Named by Joseph M. Juran (Quality Control Handbook, 1951) after Vilfredo Pareto's income distributions (Cours d'économie politique, 1896 to 1897).
Ranks causes, customers, or problems by their share of an outcome to find the few that drive most of it, often near an 80/20 split.
When to reach for it
When a long list of causes, defects, or customers must be cut down to the few worth attention first.
How it runs
- Pick the outcome measure.
- Rank causes or contributors by their share of it.
- Plot cumulative share against the ranked list.
- Find where the curve flattens; the items before it are the vital few.
- Focus effort there and recheck as the mix shifts.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- Cours d'économie politique, F. Rouge, Lausanne, two volumes, 1896 to 1897, 1896
- Quality Control Handbook, McGraw-Hill, 1951