Welcome to NWA SPC Update, a newsletter from the world's leading provider of SPC software, featuring the latest solutions from NWA and SPC-related news in manufacturing and the laboratory.

NWA News

NWA Expands Global Reach to China

NWA customers with plants or contract manufacturers in China now have access to local representation, training and support.

In May 2004, NWA representatives traveled to major trade zones in China for a series of meetings to explore local support and distribution for NWA's statistical process control and quality analysis software solutions. In August we concluded a mutually exclusive partnering agreement with CA-China Soft Software Technology Co., Ltd. (CA-CSS), the largest distributor of manufacturing software in China. NWA is now the exclusive provider of SPC software to CA-CSS, and CA-CSS will serve as the exclusive general agent to sell, service, and provide training and support for all NWA products in the People’s Republic of China.

To date, 50 companies have implemented NWA SPC solutions in China. Our current users are primarily multi-nationals with plants or contractors in China. The relationship with CA-CSS enables NWA to provide better local service, and also directly reach more Chinese manufacturers.

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NWA/CA-CSS partnership press release

CA-CSS web site

New NWA Quality Monitor Supervisor Expands Reporting Options

NWA Quality Monitor Supervisor 1.3 is now shipping. This new version delivers enhanced scalability and flexibility in remote monitoring of plant-floor quality data-collection workstations. With expanded reporting options, you can now create process monitoring status display screens, for use both on and off the plant floor, specifically tailored to meet your unique requirements based on the number of workstations you need to monitor and your monitoring preferences.

In addition, Quality Monitor Supervisor 1.3 can now remotely monitor for alarm conditions from an unlimited number of workstations in one consolidated view.

Press release

NWA Quality Monitor Supervisor product brief

Upcoming SPC Training in Portland, OR

Applied SPC with NWA Quality Analyst

Date: December 6-7, 2004
Location: Portland, OR

Participants gain expertise using NWA Quality Analyst while applying statistical quality control techniques in classroom exercises. The class then works in teams to solve problems in a simulated manufacturing process. Attendees learn how to maximize their use of NWA Quality Analyst while brushing up on SPC.

Full course description

Accommodations and registration information

SPC Insights

NWA Quality Analyst Web Server Delivers Alarms Through The Web

NWA Quality Analyst Web Server (QAWS) provides exception reports displayed as web pages. The reports list product specification violations and SPC violations organized by Data Set and Variable. You display the relevant SPC chart for each set of exceptions with the click of a button.

Since QAWS generates Exception Reports in XML (Extensible Markup Language), you can use XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) to create custom report formats. An example of using XSLT to modify an exception report is included in the QAWS tutorial.

QAWS can also be used as an RSS feed provider, creating a standards-based method to notify users of specific exceptions in an automatic and timely manner. RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary) is an XML-based standard for easily distributing and aggregating changes to Web content. While most commonly used for monitoring news services, RSS is increasingly being employed with manufacturing information systems as an alternative to complex and proprietary alarming and reporting applications.

RSS feed providers such as QAWS create content in the form of XML code. That code identifies the elements of the content in a way that the News Reader (aggregator) can interpret. The News Reader in turn distributes the relevant content to end users who have subscribed to it. An end user can then click on the content of interest to investigate further.

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Events and Publications

The Role of SPC in Six Sigma

Quality professionals often ask us how SPC and NWA quality software are used in implementing a successful Six Sigma program. To illustrate the critical role SPC plays in the Six Sigma DMAIC (define-measure-analyze-improve-control) process, we will be posting on our website a series of white papers and application profiles demonstrating how our clients have used NWA SPC software in their Six Sigma programs.

New White Paper: Six Sigma Overview

The first paper in the series is from Dr. John G. Surak of Clemson University. A professor of applied economics and statistics, Dr. Surak has achieved a number of awards and recognition in food quality and frequently speaks about food safety and process control. His most recent achievement was being awarded the Milliken Medal of Quality on October 4, 2004, by the Governor of the State of South Carolina.

View the full Six Sigma Overview white paper

New Case Study: Dow Chemical and Six Sigma

Dow Chemical Company placed NWA Quality Analyst on its world-wide network to support Six Sigma projects at the company’s plants. Not only do users have ready access to powerful tools for process diagnosis and management, but staff training and communication is simplified by using standardized tools and reporting at all facilities.

View the full Dow Chemical Company case study

Dow Chemical press release

Current NWA Product Releases

Users frequently ask us for the current release numbers for their NWA products. To help keep your NWA software up to date, we publish these release numbers on our website.

Current Product Release Numbers

© Northwest Analytical, Inc., all rights reserved. NWA Quality Monitor, NWA Quality Monitor Supervisor, NWA Quality Analyst, NWA Quality Analyst Web Server, NWA QAx, and NWA SPCx are trademarks or registered trademarks of Northwest Analytical. *All other company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of those respective companies.

Northwest Analytical (NWA) is the leading provider of SPC software with more than 50,000 licenses shipped to over 5,000 companies. NWA software is recognized for its ease-of-use and ability to integrate with other software and systems. The NWA SPC software suite includes plant floor data collection and supervision, enterprise-wide charting and analysis, web-based reporting and embedded SPC.

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