Minitab 16 Tips and Tricks

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Importing and Manipulating Data
Worksheets
Graphics
Customizing Minitab
Additional Tips

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Importing Excel Files
In Minitab, choose File > Open Worksheet

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Importing Excel Files
In the File > Open Worksheet dialog, use Options and
Preview before opening file

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Importing Excel Files
Correctly-formatted sheets open into separate worksheets

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Importing Data from a Database
In Minitab, choose File > Query Database (ODBC),
select Machine Data Source and then your database

Note: Use File > New > Minitab Worksheet to import data into a blank worksheet

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Importing Data from a Database
Select the tables and fields that you want to import
Select Use rows to specify a condition statement

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Tally Individual Variables

Use Stat > Tables > Tally Individual Variables to get a list
of unique values for a given column
Tally will help you easily identify any inconsistencies

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Coding Data

Right-click on
column > Replace

OR

Use Data > Code > Text to Text if you need to code
multiple values

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 After Data are Coded
Now we can create Pareto charts, get Descriptive
Statistics, etc. for the downtime reasons

Pareto Chart of Reason

400 100

300 80

Percent
Count

60
200
40
100
20

0 0
t r t l ol
en e t e s ia i n er
O v ra Te er r ta T o th
nm ge al
ib al at Cu n O
ig n r M ke
Al an Re
c Fi hg t o
e C h fo Li Br
ur ai
t
xt
Fi W
Count 117 102 42 33 25 20 18 28
Percent 30.4 26.5 10.9 8.6 6.5 5.2 4.7 7.3
Cum % 30.4 56.9 67.8 76.4 82.9 88.1 92.7 100.0

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Value Order
Value order determines the ordering of variables
Right-click on a column and choose Column > Value
Order to define an order

Individual Value Plot of DownTime Individual Value Plot of DownTime

50 50

40 40

30
DownTime

30

DownTime
20 20

10 10

0
0
High Low Medium Low Medium High
Speed
Speed

Speeds displayed in Speeds now displayed in a

Alphabetical Order (default) User-Specified Order

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Change Data Type
Suppose you import data and find that a numeric column
is incorrectly formatted as text
Use Data > Change Data Type > Text to Numeric to
change the column format

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Importing and Manipulating Data
Worksheets
Graphics
Customizing Minitab
Additional Tips

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Formulas in the Worksheet
Use Calc > Calculator to assign formulas to columns
Columns update when data in the worksheet change

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Worksheet and Column Descriptions
Right-click on column and choose Column > Description
to add notes for future reference
Right-click on to add a Worksheet Description

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Worksheet Zooming
Use the Control key and mouse wheel to zoom in and out
of the worksheet

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Multiple Undo and Redo
Use toolbar arrows to undo or redo changes made to
data in the worksheet

undo redo

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Importing and Manipulating Data
Worksheets
Graphics
Customizing Minitab
Additional Tips

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Split Graph into Panels
Right-click on a cluttered graph and choose Panel to
reduce the clutter
Time Series Plot of Weld Strength Time Series Plot of Weld Strength
89.5 89.5

89.0

88.5
Weld Strength

89.0

Weld Strength
88.0

1 10 20 30 40 50
88.5 89.5

89.0

88.5
88.0

88.0

1 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 60 70 80 90
Index Index

Before paneling After paneling

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Brushing Options
We see strength values that are lower than expected
and want to do further investigation
Right-click > Brush > right-click > Set ID Variables

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Brushing Options
Brush multiple groups of points using the Shift key
The brushing window shows that all lower weld
strengths are associated with the third shift

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Brushing Options
The Data Options button for any Graph or Control Chart
allows you to include or exclude brushed rows

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Subset Worksheet
Use Data > Subset Worksheet to create a new
worksheet based on a condition, brushed rows or
specific row numbers

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Graph Annotation Tools Toolbar
Choose Tools > Toolbars to enable the Graph
Annotation Tools toolbar
The Graph Annotation Tools toolbar is useful for adding
text, circles, and arrows to graphs

Select Mode Rectangle Line Polyline

Text Ellipse Marker Polygon

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Graph Editing Toolbar
Choose Tools > Toolbars to enable the Graph Editing
toolbar
The Graph Editing toolbar is useful for editing graphs
and obtaining graph coordinates

Select List Select Crosshair Add List Zoom

Edit Brush Plant Flag Delete

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Graph Editing Toolbar examples
Use the Add List dropdown to add gridlines, reference
lines, subtitles and data labels

Use Crosshair mode to

explore graphs

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 In-Place Graph Editing
Double-click on the graph components to change fonts,
colors, add a date/time stamp, etc.
Right-click on the graph to add titles, gridlines, data
labels, etc.

Before Editing After Editing

Boxplot of Weld Strength Boxplot of Weld Strength
89.5 February 26 - March 30

1
89.0
Weld Strength

Shift
2
88.5

88.0 3

1 2 3 88.0 88.5 89.0 89.5

Shift Weld Strength

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Extract from Date/Time
Suppose we want to create the same boxplot, but use
weekday instead of shift
Use Data > Extract from Date/Time to create a weekdays
column using the existing date column

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Make Similar Graph
Use Editor > Make Similar Graph to create a similar
graph using different variables

Boxplot of Weld Strength Boxplot of Weld Strength

February 26 - March 30 February 26 - March 30

Sun
1
Mon

Tue

Weekday
Shift

2 Wed

Thu

Fri
3
Sat

88.0 88.5 89.0 89.5 88.0 88.5 89.0 89.5

Weld Strength Weld Strength

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Layout Tool
To combine multiple graphs into one window, choose
Editor > Layout Tool
Bo xp lo t o f We ld S t re n gt h
F ebruary 26 - M arch 30

Shift
2

88.0 88.5 89.0 89.5

We ld S tr e n g th

S un

M on

T ue
Weekday

We d

T hu

F ri

S at

88.0 88.5 89.0 89.5

We ld S tr e n g th

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Updating Graphs
Available for core graphs and Control Charts
Right-click on icon in upper left corner to update graph
Automatic Updates graph automatically updates anytime data
change
Update Graph performs one-time update

Core Graphs and Control Charts All Other Graphs

Graph is up-to-date Graph is up-to-date, but

Data used to create graph
have changed
On-hold, some condition
prevents auto-update
cannot be updated
Data used to create graph
have changed, and graph
cannot be updated

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Importing and Manipulating Data
Worksheets
Graphics
Customizing Minitab
Additional Tips

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Tools > Options
Use Tools > Options to set default preferences
For example, specify a default file location that Minitab
will go to when using File > Open Project

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Tools > Options > My Footnote
To easily keep track of which worksheet was used to
create each graph, set a footnote to automatically display
the worksheet name

Boxplot of Weld Strength

89.5

Weld Strength
89.0

88.5

88.0

1 2 3
Shift
Worksheet: Initial Study

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Tools > Options > Capability Analysis
Display Benchmark Zs by default instead of Cp and Pp

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Tools > Options > Residual Plots
Display the Anderson-Darling Normality Test on
regression, ANOVA and DOE residual plots

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Tools > Customize
Customize existing menu and toolbar items:
Move
Add
Edit
Delete

Create a new menu or

or toolbar

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Tools > Customize to move or add
Choose Tools > Customize and then click and drag

Add Open Worksheet

to your toolbar

Move or add Pareto

Chart to Graph menu

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Tools > Customize to create new toolbars

To create a new toolbar, use the Toolbars tab > New

To add features to a new toolbar, choose the Commands
tab, then click and drag

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Tools > Customize to create new menus
To create a new menu, use the Commands tab > New
Menu
To add features to a new menu, choose the Commands
tab, then click and drag

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Importing and Manipulating Data
Worksheets
Graphics
Customizing Minitab
Additional Tips

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 The Assistant
Not sure which tool to use?
Want Minitab to interpret the output for you?
Need to present your results?

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Export to PowerPoint or Word
Right-click to send to PowerPoint or Word

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Using the ReportPad
Use the ReportPad to write a report

Right-click on a graph and choose Append Graph to

Report

Right-click on Session output and choose Append

Section to Report

Click on the toolbars to open the ReportPad

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Saving and Exporting the ReportPad

Save Report As saves the report as a .RTF or .HTML

Move to Word Processor moves the ReportPad contents
to your default word processor (i.e. cut and paste)
Copy to Word Processor copies the ReportPad contents
to your default word processor (i.e. copy and paste)

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Help
Help includes examples and sample data sets
Available from the Help menu and in every dialog box

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 StatGuide
After you run an analysis, click on the
StatGuide toolbar icon for help interpreting
your results

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Free Resources
Technical Support
Via phone and online
minitab.com/support

Minitab Blog
Sharing tools, tips and techniques for statistics and quality
improvement at
blog.minitab.com

LinkedIn
Connect with other Minitab users
linkedin.com > Groups > Minitab Network

2010 Minitab, Inc.

 Additional Resources
Quality Trainer, our e-Learning course

Instructor-led training

Visit minitab.com for more information or to find contact

information for your local Minitab representative

Michelle Paret
mparet@minitab.com

2010 Minitab, Inc.