Minitab Releases Quality Companion� 3 For Quality Improvement

Minitab Releases Quality Companion® 3 For Quality Improvement

Minitab Inc. today announced the release of Quality Companion® 3, the latest version of its software for managing and executing quality improvement projects. The software is available at www.QualityCompanion.com.

State College, PA (Vocus) January 28, 2009 -- Minitab Inc. today announced the release of Quality Companion (www.QualityCompanion.com)® 3, the latest version of its software for managing and executing quality improvement projects. The software is available at www.QualityCompanion.com.

Quality Companion is an all-in-one software package that complements the company's flagship product, Minitab® Statistical Software, which companies worldwide use to tackle the sophisticated statistical data analysis at the heart of every Six Sigma (www.QualityCompanion.com) project.

Quality Companion 3 introduces a number of new features and improvements, including:

* The ability to import Microsoft Visio® diagrams

* User-created custom data fields and categories

* More powerful Project Manager

* New brainstorming templates

* Many ease-of-use improvements

Companies including Xerox, Target and BHP Billiton use Quality Companion to manage their improvement projects. Minitab gathered extensive feedback from users to ensure the new capabilities added in Quality Companion 3 help solve real-world challenges.

"If you're involved in quality improvement, you know that Minitab Statistical Software helps you analyze your data," says Cate Twohill, Minitab product marketing manager. "Now, Quality Companion helps you with everything else."

Quality Companion makes it easy to outline, complete and present projects. At the start of a project, the software's Project Roadmap™ feature helps plot a clear course of action. Adding Companion's built-in tools to the Roadmap creates a detailed plan for the entire project--and the means to complete the tasks for each step, from start to finish.

Quality Companion 3 provides essential "soft" tools such as process mapping, brainstorming and reporting. It also comes with more than 100 predefined templates for quality projects, including C&E Matrix, FMEA and Project Charter. The templates can be used "as-is" or easily customized to fit any organization's practices.

Quality Companion offers on-demand guidance, with built-in Coaches that give expert advice from Six Sigma and quality improvement professionals who have extensive, real-world deployment experience.

When the project is concluded, Quality Companion maintains the entire project in one easy-to-manage file, making it simple to archive and accessible for review at a future date.

Quality Companion also includes the newly enhanced Quality Companion Dashboard, a utility that aggregates and displays essential details on all of a program's projects in a single view. "The Dashboard provides summary information across your projects to help you evaluate your progress and success. Or, simply use the Dashboard as a launch pad for all your projects," Twohill explains.

"The Dashboard makes it easy for anyone who has Quality Companion to monitor the progress of your entire Six Sigma program. Colleagues who may not have Quality Companion can also review projects with the Quality Companion Viewer, a free, downloadable utility that provides read-only access to project files."

Twohill notes that companies put tremendous resources into quality improvement, and Quality Companion helps them maximize the benefits of that investment. "By making it easier to manage an entire Six Sigma program, Quality Companion lets companies focus on what matters most - delivering results."

Minitab offers an animated tour and a free, 30-day trial version of Quality Companion 3 and the Dashboard at www.QualityCompanion.com.

About Minitab

Minitab Inc. is one of the world's leading developers of statistical analysis and process improvement software for academic and commercial users worldwide. Thousands of distinguished companies use Minitab software, including Toshiba, DuPont, Boeing, Royal Bank of Scotland, Nestlé and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

Minitab Statistical Software has been used to implement virtually every major Six Sigma quality improvement initiative around the world, and is used to teach statistics in over 4,000 colleges and universities.

Quality Companion® by Minitab is used by professionals around the world to plan and execute Six Sigma projects. Both Minitab and Quality Companion are backed by outstanding services, including training, e-learning opportunities, and free technical support.

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

FOR MORE INFORMATION or materials, including screen shots, logos and other graphics, contact Eston Martz in Minitab's Media Relations office: PublicRelations @ minitab.com

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Contact Information Eston Martz

Minitab Inc.

http://www.QualityCompanion.com

814-238-3280