Create a Minitab Connect® data table for automatic data collection

You can import data from a Minitab Connect table into your Real-Time SPC data collection sampling plans.

Each Minitab Connect table includes data fields and data records. Each column in the table is a data field that has name, type, and format attributes. Each row in the table is a data observation.

To link a data table to a data collection form, your data table must have at least three columns.

Data column — must be a numeric column. See the sections below to set up data columns that contain defects and/or defectives.
Time column — must be a date/time column. The acceptable date and time format is yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.
Subgroup column — must be a numeric column or a text column.

Note

By default, Real-Time SPC uses the first numeric column as the data column, the first date/time column as the time column, and then the next numeric or first text column as the subgroup column unless you specify other columns.

Follow these instructions to create a standard table for manual data entry. You can also create a table from an existing file or template, create a mashup table, or create a custom SQL table.

From the Home screen , select the Minitab Connect button to open the Navigation pane. Under Tables, select Add New Table. Or, from the Home screen, select the Add button under Tables.
On the Dataset tab, enter the following:
1. Under Name, enter the name to identify the new table.
2. Under Folder, select the plus button to create a new folder.
3. Under Name, enter the name of the folder that stores the new table.
4. Under Parent, keep /(root) to create the new folder at the root level. Alternatively, you can browse to another location to create the new folder.
5. Select Save .
6. Under Status, select Production.
7. Under Backup, select how often you want to back up your data.
You can also enter optional fields that are helpful to describe your data set.
Under Tables, select Standard.
On the Setup tab, add a new field for each variable in your table. Click to add a field opens a data entry field.
1. Under Field Name, enter the name of your data column.
2. Under Type, select Number.
3. Select the down arrow to expand this field. Under Length, specify the length of the number to allow and the number of decimal places.
  The number is 10 digits before the decimal and 10 digits after the decimal. Adjust your settings as needed.
Select Click to add a field to add the time column.
1. Under Field Name, enter the name of your date/time column.
2. Under Type, select Date.
3. Select the down arrow to expand this field. Under Format, select Date/Time.
4. Under Date/Time Type, select Insert Date/Time.
Select Click to add a field to add the subgroup identifier column.
1. Under Field Name, enter the name of your subgroup column.
2. Under Type, select Text. Subgroup identifiers can be text or numeric.
3. Select the down arrow to expand this field. Under Length, enter the character length. The default length values are usually adequate, but you can increase or decrease as you like.
Select Save .

When you save the table, the Prep Tool opens and you can now add data to the table.

Setup for defect data

When you collect defect data, the Minitab Connect data table must have the following columns.

Time column — must be a date/time column. The acceptable date and time format is yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.
Subgroup column — must be a numeric column or a text column.
Data columns
1. Defects — must be a text column.
2. Defect tally — must be a numeric column.
3. Unit ID — must be a numeric or text column.

Setup for defectives data

When you collect defectives data, the Minitab Connect data table must have the following columns.

Time column — must be a date/time column. The acceptable date and time format is yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.
Subgroup column — must be a numeric column or a text column.
Data columns
1. Defective type — must be a text column.
2. Pass/fail column — must be a text column.