software
by Gordon Sellers
QI Analyst
by SPSS Inc.
$695
QI Analyst by SPSS Inc. is a statistical process control software. With
QI Analyst, statistical analysis is no longer strictly the domain of quality
analysts and engineers. The program is flexible, easy to use and comes with
a set of tutorials to speed up the learning process.
Minimum system requirements: 386-based, IBM-compatible PC, color VGA monitor,
4 MB RAM, 4 MB hard-disk space, Windows 3.1.
Contact: SPSS Inc.
444 North Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: (800) 543-2185
Fax: (800) 841-0064
UNDERSTANDING STATISTICS and their use in process analysis is a key
element in the quest for improved quality systems. Many new methods have
been introduced in the past few years to help users identify, document and
understand processes; however, statistical analysis is still required to
identify problems and bring processes into control. QI Analyst is for all
those involved in analyzing and improving process control in an organization.
Dynamic analyzer
QI Analyst plots charts and computes statistics most often used to analyze
processes such as control, Pareto and histogram charts. It can be used as
a static analysis tool with the user entering data or dynamically with the
ability to simultaneously accept data and perform analysis while monitoring
a process.
QI Analyst breaks into four activities: creating a set-up file, entering
and importing data, analyzing charts and statistics, and customizing the
analysis and producing reports.
The type of information entered into the set-up file depends on the process
being monitored; it includes what characteristics are measured, the subgroup
sizes, and what establishes an out-of-control condition. The software provides
default values used most often by quality engineers, which makes creating
set-up files easy. Set-up files can also be saved for use as templates.
Entering data is made easier by Data Entry Assistant, which displays dialog
boxes for the user to enter data in a specific order. Data can also be typed
in the Data Editor, which behaves much like a spreadsheet. Data may also
be imported in SPSS, Excel or dBase format.
Once users create a data file, QI Analyst can generate charts and statistics
to help analyze the data and determine out-of-control conditions. Once an
out-of-control condition is determined, the process can be brought under
control using the supplied Shewhart rules as a default.
Users can display multiple charts by creating new chart windows to compare
various process scenarios or view the same data in different ways. Chart
types include control charts, run charts, histograms and Pareto.
Users can also print a report on the chart's content. The report consists
of three parts: general information, a table of values for all chart points,
and a table on chart points that violate the rules and/or have been assigned
causes and actions.
Overall, this is a good statistical process control tool. Although the
product's interface is of an older style, with no Windows toolbars, the
menu options are easy to understand, and finding how to do something in
QI Analyst is not complex.
When you think of statistic analysis tools, SPSS's QI Analyst should be
on your list of tools to review.
