Breakthrough Improvement with QI Macros and Excel: Finding the Invisible Low-Hanging Fruit

Explains some key features on how to use QI Macros - a good and simple to use SW statistics tool

Excellent book. Would love to see a Healthcare specific version that cross references to the Healthcare Data Guide (similar to his examples on website but expanded further) and is available in a spiral bound version.

This book is primarily a sales pitch for Jay's self-developed QI Macros program that works with Excel. I bought it via the recommendation of Quality Progress magazine. I found basically no new, useful tips for using Excel for quality engineering purposes, that I did not already know. Pivot tables were the only area I found newly practical. Since I already have Minitab on my computer, which does all of the same things as QI Macros and more, I'm not interested. I see the only advantage of QI Macros has - is that it works directly with Excel. So, you do not have to copy & paste your data from Excel (which you might do with Minitab - which isn't that big of deal). I also question Jay's example of using the chi-square testing in Chapter 12 - Hypothesis Testing for equal variances - and wonder if his conclusions are correct.

Ease of reading is the hallmark of Mr. Arthur’s books, but “Breakthrough Improvement with Q1 Macros and Excel” takes user friendliness to an entirely new level. This is a 174 page book written by a performance management expert who understands where the shoe pinches. It is not a 1,000+ pages Excel manual written by a group of IT geeks, that is why it has lots of “Low hanging fruit” as promised in the preface of the book.Whether you are leading a Kaizen event, or seeking a Six Sigma certification or for that matter need to present data in a logical format; this IS your most suitable source to go. The book contains case studies from almost all major industries and teaches how to apply different visual formats for common quality tools including Pareto, tally & control charts, histograms, cause & effect diagrams and a host of other goodies. The book is amazingly simple and simply amazing! It does not take more than a couple of days to read and absorb the knowledge. A final note from college days, “Time enjoyed is not time wasted.”

My clients think I’m a genius because of what I learned from this book.This book has helped me turn boring spreadsheets in powerful graphs that communicate better than I’ve ever thought possible…and best of all, now I’m doing them faster, quicker, and more easily. Arthur is a good teacher. He has broken down what I need to do into very simple and easy to follow steps. I’m a new convert.I can’t believe I’ve used Excel for as long as I have and didn't know about the QI Macros. It is a superior tool. If you've ever tried to create a Pareto chart or histogram using Excel, you know how hard it can be. WIth the QI Macros, it's effortless. This book now lives on my desk. Highest recommendation. If I could I’d give it 6 stars.

QI Macros is a magnificent software package that complements perfectly and works with the power of Excel. Breakthrough Improvement with QI Macros is the perfect textbook to accompany the software. It is lucid, well organized, and provides accurate and to the point guidance without the need to reference extensive and arcane sources. Jay Arthur is a well known and respected Six Sigma practitioner, author and lecturer. I would strongly recommend the QI Macros and this book to anyone working with 6-sigma. This is ALL they need. I would like to see this book in a more usable format, something like a spiral bound edition, or any other format that will allow the book to remain open flat on a table. I have been using the Kindle version, but if I had a choice I would use the spiral bound version.

Great book, easy to understand.Use together with the software and you can save alot of money on expensive courses.

Good book and easy-to-read. If you're new to Lean Six Sigma, Lean, or need to draw control charts for your school or business, this is a good way to go.the book includes a link to a free trial. It's safe and easy to use with Mac or P.C.