Is LabVIEW SPC toolkit easy to learn?

[John_]

Dear All,

For manhour estimation purposes, grateful if you may comment on the likely learning time for the SPC toolkit.

We need to write a module to link up to our client's an existing factory automation system using SPC.

We have never use SPC before.

We noted that LabVIEW has a SPC module.

Is the LabVIEW SPC toolkit easy to learn and easy to use?

[tbob]

I thought it was easy to learn.  I looked at some example vi's, looked at help screens for some of the vi's in the toolkit, and was up and running with a simple histogram, standard deviation program in a matter of minutes.  There are all kinds of process analysis tools that are really wonderful.  The help screen for each provide good explanations.

I don't think you can purchase the SPC toolkit alone.  I had to buy the Enterprise toolkit, which includes the SPC toolkit, Database Connectivity toolkit, and internet toolkit.  I've used the SPC and Database toolkits so far, and found both to be very useful and easy to learn.  I haven't had a need to use the Internet toolkit yet.

Message Edited by tbob on 12-15-2005 09:10 AM

[Dennis_Knutson]

I agree that the SPC Toolkit was pretty simple to learn though you would need to do a fair amount of coding to integrate it with TestStand and the database you're using. I don't think the toolkit has been updated since it was first released and that was long before TestStand was introduced. I actually got my latest version with TestStand 2.0.1. It and the old SQL Toolkit were included. There are other options as well. SPC Stand and Northwest Analytical are other possiblities. There are numerous other SPC companies that exist and most should work with whatever database you use to log data.

Message Edited by Support on 05-26-2010 01:47 PM

[John_]

Do I need TestStand to use the SPC toolkit?

I am quoting on a vision inspection system (LabVIEW and IMAQ) and the client said, "first, you need to get the vision done. If things went well, you will add SPC to link with our EXISTING factory automation system running SPC".

I never used SPC before.

What am I likely running into? Straight forward or many hidden issues along the way?

What NI software do I need to buy and what likely amount of time do I need to spend in learning SPC to "link with their EXISTING factory automation system"?

Many thanks in advance.

[Dennis_Knutson]

No, you don't have to use TestStand to use SPC but since you posted in the TestStand forum, I assumed that you wanted to do so.

If your customer has an existing SPC system, then you are going to have to get details on that. SPC is a generic term and the NI SPC toolkit may not be appropriate if there is already a system in place. SPC is a method that companies use to monitor and improve quality. Data from the manufacturing process is stored and analyzed. The type of analysis done varies with what the company wants (and can afford). If you are testing product, you might be interested in yield or the ratio of products that test good versus total tested. A low yield would set a flag that the assembly of the product has some issues. A defect Pareto is done to determine which tests fail the most. This could indicate a problem with a specific part. There are numerous other methods that can be applied. Entire books have been written on the subject.

Your involvement in SPC would probably start by having a means to write test and measurement information to a database. Most likely this would be their existing database. NI sells the Database Connectivity Toolkit that makes it simple to read/write to almost all databases. Most commercial SPC packages provide the means to set real-time alarms. If you are asked to integrate this into your program, you will have to read the database/SPC program and take some sort of action.

Since you say "If things went well, you will add SPC to link with our EXISTING factory automation system running SPC", you will need to get additional information on this to accurately quote the task or just quote the vision part and quote the SPC part when "things went well".