Click here to view a video on how Pareto diagrams are made using SPC for Excel

If all you need to make are Pareto diagrams, look no further. Our SPC software makes Pareto diagrams and can easily update existing Pareto diagrams with new data. Plus we offer a Pareto diagram training module in PowerPoint that you can easily customize (Pareto Diagram Training). And our SPC software makes moving the Pareto to Word or PowerPoint easy -- one click and the chart is moved, perfectly sized -- no more copying, pasting and resizing!

For more information on Pareto diagrams, please see our June 2004 newsletter on Pareto diagrams on our website. The example below shows how to construct a Pareto diagram using the SPC for Excel software. There are four different options for data entry.

Pareto Diagram Data Entry Options

A company is monitoring returned goods and reasons for those returns. Data has been collected and we want to use a Pareto diagram to highlight returned goods by product and reason for return.

Option 1: Frequencies Already Totaled

The categories are in one column or row and the frequencies are in another column or row with the frequencies already totaled. The columns and the rows do not have to be adjacent to each other. The table below shows the data entered as columns.

Option 2: Frequencies Need to be Totaled

The categories are listed in a range on the spreadsheet. There is no list of unique categories, and the frequencies need to be determined. The data can be in multiple rows and columns. Empty cells can be included. The table below shows the data entered in a number of columns and rows. The program will total each unique entry and develop a Pareto diagram based on those totals.

Option 3: Frequencies per Period in Columns

The categories are in one column and the frequencies are in columns. The frequencies are already summed by column (e.g., week). The data entry requirements are shown below. The data must be in columns. The program will total the results and develop the Pareto.

Option 4: Frequencies per Period in One Column

Similar to option 3 but the categories and frequencies are listed by rows instead of columns. The data entry requirements are shown below. The data must be in columns. The program will total the results and develop the Pareto diagram.

Once the data is entered, you select the Pareto diagram icon from the SPC Menu, complete the input form, and the Pareto diagram is developed.

Pareto Diagram Options

• Adding a cumulative line
• Adding dates of data collection
• Placing the categories on the vertical axis instead of the horizontal axis
• Excluding items with frequencies below a certain value from the analysis (great when you have lots of items, such as reason codes, and many of them have only one or two occurrences)