Data collection forms for each Real-Time SPC sampling plan are accessible via the Operator Dashboard. Before you can collect data, you must have
a defined sampling plan with specified measures, collection methods, and data sources.
Add a station to the operator dashboard
Go to the Operator Dashboard and select Add/Remove Stations at the top of the dashboard to
add the stations that contain your sampling plans. If you have a manual
collection that is due for collection, select Start Collection.
Note
The station must be Online and Running to start a data collection.
Each sampling plan must be defined within the product/process template. For more information, go to Define a new sampling plan. Specify the data collection methods and data sources at the appropriate station. For more information, go to Example of specifying data sources for a sampling plan.
Enter data manually
The sampling plan
that you specify creates a data collection form with the appropriate measures,
descriptors, defects, defectives, and subgroup sizes for each collection event.
-
Select
Start Collection
from the station on the operator dashboard.
Note
If you use a Connect data table as your data source, Real-Time SPCTM retrieves the latest subgroup from the Connect data table and populates the data collection form for that measure or descriptor.
- Enter descriptors first. If you have subgroup descriptors, you enter one value that applies to the entire subgroup. Enter individual descriptors for each measurement in the subgroup.
-
Select whether to enter data down each column or across each row.
- Select By Row to enter data by sample. Thus, enter the first observation for each variable before entering the second observation.
- Select By Column to enter data by measure. Thus, enter all the observations for the first variable before entering observations for the next variable.
-
Enter the continuous measurement or a count of the defects or
defectives.
The column of defects indicates the total count of all defects in the unit. The column of defectives indicates Pass or Fail for each unit. If a unit fails, the number in parenthesis indicates the number of reasons for failing. For instance, Fail (3) means that the unit is defective and contains 3 of the defective types.
-
Use the following buttons to advance through the data collection
sheet.
- Select Skip to skip an observation.
- Select Previous to edit the previous observation.
- Select Next to advance to the next cell.
- Select Finish now to complete the data collection.
-
Select
Add Row
to add another row to the data collection form, if necessary.
Note
A measure that creates an I-MR chart can have only one observation.
- When the collection is complete, save and exit, or cancel and exit.
Import data from a file with an existing template
Follow these steps to
import continuous data from a file using an existing template. If you do not
have an existing template, then follow the steps in the next section to create
a new template.
- Select Import.
- Select Use an existing template, then select the template that you want to use. Select Next to continue.
- Select Choose Files, then browse to the file (CSV or TXT) that contains your data. Select Open.
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Select whether to enter data down each column or across each row.
- Select One sample per file to import a single observation.
- Select Multiple samples per file to import a single subgroup. If your subgroup size is 1, Real-Time SPC imports only the first row and discards the remaining rows.
- Select Next. Select Previous to go back to the previous screen, if necessary. Select Cancel to cancel this import event.
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Verify that the measures and the data are correct.
- Select Previous to edit the measure, if necessary.
- Select Finish to import the data.
Import data from a file with a new template
Follow these steps to
create a new template and then import descriptors and continuous data.
- Select Import.
- Select Create a new template, then select Next to continue.
- Select Choose Files, then browse to the file (CSV or TXT) that contains your data. Select Open.
-
Select whether to enter data down each column or across each row.
- Select One sample per file to import a single observation.
- Select Multiple samples per file to import a single subgroup. If your subgroup size is 1, Real-Time SPC imports only the first row and discards the remaining rows.
- Select Next.
- Select Edit Variable to specify which column contains the data for each measure or descriptor. Complete for all descriptors and continuous measures.
- Select Next.
-
Select whether to save this template.
- Select Add to templates to name and save this new template for future use.
- Select Import without saving to import the data without saving the template.
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Verify that the measures and the data are correct.
- Select Previous to edit the measure, if necessary.
- Select Finish to import the data.
Data warnings and errors
You can use the specification limits and absolute limits to flag data points
and alert you to a potential process issue or data entry problem.
- Specification limit warning
- A warning indicates that a continuous measurement is
out-of-specification. You can add assignable causes, corrective actions, or
comments to these measurements.
- Absolute limit error
- Use absolute limits to protect your data collection from data entry errors. For instance, if the jar weight target is 280g, a measurement of 50g or 500g would likely be an error. For manual data entry, you will receive an error when you try to enter data that exceed the absolute limits. For imported data, the values that exceed the absolute limits are converted to missing values.
