Minitab Releases Quality Companion 2.2 Update for Six Sigma Professionals

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Minitab Inc. today announced the availability of Quality Companion 2.2 by Minitab™, an update to the new process improvement software it designed and released last August specifically to help professionals implement Six Sigma. The update is free to registered users of Quality Companion 2.1.

Quality Companion 2.2 provides expert guidance and practical soft tools that simplify every step of a Six Sigma project, from determining its scope to documenting and reporting on its success. The update comes in quick response to early customer feedback and introduces dozens of new capabilities and enhancements that improve performance and usability.

"We're committed to identifying the challenges quality professionals face and evolving Quality Companion as fast as we can to meet them," says J.-P. Mulley, Minitab's Product Planning Manager. "This updated release offers an even fuller solution for professionals who need to complete improvement projects that deliver maximum results."

Quality Companion 2.2 contains more than 60 enhancements spread throughout the entire application, with a particular focus on increasing the number and functionality of the forms available and making it easier for Six Sigma practitioners to develop presentations.

New forms available in Quality Companion 2.2 include 5S Audit, Pugh Matrix, Data Collection Plan, and Meeting Minutes. New functionality includes:

• Quick Fill, a feature which greatly reduces data entry time.
• 20 new formula types, including many financial formulas.
• Additional global data fields that support the sharing of financial data.

Presentation enhancements include the ability to:

• Export presentations to Microsoft Word or PowerPoint with a single click.
• Save presentations as Web pages.
• Easily add nine standard slide types to a presentation.

A complete list of what's new in Quality Companion 2.2 is available at: http://www.minitab.com/products/qualitycompanion/whatsnew.aspx

Quality Companion 2.2 supports every employee involved in a company's Six Sigma program. Green Belts can use the Project Roadmap™ to plan their entire project. Black Belts can count on the Coach feature to give their team expert guidance on which tools to select and how to use them at every step. And Champions and other executives can rely on Quality Companion to help them standardize and evaluate projects and report on their successes.

"Quality Companion improves a company’s ability to implement Six Sigma – even if their program is well-established – because it makes the process itself more efficient," Mulley says. "Using the right tools makes it easier for professionals to complete their projects quickly and correctly, which ultimately results in more projects, greater savings, and higher profits."

Quality Companion 2.2 complements Minitab's flagship product, Minitab® Statistical Software, which quality professionals worldwide use to perform the sophisticated statistical analyses at the heart of all their Six Sigma projects.

More information on Quality Companion 2.2, including an animated tour of the product, is available online at www.minitab.com/companion A free, 30-day trial version is also available at the Web site or by contacting the Minitab sales department at 1-800-448-3555.

Minitab Inc. is one of the world's leading developers of statistical analysis and process improvement software for academic and commercial users. Minitab Statistical Software is the preferred package for businesses of all sizes and is used in more than 80 countries by thousands of distinguished companies, including Toshiba, 3M, Honeywell International, Wachovia, DuPont, Haemonetics Corporation, Samsung and leading Six Sigma consultants. It has been used to implement virtually every major Six Sigma quality improvement initiative, and to teach statistics in over 4,000 colleges and universities worldwide.

Quality Companion by Minitab is the package professionals use to plan and execute Six Sigma projects in companies around the world, including Xerox, ITT Industries, Providence Health System, Nissan North America, and LexisNexis.

Minitab Inc., headquartered in State College, Pa., operates offices in the United Kingdom and France and has additional representatives throughout the world.

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EDITORS: For more information, contact Eston Martz at Minitab Media Relations: PublicRelations@minitab.com

Minitab Contact Information

US Office -- Minitab Inc.
Tel: +1-814-238-3280
Toll free: +1-800-448-3555 (US/Canada/Mexico only)
Fax: +1-814-238-1702
E-mail: sales@minitab.com
Web site: www.minitab.com
Editorial e-mail: PublicRelations@minitab.com