Pareto chart

A Pareto chart is a special type of bar chart where the values being plotted are arranged in descending order. It is named for Vilfredo Pareto, and its use in quality assurance was popularized by Joseph M. Juran and Kaoru Ishikawa.

Simple example of a Pareto chart using hypothetical data showing the relative frequency of reasons for arriving late at work.

The Pareto chart is one of the seven basic tools of quality control, which include the histogram, Pareto chart, check sheet, control chart, cause-and-effect diagram, flowchart, and scatter diagram. See glossary of quality management.

Typically the left vertical axis is frequency of occurrence, but it can alternatively represent cost or other important unit of measure. The right vertical axis is the cumulative percentage of the total number of occurrences, total cost, or total of the particular unit of measure. The purpose is to highlight the most important among a (typically large) set of factors. In quality control, the Pareto chart often represents the most common sources of defects, the highest occurring type of defect, or the most frequent reasons for customer complaints, etc.

Their use gives rise to the 80-20 Rule --- that 80 percent of the problems stem from 20 percent of the causes.

External link

• Brief discussion, with example
• Pareto Chart 'How To' Guide