Which analytical tool is used to analyze process dispersion by displaying relationships between potential causes and effects?

• A. Capable-2-promise
• B. Cash flow
• C. Carrying cost
• D. Cause-and-effect diagram

Answer: (D)

A cause-and-effect diagram, often called an Ishikawa or fishbone diagram, is used to analyze process dispersion by laying out potential causes and showing how they relate to a specific effect or problem. It helps teams brainstorm and organize areas that could be contributing to variability—typically across categories like methods, materials, machines, people, measurements, and environment. By visualizing these relationships, you can identify which causes to investigate with data collection and testing, guiding root-cause analysis and subsequent improvements.

The other options are not about mapping causes to effects. Capable-to-promise relates to scheduling and promising delivery dates based on capacity. Cash flow deals with the timing and amount of cash inflows and outflows. Carrying cost is an inventory cost concept. They describe financial or capacity aspects rather than a tool for visualizing how various potential causes interact to produce a problem.