Steps to Construct a Pareto Diagram · Step 1: Total the data on effect of each contributor, and sum these to determine the grand total. · Step 2: Re- ...Paretodiagramsarenothardtoconstruct.Withacalculator,graphpaper,andasharppencil(orevenbetter,acomputerwithspreadsheetandchartingsoftware),animprovementteamcaneasilyproduceParetodiagramstohelpindecisionmaking.GettingReadyAswithalltheanalyticaltools,agoodParetodiagramstartswithgooddata.Inthiscase,thedatathatisneededisanymeasureofquality,stratifiedbythevariouscategoriesthatcontributetotheoveralleffect.Themeasureofqualitycanbeanythingthattheteamagreeswillquantifythenegativeimpactoftheissueunderconsideration.Typicalmeasuresinclude:Cost,time,numberoferrorsorfailures,percentofcustomersexpressinganopinion,etc.Themeasure(e.g.,cost)mustbethesameforallcontributorsintheanalysis.Paretoanalysisisameasuredandrankedcomparison.YoucannotrankbydifferentmeasuresonthesameParetotableordiagram;thatwouldbe“comparingapplestooranges.”Makesurethatyouspendtimeidentifyingallofthepotentialcontributorsbeforeyousetouttogatherthedata.Otherwise,youmayendupwith“miscellaneous”or“unclassified”items.Itdoesnothelptofocusyourteam’seffortsifoneofthe“vitalfew”istitled“miscellaneous.”Thelistofcontributorstotheeffectcancomefromavarietyofsources:Groupbrainstormingsessions,cause-effectdiagrams,processflowdiagrams,orthedataitself.Sometimes,thedatayouneedalreadyexistsinaccountingsystems,routinemanagementreports,orthefilesofindividualsintheorganization.If,however,thedatadoesnotexist,yourteamshoulddevelopameansforgatheringit.NomatterhowyoudeveloptherawdataforyourParetoanalysis,tobesuccessful,yourdatamust:Usefacts,notopinions,asthebasisfordecisionmaking.Usethesamemeasureforallcontributors,andusethesameassumptionsandcalculationsthroughout.KeepinmindthatParetoanalysisisacomparisontechnique.Alsonotethatconsistencyismoreimportantthanabsoluteprecisioninthenumbers.Itdoesnotmattersomuchifassumptionsandcostestimatesare,say,conservativethroughoutbytenpercent;aslongastheystayc