Using Cost or Frequency Columns
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In a parametric analysis, the frequency column represents the total frequency of failures (or number of repairs) at the time listed in the time column.

·    If data are exact, it is not theoretically possible to have multiple failures at any one instant for a given system. However, you may need a frequency column because of rounding error that occurred during data collection.

·    With interval data, the frequency column indicates the number of failures that have occurred within the corresponding intervals.

In a nonparametric analysis, you can use the column representing the cost/total number of repairs in different ways:

·    Total frequency of failures (or number of repairs) at the time listed in the time column

·    Cost of each repair

Note

If you do not provide a cost or frequency column, Minitab assumes a cost or frequency of 1 for all failures.