Affinity Diagram

A useful tool to help improve the

effectiveness of your brainstorming
and follow up plans.
Affinity Diagram (island chart)
The Affinity Diagram, KJ Method, or Island
Chart is named after Kawakita Jiro a
Japanese anthropologist.
Useful for gathering and arranging
opinions, ideas, suggestions, etc.,
Organized into sub-groups based on a
common relationship or theme.
Helps refine brainstorming providing a path
for further investigation and action.
Affinity Diagrams Boost the
Effectiveness of Brainstorming
Separates the issue into independent
causes and allows focused brainstorming
on sub- topics.
Facilitates more depth & breadth in
brainstorming
Prioritizes the causes according to group
consensus
Leads to a more thorough review and logic
for actions
Affinity Diagram
Write down ideas
Look for natural
groupings and
arrange similar ideas
together
Look for trends,
themes and overlap
Prioritize main topics
Plan Actions that will
address the highest
priority islands
Basic Steps to making an
Affinity Diagram
Brainstorm ideas writing each idea on an
individual card.
Place the cards face up on a table. Read
each idea to the group.
Arrange the ideas into common themes.
Talk about and refine the groupings and
look for inter-relationships.
Give each island a title.
I think we
can improve
by
Write each idea on a card. Lay the
cards out on a table.
melt temp
diameter
of hole
diameter
of the
stem
differences
between
molds
cool time
plastic color
type of
plastic
mold wear
installation force
time delay
after mold
back pressure
smooth
stem
draft
modifications
order installed
interference
fit
SPC
dropped
caster
fell out
100%
inspect
missed
inspection
caster not missing
reduce
variation
build error
intention
al flash
short
shot
shrink
feeder went
empty
Problem: What causes missing
casters and what could be done to
fix it?
Begin to arrange cards into
natural groups.
melt temp
diameter
of hole
diameter
of the
stem
differences
between
molds
cool time plastic color
type of
plastic
mold wear
installation force
time delay
after mold
back pressure
smooth
stem
draft
modifications
order installed
interference
fit
SPC
dropped
caster
fell out
100%
inspect
missed
inspection
caster not missing
reduce
variation
build error
intention
al flash
short
shot
shrink
feeder went
empty
Problem: What causes missing
casters and what could be done to
fix it?
Arrange Ideas into Sub-groups
(distinguish between causes and solutions)
Put similar
ideas
together
Bucket
SF Process
Operator
Automation
Other
Caster
melt temp
diameter of hole
diameter too small
differences between
molds
cool time
plastic color
type of plastic
mold wear installation force
time delay after mold
back pressure
smooth stem
draft
mold modifications
order installed
interference fit
SPC
dropped caster
fell out
100% inspect
missed inspection
caster not missing
reduce variation
build error
intentional flash
short shot
SPC
intentional flash
shrink
feeder went empty



Differences in in Diameter
What causes missing casters?
After the ideas are arranged
Look over the groupings for
additional thoughts or insight
about the problem.
Write down any new ideas that
come up and place them
accordingly.
Rank the ideas using nominal
group technique to prioritize
further work.
That gives me
another great
idea!
Rank The Ideas
(Nominal Group Technique)
Focus most of our
attention investigating
things that could
cause a difference in
diameter.
Letter Cause Ellen Steve Jeff Julie Dave Terry Total Count Rank Top 3
A Plastic Color 0 0 20
B Hole Diameter 5 5 4 5 3 2 24 6 1 *
C Build error 0 0 11
D Mold modifications 1 1 1 9
E Mold wear 1 2 2 1 6 4 5
F Shrink 1 1 1 8
G Draft 0 0 23
H Type of plastic 2 2 1 7
I Time Delay after mold 1 3 5 9 3 4
J Order installed 0 0 21
K Dropped caster 0 0 12
L Installation force 0 0 22
M Feeder went empty 0 0 13
N Smooth stem 3 2 5 2 6
O Stem Diameter too small 4 3 5 4 4 3 23 6 2 *
P Melt temp 0 0 16
Q Cool time 1 1 1 10
R Back pressure 0 0 17
S Short shot 0 0 18
T Missed inspection 0 0 19
U Caster not missing 0 0 15
V Fell out 0 0 14
W Differences between molds 2 4 3 5 4 18 5 3 *
Plan Further Work
Refine ideas
Develop investigation plan
Gather data.
Brainstorm for solutions
Develop solutions that solve
the broad categories.
Be sure you have significant
actions to address the highest
priority areas.

What could we do to
the design so that any
differences in diameter
wont be an issue?

Things to remember in using
an Affinity diagram
1. Rapidly group ideas that seem to belong
together.
2. Copy an idea into in more than one group if
appropriate.
3. Look at small groups. Should they belong in a
larger group?
4. Do large groups need to be broken down
more?
5. Wait until most of the ideas have been sorted
to decide on titles.
Thank you!