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Description
Use
Example
Further
Reading
The Pareto diagram is named after Vilfredo Pareto, a 19th-century Italian economist who postulated that a large share of wealth is owned by a small percentage of the population. This basic principle translates well into quality problems - most quality problems result from a small number of causes. Quality experts often refer to the principle as the 80-20 rule; that is, 80% of problems are caused by 20% of the potential sources.
A Pareto diagram puts data in a hierarchical order (Figure 4), which allows the most significant problems to be corrected first. The Pareto analysis technique is used primarily to identify and evaluate nonconformities, although it can summarize all types of data. In the case below, it is used to rank a panel of patients by resource use. This could be used to help identify the patient population with which to begin a practice improvement project (see Example below)
To create a Pareto diagram, the operator collects random data, regroups the categories in order of frequency, and creates a bar graph based on the results. This type of chart can easily be made in Microsoft Excel or any graphing software.
Further Reading
"The Deming Management Method" pp105-107
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