Six Sigma - SPC Software Comparison

In the Market for Six Sigma - SPC Software? Here are Some Things to Consider:

  1. Do you want a separate, stand-alone software application or something that works right in Microsoft Excel with your data?
  2. What is the statistical expertise of your users and do you have days or just hours to train them?
  3. Do your users have other job responsibilities besides creating charts and other improvement documentation?
  4. How much money do you have in your budget?
  5. How picky is your audience about how your charts look?

I trialed eight different spc software and spc for excel addins within the same price range and nothing even comes remotely close to the QI Macros. There was no comparison.

– John Janik, Ulbricht

Learn More about Comparing Six Sigma - SPC Software:

Stand Alone Application or Microsoft Excel Add-in?

This factor is the single biggest decision to make as it influences all other factors.

Factor

Stand-Alone Software Application

Microsoft Excel Add-in

Examples
SQC Pack®, Minitab®, JMP®
QI Macros®, Sigma XL®, SPC XL
Installation Installed as a separate application on a PC or on a network with login requirements Adds a new tab on Excel's Menu Bar
Licensing

Perpetual (one time purchase) or subscription based (monthly or annual fee).

Usually a perpetual single user license.

Price

Higher because the application was built from scratch.

Minitab® Annual License: $1,851/year

SQC Pack®: $1,290 for a single user license.

Lower because add-ins use the power and functionality already available in Excel.

Around $300 for a single user perpetual license.

QI Macros price is $369 USD per license.

Even if you already own a more expensive standalone package, a tool like Minitab, QI Macros can make life easy when dealing with Excel data.

Ease of Use

More difficult as users need to learn a separate application.

Easier as most users are already familiar with Excel.

Data Input Data must be imported into the application from Excel or another system. Most of your data is already in Excel. If not, most systems already contain functionality to export data into Excel.
Charts and Other Output

May or may not be able to be customized and / or shared with unlicensed users.

Excel charts are easily customized, easily copied to Word and Powerpoint and easily shared with unlicensed users.
Typical User Statistician or someone whose job is primarily dedicated to statistical or data analysis. Business person who needs to analyze data and create charts in service to their primary job functions.

I love having the QI Macros on my PC. It is sooo easy to use with Excel. I enjoy not having to use a separate program just to chart QC projects. And the options…oh my! Thank you so much for making my life easier, AND at a very reasonable price!!!

- Shilo Caulfield
Viracor

How does QI Macros Compare to Other SPC Add-ins for Excel?

Compare on Price, Ease of Use, Quality of Chart Ouput and Features.

Criteria

Other Six Sigma Add-ins for Excel

QI Macros

Ease of Use
User Interface

Designed to work like Minitab which was built to teach college students statistics. Users often report this makes the software difficult to learn and use. Built from scratch with business users in mind. Can be learned in an hour with our online tutorials.
Create a Chart

1. Use a decision tree to choose the chart. You have to know which chart you want.

2. Identify your data range to the software.

3. Set various criteria.

4. Run the chart.

1. QI Macros is the ONLY software that asks you to select your data first which makes it possible to automate chart and stat selection.. This makes you look like an expert.

2. Let one of the QI Macros chart wizards select the right chart for you. Or select the specific chart you want.

3. Analyze the resulting chart

Data Mining

Use Excel PivotTables or Crosstab to analyze rows of data. QI Macros is the ONLY software with an Improvement Project Wizard that can create entire improvement projects from rows of data with a single click. It creates PivotTables, control charts, Pareto charts and Fishbone diagrams automatically.

Diagrams

Use Excel Drawing tools or Visio.

QI Macros has over 100 fill-in-the-blank templates for Lean Six Sigma, many of which automate the creation of diagrams such as the Ishikawa/Fishbone Diagram and Value Stream Mapping.

Formulas and Flexibility

Provide just the numerical results. If you want to adjust an input such as significance or spec limits, you have to rerun the chart or stat.

QI Macros lets you see all of the formulas. If you change the signficance in a t test, the calculations update automatically saving you the time needed to rerun the stat.

QI Macros also interprets p-values and other results for you. No guesswork.

See Step-by-Step SPC Add-in Ease of Use Comparison to Understand Why QI Macros is so much easier to use.
Mistake Proofing   Built in code mistake proofs data formating and selection issues (ie numbers formatted as text). Because you select your data first, the QI Macros performs some data cleanup for you.
Quality of Chart Output - See comparison of spc chart output by SPC software package
Price

SigmaXL - $299 per license

SPC XL - $299 per license
SPC XL and DOE Pro XL $449

SPC for Excel - $269 per license

$369 USD per license. When you evaluate the exclusive features shown below, you'll understand why QI Macros costs a little bit more.

Quantity discount structure is steeper than other add-ins. For example, price is $319 per license when you order two licenses.

Highlights of Some of the Exclusive Features Only Available in QI Macros

QI Macros Wizards are not just fancy decision trees, they are actually chart selection and data analysis rules built right into the code. Since QI Macros is the only SPC Software application that has you select your data BEFORE you select your chart, it is the only software that can automate these decisions for you.

  • Control Chart and Chart Wizards that analyze your data and select the right chart for you. These simplify and collapse the learning curve for new users.
  • Improvement Project Wizard that combines the power of Excel PivotTables, Control Charts, Pareto Charts and Fishbones into one tool that can create entire improvement projects with one click.. What used to take Jay hours and sometimes days to do manually, can now be done in seconds with one click.
  • Control Chart Template Wizard works like the Control Chart Wizard to select the right chart for your data. Fill-in-the-blank templates make SPC easy. Just enter the data and the chart grows as you type.
  • PivotTable and Word Count Wizards that create PivotTables to summarize your data. These tools automate data mining.
  • Statistical Wizard that selects the best statistical tests for you
  • Process Change Wizard that can identify trends and runs in your control chart and adjust limits automatically.

Automated Fishbone Diagram - easy Fill-in-the-blank format for inputting root causes with a one-click button to create a fishbone diagram in Excel.

Automated Value Stream Map - easy fill-in-the-blanks template for creating Value Stream Maps in Excl.

Control Chart Dashboards - saves time by enabling you to easily update multiple control charts each week or month.


Compare QI Macros With These SPC Software Packages


Purchase QI Macros SPC Software for Excel through our secure shopping cart or try a free, QI Macros 30-day trial!