PREREQUISITES
You must have QC-CALC Real-Time or Enterprise collecting data from an inspection machine (CMM, Vision System, gage station, etc.) and saving it to an accessible location. There are three options for this:
- Run both QC-CALC and SPC Office Buddy on the inspection machine.
- Run QC-CALC on the shop floor machine and open up a share to the QCC files locally. Then run Buddy from a different machine with Minitab installed. (NOT recommended)
- Run QC-CALC on the shop floor and save the QCC database files to a network share. Then run Buddy on any number of office machines where Minitab is installed. (recommended)
INTRODUCTION
If you need to set up the 3rd network scenario above, please refer to the related article to the right regarding Running QC-CALC On A Network. The remainder of this article assumes you have used the 3rd scenario, although the other two will be similar.
STEPS
- Install the SPC Office Buddy on a machine with access to Minitab. For the latest version, please visit our Downloads Page.
- Launch the Buddy and go to File > Open QCC Database.
- Browse to your QCC database (network, local, etc.) and click Open. QCC databases are named after the part program name and have a .qcc file extension.
(if they are saved locally, they are in the c:\Prolink\QC-CALC 3.0\Data directory)
- If you run Minitab locally, skip this step. If you run Minitab via a network copy, go to Tools > Options > Minitab Settings. On the Settings screen, enter or browse to the network path of your Minitab executable. Click OK when finished.
- You're ready to go. You can highlight a column, row, or range of cells in the grid. You can also create your own custom filters to remove unwanted data from your Minitab stats report.
- When you're ready, click Stats and choose a report or Sixpack. Minitab will launch automatically with your report loaded.
CONCLUSION
At Prolink, we have made every effort to make the setup of the SPC Office Buddy seamless and easy. Please let us know if you have suggestions by sending an email to support@prolinksoftware.com.