Each point on a Uniformly Weighted Moving Average (UWMA) chart is the average of the w most recent subgroup means, including the present subgroup mean. When you obtain a new subgroup sample, the next moving average is computed by dropping the oldest of the previous w subgroup means and including the newest subgroup mean. The constant, w, is called the span of the moving average, and indicates how many subgroups to include to form the moving average. The larger the span (w), the smoother the UWMA line, and the less it reflects the magnitude of shifts. This means that larger values of w guard against smaller shifts.
Note: A Uniformly Weighted Moving Average (UWMA) chart can also be called a Moving Average chart.
Each point on an Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) chart is the weighted average of all the previous subgroup means, including the mean of the present subgroup sample. The weights decrease exponentially going backward in time. The weight (0 < weight ≤ 1) assigned to the present subgroup sample mean is a parameter of the EWMA chart. Small values of weight are used to guard against small shifts.
Note: An Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) chart can also be called a Geometric Moving Average (GMA) chart.