Newsletter:

NWA SPC Update: December 2008

NWA SPC Update is a newsletter from Northwest Analytical (NWA), the world's leading provider of statistical process control software. Here you will find the latest SPC news and solutions for manufacturers and laboratories.

Industry News

NWA Introduces the NWA eHACCP™ Solution

NWA has introduced NWA eHACCP Solution, an extension of NWA Quality Information System that delivers a complete system of electronic HACCP data collection, compliance data management, and secure electronic signatures for producing and managing HACCP documents.

NWA eHACCP combines process management and improvement with better HACCP compliance. NWA has expanded its established plant floor data collection, process management, analytics and improvement system to encompass HACCP compliance data collection, management and reporting to deliver a powerful food safety and quality management system.

• More product information

NWA Quality Analytics Server™ Delivers Plant-wide, Real-time Process Analytics and Alarming

NWA has introduced NWA Quality Analytics Server which provides real-time alerts throughout the plant for process and quality parameters. Quality Analytics Server connects to any ODBC-compliant database, monitors any combination of process parameters, detects product specification and SPC violations, and delivers role-specific analytics and reporting.

NWA Quality Analytics Server is designed for a fast and efficient implementation that provides a plant-wide analytics solution with minimal IT overhead. For companies that already use NWA Quality Analyst for SPC, existing databases and report setup can be incorporated to reduce configuration and training requirements.

“Our operators really like the Quality Analytics (QAS) ‘dashboard.’ It automatically updates and tells them when to pay attention,” says one Six Sigma manager in one of the largest global chemical companies. “QAS lets them focus on just the one point that demands attention, and then drill down to reports and charts as necessary.”

“NWA Quality Analytics Server is a major step on our path to deliver our vision of Manufacturing Analytics to our clients,” says Cliff Yee, CEO of Northwest Analytical. “With Quality Analytics Server, real-time process visibility can reach any part of the enterprise.”

• More product information
• More about Manufacturing Analytics

Praxair Employs NWA for Ultra-Pure Process Gas Customer Satisfaction

Praxair Electronics produces process and precursor gases used by the majority of semiconductor chip and solar cell manufacturers. They have integrated NWA Quality Analyst with their quality management databases for major process improvement and cost savings.

The broad-based adoption of Quality Analyst software and process improvement methodologies has improved both profitability and customer relations. By just automating general reports and queries, Praxair has recaptured the equivalent of one Quality Manager salary and overhead which can now be applied to process and product improvement. This is in addition to process savings, customer quality awards and ratings, and the cost savings from having no customer rejects in the past four years.

• View article

NWA Launches Chinese Web Pages

The NWA Chinese language web pages are now on line at www.nwasoft.com/china. We provide Chinese versions of our products and promotional literature and can now provide support for the NWA Quality Information System in the Chinese markets.

The NWA message now in Chinese:

For those in your company and supply chain who have operations in China, contact our China Country Manager, Huashan (Hans) Shi at:

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Upcoming Product and SPC Training

Applied SPC with NWA Quality Analyst

December 11-12, 2008
Philadelphia, PA

• Course description
• Registration and accommodations information

Events and Publications

Adept Scientific SPC Best Practice and Quality Systems Day

Adept Scientific, NWA’s distributor in the UK and areas of Europe, presented a day with sessions focused on getting the greatest benefit from NWA software and featuring presentations by Adept and NWA customers. Louis Halvorsen, CTO, NWA and Darlene Stoll, NWA Channel Manager, participated in the event.

Paul Bragg, CEO of Adept Scientific, summed up the event, "Insight and learning was the order of the day at Adept's SPC and Quality event. This unique and successful event went far beyond the standard training session or product seminar! It gave quality professionals from all kinds of backgrounds the rare chance to come together to pool their expertise and experience of implementing an effective way of assessing and reporting quality."

Halvorsen presented information sessions on how to get the most productive results from NWA software by using the automation and integration capabilities. Attendees were also given a preview of two new software applications from NWA geared towards Quality Analytics.

During the case study presentations and informal networking, it was obvious delegates all faced similar quality issues regardless of industry. Those who had already overcome such obstacles were willing to share the lessons they had learned and the secrets of their success. Three Adept customers, the National Blood Service, British Gypsum, and British Energy presented case studies on how they applied NWA software to solve problems and improve their operations.

Case Study: National Blood Service

The National Blood Service chose NWA Quality Monitor, in conjunction with Statistical Process Control (SPC), to replace their existing quality system to monitor the specifications of blood components.

• View Case Study

Case Study: British Gypsum

Follow British Gypsum's story as they turned to Adept Scientific and NWA software to centralize and standardize their quality data capture, storage, processing and reporting systems. The aim was to meet EU quality guidelines and product specifications, and simplify data capture while improving its accuracy, reliability and accessibility.

• View/download case study (1.5MB PDF)

Case Study: British Energy

British Energy replaced an outdated data collection system with Quality Monitor from Northwest Analytical, has saved money, and improved the reliability and flexibility of its Chemistry condition monitoring system. "As important as the power of the new system, was its flexibility and ease of use. This meant that during system development, chemists with little or no database experience could learn enough of the package to make interface modifications in order to deliver a system that exactly matched their day-to-day requirements."

• View/download case study (2.3MB PDF)

Additional articles and case studies from Adept Scientific:

Practice What We Preach

Food Safety Magazine, April/May 2008

John Surak and Jeff Cawley describe filming a television application profile on supply-chain safety and quality management for ground beef purchased for the National School Lunch Program.

• View article
• View clips from the program

Rockwell Automation Conferences

Darlene Stoll and George Yost attended and exhibited NWA software and solutions at two Rockwell Automation events:

• RSTechEd, a week-long training event for end-users, systems integrators, distributors, partners, OEMs, and Rockwell Automation sales personnel, and
• Complete Automation On The Move, an educational event sponsored by Rockwell Automation.

Darlene and George presented NWA SPCx embedded with RSView, discussed the new relationship with OSI Soft, and broadened NWA contact with the Rockwell distributor network.

IFT Annual Meeting

June 28 – July 1, New Orleans, LA

Lori Reed and Jeff Cawley attended the IFT Annual Meeting. Jeff Cawley organized and spoke on process management in the Quality Assurance Division Symposium on recall reduction and management, “Reducing the Risks of a Recall.” Our colleague, Dr. John Surak spoke on effective prerequisite programs.

Reducing the Risks of a Recall

Safety and quality related recalls are a major challenge to food processors. Reducing the risk of recall requires informed implementation prerequisite programs, design of process monitoring and the appropriate use of audits. Successful prerequisite programs require selection of the proper prerequisites and careful system design and validation. Process monitoring requires an integrated data collection and management system with role specific analytics and visualization to support decision making and appropriate reactions. Audits likewise must be actively used for process management and improvement to reduce risks of recall.

International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Annual Meeting

NWA exhibited at the 2008 IAFP Annual Meeting. Lori Reed, George Yost and Jeff Cawley demonstrated the NWA eHACCP solution at the gathering of more than 1,800 industry, academic and government food safety professionals held in Columbus, Ohio, August 3-6.

IAFP attendees were impressed and excited about the eHACCP offerings. Most indicated that NWA eHACCP was unique and a more comprehensive solution to the needs of managing the operational side of a HACCP program than any other offering they had seen.

China International Food Safety and Quality (CIFSQ) Conference

NWA simultaneously introduced NWA eHACCP in the USA and China. The China introduction occurred at the US Embassy Pavilion of the 2nd annual China International Food Safety and Quality Conference (CIFSQ), in Beijing, PR China, hosted by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, PRC, September 24-25, 2008. The Chinese Food Safety Guide September edition, which was distributed at the Conference, carried an article on the benefits of NWA eHACCP for China.

Jeff Cawley presented “Implementing an Electronic HACCP Solution.” The presentation reviewed how the active application of SPC and process management enables successful HACCP food safety programs. Using NWA eHACCP input screens and reports as an example, he showed how a Quality Information System can be expanded to manage the operational aspects of a HACCP program and drastically reduce the risks of food safety failures.

• Presentation slides (English and Chinese) (879KB PDF)
• English video presentation
• Chinese video presentation

Rockwell Automation Fair

Phil Schreiber and Darlene Stoll represented NWA at the Rockwell Automation Fair November 19 & 20 in Nashville, TN. NWA is a Rockwell Encompass Partner and exhibited Rockwell related SPC software to Rockwell staff and distributors and also introduced our newest products to the Rockwell Automation community.

Current NWA Product Release Numbers

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Users frequently ask us for the most current software release numbers so we publish them on our website.

• Current 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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