• Tutorials
• Pareto charts tutorial

Identifying frequent problems

An important first step in quality improvement is identifying the most frequent occurring problems.

1. Open the file tutorials\Colorimeter.xlsx.

   The worksheet is open with some of the data hidden. We will use the additional hidden data later in this tutorial.

2. On the Analyse-it ribbon tab, in the Statistical Analyses group, click Pareto, and then click Single Pareto Chart.
   The analysis task pane opens.
3. In the Variable drop-down list, select Failure.
4. In the Frequency drop-down list, select Downtime.
5. Select the Label frequencies, Label cumulative frequencies, and Frequency table check boxes.
6. Click Calculate.
   The results are calculated and the analysis report opens.

The Pareto plot bars show the amount of downtime spent fixing each failure sorted into descending order. A cumulative line shows the cumulative percentage of downtime.

Based on the plot you can see:

• 51 hours (60%) of downtime were spent dealing with colorimeter drift (for example, through recalibration).
• Colorimeter drift and deformed tubing accounted for nearly 75% of all downtime.