The Psychology of Quality and More

A Toolbook for Quality Improvement and Problem Solving (contents)

Matrix Data Analysis Chart (MDAC): Practical variations

The Quality Toolbook > Matrix Data Analysis Chart (MDAC) > Practical variations

When to use it | How to understand it | Example | How to do it | Practical variations

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Practical variations

• When multiple measurements are made, such as texture, color, taste, etc., a number of MDACs can be drawn and then evaluated as a group, looking for similar clusters in each chart.

This can only practically be done on a limited scale, as multiple MDACs can be difficult to interpret. For example, with three measurements, A, B and C, there may be three MDACs, A versus B, B versus C and A versus C. However, with six measurements there could be fifteen MDACs!

• Another approach when there are multiple measurements is to combine similar measurement sets. Thus if customers give similar marks to texture and color, then they may be averaged, and the plotted characteristic now becomes 'texture and color'.
   
• The vertical and horizontal axes do not have to cross at their zero points. This can be used to deliberately divide the chart into four areas, as below. If both axes represent desirable characteristics, then the top right and bottom left quadrants represent desirable and undesirable regions, respectively. The top left and bottom right quadrants, where only one characteristic is desirable, represent areas of opportunity for improvement of the other characteristic.

Fig. 1. Using quadrants

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