Example of formatting cells that contain out-of-control values

A quality engineer at an automotive parts facility monitors the lengths of camshafts. Three machines manufacture camshafts for four shifts each day. The engineer measures five camshafts from each machine during each shift.

The engineer uses conditional formatting to identify out-of-control subgroups.

  1. Open the sample data, CamshaftLength.MTW.
  2. Choose Data > Conditional Formatting > Statistical > Out of Control.
  3. In Column, enter Machine 1.
  4. In Subgroup size, enter 5.
  5. Click OK.

Results

The cells of subgroup 8 (rows 36–40) are shaded red, which indicates that it is an out-of-control subgroup.