Charting In Excel

Announcing SPC Simplified Video Training Using the QI Macros

Denver, CO (PRWEB) May 25, 2011

KnowWare International Inc. announces the release of a new video training on statistical process control for manufacturing and healthcare. While anything using the word "statistical" can make people blanch, SPC is actually easy using the QI Macros for Excel . Jay Arthur says: "People don't need to know math or statistics; they just need to know how to draw and interpret a control chart or histogram." This 60-minute video will cover everything people need to analyze any control chart or histogram.

Control charts can tell if a process of manufacturing or health care (eg, execution times of emergency services) can meet the needs of a client, or if it is "out of control "and must be improved. Healthcare uses control charts to monitor relief measures, such as what percent of heart attack patients receive aspirin upon arrival.

Histograms help determine whether a process meets customer or not. Manufacturing uses histograms to see if the pistons fit into the engine block. Statistical process control is easy once the performance data is converted into an array. And charting is easy with the QI Macros. The QI Macros are an add-in for Microsoft Excel that automate all of the charts and diagrams required for statistical process control (SPC) and Lean Six Sigma . There are over 100,000 registered users. The QI Macros consist of four parts: 1) 30 Macros that create pareto, control charts, and histograms, 2) Over 90 fill-in-the-blank templates and dashboards for Lean Six Sigma and SPC, 3) Statistical analysis tools like ANOVA, f-test, t Test, and regression analysis and 4) Data transformation tools like restacking, word counts and pivottables.

Unlike complex statistical tools, anyone from nurses to Six Sigma Black Belts can learn to use the QI Macros in a matter of minutes. QI Macros are easy to learn. The pull-down menu gives immediate access to all tools. It works directly on Excel data. And it automates the most commonly used Lean Six Sigma improvement tools.

30-day evaluation copies of the QI Macros for Excel can be downloaded at www.qimacros.com/freestuff.html .

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prwebQIMacros/spc/prweb8333507.

Improving the Appearance of Charts in Excel | ArticleField.com

There are lots of reasons that people use Microsoft Excel. However, these reasons fall into three basic categories; storing data, analysing data and displaying data. Often a single spreadsheet will be used for all three, and it is the display of data that forms the basis for this article.

If you’ve ever prepared a presentation of figures in Powerpoint, you will certainly have found yourself borrowing charts from Excel. It is often thought these charts don’t have to be as visually appealing as the rest of the presentation. That’s simply an excuse used by people who don’t understand the full range of charting options in Excel.

First things first though. If you’ve got a bar chart that makes your point, don’t turn it into a bubble chart just to be different. Personally, I can say I’ve never used Excel’s bubble chart option and will unashamedly say that I’m not entirely sure what a bubble chart is. It does look nice, but it detracts from the graphic’s underlying meaning. So the lesson is that improving the appearance of a chart does not mean changing its form.

The second question is what you are trying to achieve in re-formatting a chart. Generally you wish to draw a viewer’s attention to a trend, and remove anything that may distract them. That means your chart’s formatting should be consistent with its surroundings. That means matching fonts, and it means matching colors. The key fonts to match are on the axes, the legend and, if present, the chart title. Colors will mainly feature in the chart area itself though, unless it is being inserted on a dark background, I would always recommend making your Excel charts transparent.

Unfortunately every feature of a chart needs selecting separately. This can normally be achieved by right-clicking on the label you want and selecting the relevant Format option. If you cannot work out how to change an item’s properties, you can always consult Excel help by pressing F1.

The other way to draw people’s attention to your data is to make your data big. As long as your chart fits into its allotted space, the bigger the better. The first step then is to re-size the chart by selecting and dragging the corner until it fills the space available. However, that is not the only step.

Earlier I referred to your chart title. Take another look. Does it need to be there? If your axes are “Month” and “Payroll Expenditure” then what is your title adding? Probably very little. So you can delete it. What about the legend? You’ve only got one line. That can go as well.

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