Help Manual

Contents






Sigma Magic Help Version 15

Pareto Chart

Overview

The Pareto Chart tool can be used to create a Pareto Chart for the given set of data points. Pareto Chart can be used to focus on the vital few from the trivial many. According to Wilfred Pareto, 80% of the problems are usually caused by 20% of the causes. The Pareto Chart helps you focus on the most important causes to address the majority of the problems.

This tool can be added to your active workbook by clicking on Graph and then selecting Pareto Chart.

Inputs

Click on Analysis Setup to open the menu options for this tool. A sample screenshot of the menu is shown below. inputs
1
Chart Type: Specify the format of the chart. This selection is not enabled since there is only one format available.
2
Plot Orientation: Specify the orientation of the chart. The following options are available:
OptionDescription
HorizontalPlot the Pareto chart using horizontal bars.
VerticalPlot the Pareto chart using vertical bars. This is the default setting.
3
Cumulative Line: Specify if you want to show the cumulative frequency line on the Pareto chart. The following options are available:
OptionDescription
NoDo not display the cumulative frequency line.
YesDisplay the cumulative frequency on the plot. This is the default setting.
4
Display Categories: Specify if you want to display all the bars on the Pareto chart or limit the number of bars you want to display. You can combine categories in the display. For example, if there are too many categories to display, you can choose to display the top 80% of the data on the bar chart. All other categories will be combined and displayed as Others". If you enter 100% here, all the categories are displayed on the Pareto chart.
5
Help Button: Click on this button to open the help file for this topic.
6
Cancel Button: Click on this button to discard any changes and close the dialog box.
7
OK Button: Click on this button to save any changes and compute the analysis outputs if possible.

Data

If you click on the Data button, you will see the following dialog box. Here you can specify the data required for this analysis. Data
1
Search Data: The available data displays all the columns of data that are available for analysis. You can use the search bar to filter this list and to speed up finding the right data to use for analysis. Enter a few characters in the search field and the software will filter and display the filtered data in the Available Data box.
2
Available Data: The available data box contains the list of data available for analysis. If your workbook does not have any data in tabular format, this box will display "No Data Found". The information displayed in this box includes the row number, whether the data is Numeric (N) or Text (T), and the name of the column variable. Note that the software displays data from all the tables in the current workbook. Even though data within the same table have unique column names, columns across different tables can have similar names. Hence, it is important that you not only specify the column name but also the table name.
3
Add or View Data: Click on this button either to add more data into your workbook for analysis or to view more details about the data listed in the available data box. When you click on this button, it opens up the Data Editor dialog box where you can import more data into your workbook, or you can switch from the list view to a table view to see the individual data values for each column.
4
Required Data: The code for the required data specifies what data can be specified for that box. An example code is N: 2-4. If the code starts with an N, then you will need to select only numeric columns. If the code starts with a T, then you can select both numeric and text columns. The numbers to the right of the colon specify the min-max values. For example, if the min-max values are 2-4, then you need to select a minimum of 2 columns of data and a maximum of 4 columns of data in this box. If the minimum value is 0, then no data is required to be specified for this box.
5
Select Button: Click on this button to select the data for analysis. Any data you select for the analysis is moved to the right. To select a column, click on the columns in the Available Databox to highlight them and then click on the Select Button. A second method to select the data is to double click on the columns in the list of Available Data. Finally, you can also drag and drop the columns you are interested in by holding down the select columns using your left mouse key and dragging and dropping them in one of the boxes on the right.
6
Selected Data: If the right amount of data columns has been specified, the list box header will be displayed in the black color. If sufficient data has not been specified, then the list box header will be displayed in the red color. Note that you can double-click on any of the columns in this box to remove them from the box.
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View Selection: Click on this button to view the data you have specified for this analysis. The data can be viewed either in a tablular format or in a graphical summary.

Charts

If you click on the Charts button, you will see the following dialog box. Charts
1
Title: The system will automatically pick a title for your chart. However, if you would like to override that with your own title you can specify a title for your chart here. Note that this input is optional.
2
Sub Title: The system will automatically pick a subtitle for your chart. However, if you would like to override that with your own subtitle you can specify a subtitle for your chart here. Note that this input is optional.
3
X Label: The system will automatically pick a label for the x-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your own label for the x-axis you can specify a different label here. Note that this input is optional.
4
Y Label: The system will automatically pick a label for the y-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your own label for the y-axis you can specify a different label here. Note that this input is optional.
5
X Axis: The system will automatically pick a scale for the x-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your values for the x-axis, you can specify them here. The format for this input is to specify the minimum, increment, and maximum values separated by a semi-colon. For example, if you specify 10;20 then the minimum x-axis scale is set at 10 and the maximum x-axis scale is set at 20. If you specify 10;2;20, then, in addition to minimum and maximum values, the x-axis increment is set at 2. Note that this input is currently disabled and you will not be able to change this setting.
6
Y Axis: The system will automatically pick a scale for the y-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your values for the y-axis, you can specify them here. The format for this input is to specify the minimum, increment, and maximum values separated by a semi-colon. For example, if you specify 10;20 then the minimum y-axis scale is set at 10 and the maximum y-axis scale is set at 20. If you specify 10;2;20, then, in addition to minimum and maximum values, the y-axis increment is set at 2. Note that this input is currently disabled and you will not be able to change this setting.
7
Horizontal Lines: If you want to add a few extra horizontal reference lines on top of your chart you can specify the values here. The format for this input is numeric values separated by semi-colon. For example, if you specify 12;15 then two horizontal lines are plotted at Y = 12 and Y = 15 respectively. Note that this input is optional.
8
Vertical Lines: If you want to add a few extra vertical reference lines on top of your chart you can specify the values here. The format for this input is numeric values separated by semi-colon. For example, if you specify 2;5 then two vertical lines are plotted at X = 2 and X = 5 respectively. Note that this input is optional.

Verify

If you click on the Verify button, the software will perform some checks on the data you have entered. A sample screenshot of the dialog box is shown in the figure below. Verify The objective of this analysis as well as any checks that are performed is listed in this dialog box. For example, the software may check if you have correctly specified the input options and entered the required data on the worksheet. The results of the analysis checks are listed on the right. If the checks are passed, then they are shown as a green-colored checkmark. If the verification checks fail, then they are shown as a red-colored cross. If the verification checks result in a warning, they are shown in the orange color exclamation mark and finally, any checks that are required to be performed by the user are shown as blue info icons.

Outputs

Click on Compute Outputs to update the output calculations. A sample screenshot of the worksheet is shown below. outputs
>
Notes: The text output of the analysis contains a summary of the inputs - specifically the number of rows of data points and the number of distinct groups. The analysis results section contains the total of all the groups, and information about each group such as sub-total within the group, the percentage contribution, and the cumulative total percentage. The conclusion section indicates the number of inputs you need to focus on to address 80% of the problem.
>
Graphs: The graph output contains the Pareto chart. The Pareto chart contains the ordered bar chart and the cumulative frequency line (shown in red). The Pareto chart can be used to identify the vital few causes. Draw an imaginary line on the red cumulative graph at 80% and this will indicate how many causes contribute to 80% of the problems.

Notes

Here are a few pointers regarding this analysis:
  • If you do not have summarized data, then in the dialog box specify that your data is in a single column. Sigma Magic software will automatically determine the frequencies by reading this column. It does this by counting the number of times the group name is repeated in this column.

Examples

Following examples can be found in the Examples folder.
  • Create a Pareto Chart for the number of defects found in each step of the process. Data is given in the reference file (Pareto 1.xlsm).
  • Create a Pareto Chart for the number of defects found in each category for defects in a cloth. Data is given in the reference file (Pareto 1.xlsm).