ProcessMA Interactive

Overview | How to | Example

Overview

ProcessMA Interactive uses custom-defined formulas, named range charts and pre-formatted spreadsheets to present a dynamic, interactive and user-friendly interface. When you create a new tool from ProcessMA interactive, a new pre-formatted worksheet will be created. As you enter data into designated columns, your analysis results will be computed and displayed dynamically. If charts are present, they will also dynamically plot and display the results. The following are the key features:

• Automatic Re-calculation
  With ProcessMA Interactive, analysis results are automatically re-calculated when you change your data and options without having to repeat the analysis process.

• Dynamic Charts
  Charts are also dynamic. This feature is most useful for charts you need to update regularly such as the control charts. As you enter new data, the charts are dynamically re-plotted without the need to re-create them.

• Combining Related Tools in One
  Related tools are now combined for easy access and to avoid duplication such as DOE (Design, Analyze & Factorial Plots), Power and Sample Size (All test types), etc

How to

Learning how to use ProcessMA Interactive is simple. Once you learn the know-how for one tool, the rest are similar. The following uses the Pareto Chart tool as an example to walkthrough the process.

1. First, choose from the ProcessMA menu to select a tool of your choice

   • Choose ProcessMA > Interactive > New

   • In Category, choose Graphs

   • In Tool, choose Pareto Chart

   • Check Load Example if you wish to populate worksheet with data for the example

   • Click OK

2. A new pre-formatted spreadsheet will be created. Like in most tools, the Pareto Chart tool has 3 sections shown highlighted in Red, Blue and Green

3. The Green section labeled as Data, is for you to enter the data to be analyzed

   • Data must be entered in columns with the first row as the column label. Column labels can be changed as required

   • Hover the mouse cursor over the column labels (commented cells with red triangle at it's upper right corner) to view specific information

   • Data columns with labels in bold are required whereas data columns with labels not in bold are optional

4. The Blue section labeled as Options, is for you to enter option values to customize your results

   • Option fields are organized in rows with labels on the left and values on the right

   • Hover the mouse cursor over the labels (commented cells with red triangle at it's upper right corner) to view specific information

5. The Red section labeled as Results, is where the results are displayed

   1. As you enter data in the Data (Green) section or enter values in Options (Blue) section, the results are dynamically computed and displayed

   2. If you are interested in the data used for plotting the charts (e.g. residuals and fitted values for residuals plots), there are usually located in Columns AB and thereafter

Other useful tips

• Data input limited to first 10,000 rows
  To optimize speed, ProcessMA interactivity worksheets are limited to 10,000 rows of data input by default design. However, if you are familiar with User-Defined-Formula with array output, you can increase data input range to include the entire column. For example, to use the entire column for data input, you can change the UDF for Pareto Chart from "=PMAPareto(K1:K10000,L1:L10000,I2)" to "=PMAPareto(K:K,L:L,I2)". To change the UDF, first highlight the entire range of target cells, then press F2, then modify the UDF and finally press Ctrl-Shift-Enter.

• Speed up data entry
  If you are performing complex analytical tools like General Linear Model or Accelerated Life Testing for a large amount of data, the auto-recalculation may slow down your data entry process. Therefore, if you are entering a large amount of data for analysis, you can temporary switch Excel calculation option to Manual during data entry. When you have completed the data entry, switch Excel calculation option back to Automatic or press F9 to calculate the results. See the following instruction to change Excel Calculation Option to Manual

• For Excel 2002/2003: Choose Tools > Options, select Calculation tab, Manual option and click OK

• For Excel 2007: Select Formulas ribbon, under Calculation Options, select Manual

• Plotting more data points
  Most ProcessMA Interactive charts are set up (by default) to plot the first 1,000 data points. If you need to plot more data points, press Ctrl-r or choose ProcessMA > Interactive > Extend Output. Note: Worksheets must be unprotected first

• Sharing ProcessMA worksheets
  Users need to have ProcessMA installed on their computers in order to update and use the Interactive worksheets and charts created by ProcessMA. You can share these worksheets with non ProcessMA user for viewing only, however, they should NOT update links when opening the workbooks.

• Data Requirement
  Hover the mouse cursor over commented cells (cells with red triangle at it's upper right corner) to view specific information.
  Data columns with labels in bold are required and data columns with labels not in bold are optional

• Protection
  Worksheets can be protected to prevent unintended changes. In a protected worksheet, only cells that require inputs will be accessible

Example

You collected data on time (in minutes) to resolve a customer enquiry in a call centre. You want to describe this set of data. You want to use ProcessMA Interactive tool because you intend to collect and add more data in the next few days.

1. Choose ProcessMA > Interactive > New

2. In Category, select Statistics

3. In Tool, select Descriptive Statistics

4. Enter data in Column H (labeled as Variable)

Results

Descriptive statistics and a histogram of the data will be displayed in Columns A:F

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