PharmaChem Skillnet
Statistics with Minitab
2 Day Training Course
BACKGROUNDThe course material has been written by course tutor Albert Plant, a highly experienced practitioner with more than 15 years applying statistical techniques in industry and business. The tutor has ensured, through continual research and practical work in leading multinational companies, that the course material is up to date and relevant to current requirements in industry and business.
Many of the process improvement and inspection techniques used in industry are based on statistics. The capability of a process is determined by comparing the manufacturing tolerance to the process variation, which is calculated using statistical techniques. The control limits on process control charts, used to maintain stability in manufacturing processes, are calculated statistically. Decisions on the outcomes of designed experiments in R&D and product development will be based on a statistical analysis of experimental data. The sampling tables used for inspection are founded on statistics. Decisions to release product inspected in the laboratory, on the factory floor, or in the field, are made using soundly based statistical techniques. Sample sizes are determined statistically. The validation of processes and the reliability of manufactured products are determined using statistical methodology.
Understanding how process improvement and inspection techniques work, and how data-based decisions are made, requires a sound knowledge of statistics. This course is directed towards those people who use these techniques in their work. The course material is based on the analysis of real industrial data gathered by the presenter during his consultancy work. Participants will be provided with knowledge of the basics of the subject, as well as an understanding of advanced techniques such as the analysis of variance.
The usefulness of statistics in industry and business has been greatly enhanced by the application of statistical computer software packages. Delegates will be trained in the use of Minitab, a leading brand of statistical software, for the range of subjects covered on the course (see note on Minitab Software at end of Programme section).
The course tutor, Albert Plant, has used Minitab software in his training and consultancy work for more than fifteen years. Albert is a volunteer tester for Minitab on new software developments, and he was a member of the volunteer team that tested Minitab 15 and Minitab 16 prior to the release of these versions of the software on the world markets.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
On completing this course the participant will:
- Understand basic statistical principles
- Know how to analyse the variation that arises in manufacturing processes and business
- Understand the concepts of hypothesis testing and how statistics is used in data-based decision making
- Understand how to establish confidence for the results of data analysis
- Know how to obtain sample sizes for hypothesis testing
- Know how to use Minitab software for statistical analysis
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
- Engineers, technicians, laboratory, R&D, and scientific staff
- All personnel involved in quality control
- All personnel who have a role in analysing and understanding manufacturing and business data
- Inspection staff
- Personnel who use process improvement techniques in their work
- People planning to attend Six Sigma Black Belt training courses
- People studying for MBA’s and other examinations involving statistics
COURSE PROGRAMME
Minitab software will be used throughout the training course. The tutor will provide detailed explanation of the Minitab analysis, and the course manual will include instructions for use of the Minitab software and examples of the Minitab text and graphical output. Delegates will be provided with a Minitab file of data which will be used during the course exercises.
Day 1
- Description of statistical terms including population, parameter, random sample, expected value, degrees of freedom
- Types of data – continuous (variables) and discrete (attributes) data
- Construction of a histogram and explanation of the meaning of frequency distributions, cumulative frequency distributions, measures of dispersion and central tendency
- The normal distribution
- Dealing with non-normal data – transformation
- Graphical methods – box-and-whisker plots and their use
- Central limit theorem and sampling distribution of the mean
- Confidence intervals
- Hypothesis testing – z-t-test, 2-sample –t-test; F –test, Bartletts test and Levenes test for variancess
- Meaning of significance level, type I and type II error. Power of the test. Using Minitab for calculation of appropriate sample sizes
- Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
- Simple and multiple linear regression and correlation.
Minitab 16 will be demonstrated as part of the training so if delegates are in a position to bring along a laptop with Minitab 15 or Minitab 16 pre-loaded (free 30 day trial of Minitab 16available on they can utilise this during the training. If delegates don’t have a laptop, they will still benefit greatly from the programme.
Note: The course tutors can be contacted through SQT and they are available to provide, by phone or email, additional information on the course content, software, etc.
COURSE MANUAL
Participants will be provided with a very comprehensive course reference manual, written by the course tutor. The manual incorporates many exercises that the participants will complete during the training course, and these worked examples, along with the relevant graphical material, will serve as a useful reference when the participants return to their workplace.
IN-HOUSE COURSES
All SQT courses are available on an In-House basis. On In-House courses, the tutor will work with the customer in advance to clearly define course objectives to meet the specific delegate and company requirements. Where appropriate and facilitated by the company, the course exercises can be carried out using the company’s own case studies, procedures, forms, metrics etc.
COURSE PRESENTER - Albert Plant & Associates
Albert Plant
Albert Plant is a leading consultant and trainer in Quality Assurance, and he is a FAS registered tutor. A chartered mechanical engineer, FIEI, with a masters degree from Trinity College, Dublin, and a B.Sc. degree majoring in statistics and mathematics, he heads up a consultancy practice based in Ireland. His experience spans consultancy and training in quality control and quality assurance in a wide range of industries in Ireland and the USA, and a high proportion of his work is in the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries. He undertakes statistical analysis on a consultancy basis for several multi-national organizations, and he has extensive experience in the use of specialist statistical computer software including Minitab, Statgraphics, and other brands. He was a member of the team invited by Minitab Inc. to test Version 15 and Version 16 of their software prior to launch on the world market. Albert has developed and presented training courses on SPC, Design of Experiments, Response Surface Methodology, FMEA, Reliability Engineering, Problem Solving, Statistical Sampling, and other quality topics, in addition to this training course on Statistics with Minitab.
Presentation Style
The tutor has more than twenty years experience undertaking training and consultancy work in Ireland and the USA, and he brings this practical know-how to all of his training courses. He has incorporated real data from Irish industry into the material, which he has written for this training course, and he provides real-life examples of the application of statistics in industry and business during his presentation.
Dick Delaney
Dick Delaney, a Fellow of the Academy of Biomedical Science, started his career in Clinical Chemistry working in a number of hospitals in Ireland before being seconded to the World Health Organization in Africa. In 1980 he moved to Galway Mayo Institute of Technology as lecturer and course co-ordinator in Medical Laboratory Science. In 1992 Dick completed an MSc in Applied Statistics and has since been involved in lecturing on the statistical aspects of Quality Management to Diploma and Degree students. Through links with the pharmaceutical and medical device industry he has been responsible for a number of projects in process control and improvement, uncertainty estimation and SPC training. One of Dick’s main strengths is his ability to explain complex statistical concepts in simple everyday language. He believes in keeping the theory to a minimum, the emphasis being on practical applications using statistical software.
TRAINING METHODOLODY
This classroom based training course is highly interactive and the participants will undertake several practical exercises, which are incorporated into the course material. There will be ample time for the participants to ask questions of the tutor on the subject of statistics, and to participate in discussion. The tutor will illustrate the use of specialist statistical computer software, including Minitab.