Add Target or Goal Lines to Control Charts

Jay Arthur
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Control chart sigma lines and upper control and lower control limits are calculated from your data. However, many customers also want to show a show a target or spec limit line on their control chart. If you created a chart using a control chart macro in the QI Macros this can be accomplished in one of several ways:

1. Use the QI Macros Add Target Line to Chart tool on the Chart Menu (available October, 2011). It will prompt for a name for the line and a value and add the line to the chart. Add as many lines as needed. This will work on most charts, but not pie or radar charts:
   
   
   
2. Use Excel's drawing tools to simply draw a target line on your existing control chart.
• To view Excel's drawing toolbar select View/Toolbars and check the box next to "Drawing."
• Next simply draw a line on your chart.
• You can use the text box feature on the drawing toolbar to add a label to the line.
• Note: If you add data to the chart you may need to re-synch up the line.
  
3. Add target data line to the chart.
   • Go to the intermediate spreadsheet created when you ran the control chart macro.
   • Create a new column in your intermediate data sheet and label it "target" or "goal."
   • Input your target value in every row that you have data. For example, if you have 25 data points on your control chart and your target value is .150, input ".150" in the first 25 rows of your column titled Target.
   
   
   
   
   • Click and drag over the title and target data and select Edit/Copy. Then go to the chart and select Edit/Paste to add the target line to the chart.
   • Since the target line data is linked to the chart, it will move with the chart if new data is added or if the x and y axis change.

In the p, u, XbarR, XbarS charts, Excel may use the "no line" format of other lines on the chart as a basis for formatting the target line. To show the target line, click on the chart, Then Chart Tools-Layout-Chart Area pull down menu and select Target:

Then Click on Format Selection, then Line Color and select solid line and a color:

Control Chart With Target or Goal Line

Here is an example of a control chart with a Target Line shown at .150 on the chart, just below the upper control limit.

If you still can't see the target line, it may be because your X axis is a date or number. To reveal the line:

2. Select Target and Choose Edit:

3. Clear the Series X values and Click OK:

QI Macros Control Chart Menu Features

• Add Data to Control Charts
• Remove (Ghost) Point from Control Chart Calculations
• Delete Point from Control Chart
• Add Text to Data Point
• Show Process Change on Control Chart
• Analyze Stability with Control Chart Rules

Add Target or Goal Line to Chart

Other QI Macros and Control Chart Articles

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