                    arrowprops=dict(arrowstyle="->",
                                    facecolor='black'))

Draw Body Function

The third function is the draw body function. This function takes in the input data and uses it to create the fishbone diagram.

def draw_body(data: dict):
    second_sections = []
    third_sections = []
    if len(data) == 1 or len(data) == 2:
        spine_length = (-2.1, 2)
        head_pos = (2, 0)
        tail_pos = ((-2.8, 0.8), (-2.8, -0.8), (-2.0, -0.01))
        first_section = [1.6, 0.8]
    elif len(data) == 3 or len(data) == 4:
        spine_length = (-3.1, 3)
        head_pos = (3, 0)
        tail_pos = ((-3.8, 0.8), (-3.8, -0.8), (-3.0, -0.01))
        first_section = [2.6, 1.8]
        second_sections = [-0.4, -1.2]
    else:  ## len(data) == 5 or 6
        spine_length = (-4.1, 4)
        head_pos = (4, 0)
        tail_pos = ((-4.8, 0.8), (-4.8, -0.8), (-4.0, -0.01))
        first_section = [3.5, 2.7]
        second_sections = [1, 0.2]
        third_sections = [-1.5, -2.3]

    for index, problem in enumerate(data.values()):
        top_row = True
        cause_arrow_y = 1.7
        if index % 2 != 0:
            top_row = False
            y_prob_angle = -16
            cause_arrow_y = -1.7
        else:
            y_prob_angle = 16
        if index in (0, 1):
            prob_arrow_x = first_section[0]
            cause_arrow_x = first_section[1]
        elif index in (2, 3):
            prob_arrow_x = second_sections[0]
            cause_arrow_x = second_sections[1]
        else:
            prob_arrow_x = third_sections[0]
            cause_arrow_x = third_sections[1]
        if index > 5:
            raise ValueError(f'Maximum number of problems is 6, you have entered '
                             f'{len(data)}')
        ax.plot(spine_length, [0, 0], color='tab:blue', linewidth=2)
        ax.text(head_pos[0] + 0.1, head_pos[1] - 0.05, 'PROBLEM', fontsize=10,
                weight='bold', color='white')
        semicircle = Wedge(head_pos, 1, 270, 90, fc='tab:blue')
        ax.add_patch(semicircle)
        triangle = Polygon(tail_pos, fc='tab:blue')
        ax.add_patch(triangle)
        problems(list(data.keys())[index], prob_arrow_x, 0, -12, y_prob_angle)
        causes(problem, cause_arrow_x, cause_arrow_y, top=top_row)

Input Data

Now we will define the input data. The data should be a dictionary where the keys are the categories and the values are lists of causes.

categories = {
    'Method': ['Time consumption', 'Cost', 'Procedures', 'Inefficient process', 'Sampling'],
    'Machine': ['Faulty equipment', 'Compatibility'],
    'Material': ['Poor-quality input', 'Raw materials', 'Supplier', 'Shortage'],
    'Measurement': ['Calibration', 'Performance', 'Wrong measurements'],
    'Environment': ['Bad conditions'],
    'People': ['Lack of training', 'Managers', 'Labor shortage', 'Procedures', 'Sales strategy']
}

Draw the Fishbone Diagram

Finally, we will call the draw body function and show the diagram.

draw_body(categories)
plt.show()

Summary

In this lab, we learned how to create an Ishikawa diagram using Python and the Matplotlib library. We defined three functions to create the diagram and used a dictionary to define the input data. The resulting diagram shows how causes and effects are linked in a system and can be used to identify problems.