CHAPTER 2: • PROCESS

CAPABILITY

Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 • Process Capability – The ability of
the process to meet the design
specification for a service or
Process product
Capability – Nominal Value
 A target for design
specifications
– Tolerance
 An allowance above or below
the nominal value

(1 of 6)
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Process
Capability

Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Process
Capability

Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Process
Capability

(1 of 6)
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 Process Capability
Whether a process is capable of meeting specification refers to the variability
of the product in relation to the specification limits.

Specification
Limits set at:
Frequency

High
Capability 6
Mean
Frequency

Medium
Capability 3
Frequency

Low
Capability 2

Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
ProcessCapability | 1
 7

Process Capability
Product Specifications
– Preset product or service dimensions, tolerances: bottle fill
might be 16 oz. ±.2 oz. (15.8oz.-16.2oz.)
– Based on how product is to be used or what the customer
expects
Process Capability – Cp and Cpk
– Assessing capability involves evaluating process variability
relative to preset product or service specifications
– Cp assumes that the process is centered in the specification
range
– Cpk helps to address a possible lack of centering of the
process
© Wiley 2010
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 8

Process Capability

© Wiley 2010
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Process Capability (4 of 6)
Figure 3.14 Effects of Reducing Variability on
Process Capability

Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Process Capability (4 of 6)
Critical value of Cp / Cpk at different sigma
level
Critical Value
Sigma Level DPMO Yield
(Cp / Cpk)
1σ ≥0.33 691,492 31%
1.5σ ≥0.50 508,000 50%
2σ ≥0.67 308,538 69.2%
2.5σ ≥0.83 158,655 84.2%
3σ ≥1.0 66,807 93.3%
3.5σ ≥1.17 22,750 97.7%
4σ ≥1.33 6,210 99.4%
4.5σ ≥1.50 1,350 99.87%
5σ ≥1.67 233 99.977%
5.5σ ≥1.83 32 99.997%
6σ ≥2.00 3.4 99.99966
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Process Capability (5 of 6)
• Process Capability Index (Cpk)
– An index that measures the potential for a process to
generate defective outputs relative to either upper or
lower specifications.
 x  Lower specification Upper specification  x 
Cpk =  , 
 3 3 
where
 = standard deviation of the process distribution

Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Process Capability (6 of 6)
• Process Capability (Cp)
– The tolerance width divided by six standard
deviations.

Upper specification  Lower specification

Cp =
6

Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Example 5.5 (1 of 5)
• The intensive care unit lab process has an average turnaround
time of 26.2 minutes and a standard deviation of 1.35 minutes.
• The nominal value for this service is 25 minutes ±5 minutes.

• Is the lab process capable of four sigma-level

performance?
• Upper specification = 30 minutes
• Lower specification = 20 minutes
• Average service = 26.2 minutes
• σ = 1.35 minutes

Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Example (2 of 5)
 x  Lower specification Upper specification  x 
Cpk = Minimum of  , 
 3  3  
 26.2  20 30  26.2 
Cpk = Minimum of  , 
 3(1.53) 3(1.53) 

Cpk = Minimum of 1.53, 0.94

Cpk = 0.94

Process does not meet 4-sigma level of 1.33

Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Example (3 of 5)
Upper specification  Lower specification
Cp =
6

30  20
Cp = = 1.23
6(1.35)

Process did not meet 4-sigma level of 1.33

Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Example (4 of 5)
New Data is collected:
• Upper specification = 30 minutes
• Lower specification = 20 minutes
• Average service = 26.1 minutes
• σ = 1.20 minutes
Upper  Lower
• C
​p =
6
30  20
• C
​p = = 1.39
6(1.20)
Process meets 4-sigma level of 1.33 for variability
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Example (5 of 5)
 x  Lower specification Upper specification  x 
Cpk = Minimum  , 
 3  3  
 26.1  20 30  26.1
Cpk = Minimum  , 
 3(1.20) 3(1.20) 

Cpk = 1.08

Process does not meet 4-sigma level of 1.33

Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Application 3.4 (1 of 3)
Webster Chemical’s nominal weight for filling tubes of
caulk is 8.00 ounces ± 0.60 ounces. The target process
capability ratio is 1.33, signifying that management wants
4-sigma performance. The current distribution of the filling
process is centered on 8.054 ounces with a standard
deviation of 0.192 ounces. Compute the process
capability index and process capability ratio to assess
whether the filling process is capable and set properly.

Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Application 3.4 (2 of 3)
a. Process capability index:

 x  Lower specification Upper specification  x 

Cpk = Minimum  , 
 3  3  

 8.054  7.400 8.600  8.054 

Cpk = Minimum  = 1.135 = 0.948 
 3(0.192) 3(0.192) 

The value of 0.948 is far below the target of 1.33.

Therefore, we can conclude that the process is not
capable.
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Application 3.4 (3 of 3)
b. Process capability ratio:

Upper specification  Lower specification

Cp =
6

8.60  7.40
Cp = = 1.0417
6(0.192)

The value of Cp is less than the target for four-sigma quality.

Therefore, we conclude that the process variability must be
addressed first, and then the process should be retested.

Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.