Process Capability

&

Sampling plans
 Process Capability
• Tolerances
– design specifications reflecting product
requirements.
• Process capability
– range of natural variability in a process what
we measure with control charts.
✓Process capability compares the output of
an in-control process to the specification
limits.

✓A capable process is one where almost all

the measurements fall inside the specification
limits.

✓Stable process Vs capable process

 The Quality Improvement Model
Define process
Purpose:
Determine the adequacy Select
measures
of the process with
respect to customer/
Collect &
Management needs interpret data

Is No
process Investigate &
stable fix special
causes

Yes

No Is
Improve process
process capable
capability
?
Yes
Use SPC to
current
Process
 Process Capability
Design Specifications
(Voice of customer)

(a) Natural variation

exceeds design
specifications; process
is not capable of
meeting specifications
all the time.
Voice of Process
Design
Specifications

(b) Design specifications

and natural variation the
same; process is capable
of meeting specifications
most of the time.

Process
4-5
 Process Capability (cont.)
Design
Specifications

(c) Design specifications

greater than natural
variation; process is
capable of always
conforming to
specifications.
Process
Design
Specifications

(d) Specifications greater

than natural variation,
but process off center;
capable but some output
will not meet upper
specification.
Process
4-6
Process capability measurs/ Indices
• There are several indices that can be used to
measure the capability of a process: Cp,Cpk,Pp &
Ppk

• The statistics assume that the population of data

values is normally distributed

• Variability can be stated as either short term or long

term

• Cp & Cpk are based on short term variability

• Pp & Ppk are based on total variability

Process Capability Measures

Process Capability Ratio

(Process potential index)
Tolerance range
Cp =
Normal variation of process

USL - LSL
=
6
✓ Numerator is controlled by Design engineering
✓ Denominator is controlled by Process engineering
 Computing Cp

Net weight specification = 9.0 oz  0.5 oz

Process mean = 8.80 oz
Process standard deviation = 0.12 oz

USL - LSL
Cp =
6

9.5 - 8.5
= = 1.39
6(0.12)
 Process Capability
Design Specifications
(Voice of customer)

(a) Natural variation

exceeds design (Cp= 0.83)
specifications;
process is not
capable of meeting
specifications all
the time.
Voice of Process
Design
Specifications (Cp= 1)
(b) Design specifications
and natural variation the
same; process is capable
of meeting specifications
most of the time.

Process
4-10
 Process Capability (cont.)
Design
Specifications

(c) Design specifications

greater than natural (Cp= 1.5)
variation; process is
capable of always
conforming to
specifications.
Process
Design
Specifications

(d) Specifications greater

than natural variation,
but process off center;
capable but some output
will not meet upper
specification.
Process
4-11
 Process Capability Measures

Process Capability Index

=
x - lower specification limit

3
,
Cpk = minimum
=
upper specification limit - x

3
 Computing Cpk

Net weight specification = 9.0 oz  0.5 oz

Process mean = 8.80 oz
Process standard deviation = 0.12 oz

=
x - lower specification limit
,
Cpk = minimum 3
=
upper specification limit - x
3

8.80 - 8.50 9.50 - 8.80

= minimum , = 0.83
3(0.12) 3(0.12)
 Process Capability (cont.)
Design
Specifications

(c) Design specifications

greater than natural (Cp= 1.5)
variation; process is
capable of always
conforming to
specifications.
Process
Design
Specifications

(d) Specifications greater

than natural variation,
but process off center;
capable but some output
will not meet upper
specification.
Process
4-14
 Cpk – Centering Index

• Cpk is a process capability index that assesses

how close the process mean is from the
specification limit.
• Also known as Centering index.

A short term capability study covers a relatively

short period of time (days, weeks) generally
consisting of 30 to 50 data points. The actual
number depends on the subject under study.
 Cpk – Centering Index

USL − X
C pu =
3
• This gives us positioning of the mean vis a vis
the USL and the relationship between the two.

X −USL
C pL =
3

• This gives us positioning of the mean vis a vis

the LSL and the relationship between the two.
 Cpk – Centering Index

Cpk = Minimum of (Cpu and Cpl); for bilateral tolerances

= Cpu; for unilateral tolerance on upper side.

= Cpl; for unilateral tolerances on lower side.

 Cpk – Centering Index

C pu =
(
min USL − x, x − LSL )
3

• Numerator represents the distance to the

nearest specification limit

• Denominator represents the amount of the

distance consumed by the variation
 Process Capability - Graphical illustrations

• Graph- Cpk index

• Graph - Cpk when Cp=2
• Graph - Cp when Cpk=1
Relationship between - Cpk and Cp

• Cpk ≤ Cp

• Cpk = Cp only when the process is perfectly

centered

• Cp represents the highest possible value for

Cpk
 One Specification Limit

• Cp is not defined- requires 2 specification limits

• Cpk can still be calculated- requires only one

specification limits
Pp – Long term process capability index

• Pp is an overall capability similar to Cp

• Total variability is used in the denominator
instead of the short term.
• If the process is stable & control the estimate of
the Pp is similar to the estimate of Cp
• If Pp is greater than 1 then the process is
meeting the specifications as long as the mean
is centered.
 Ppk- One sided capability index
• Ppk is a process capability index that assesses
how close the process mean is from the
specification limit.
• Total variability is used in the denominator
instead of the short term.

A long term capability study covers a relatively long

period of time (weeks, months) generally consisting
of 100 to 200 data points. Again, the actual number
depends on the subject under study.
 IMPORTANT SPC RATIOS USED
Pp= Maximum allowable range of characteristics /
Long term Normal variation of process

= Tolerance / UL-LSL…….long term

• Pp is based on same equation as Cp with one

exception;Pp employs the long term standard deviation
(whereas Cp employs the short term standard deviation).

• Ppk is based on same equation as Cpk with one

exception; Ppk employs the long term standard deviation
(whereas Cpk employs the short term standard
deviation).
 Acceptable Level

• Ppk > 1.67

• Cpk > 1.33

 Acceptance Plans
• Trend today is toward developing testing methods that
are so quick, effective, and inexpensive that products are
submitted to 100% inspection/testing.
• Every product shipped to customers is inspected and
tested to determine if it meets customer expectations.
• But there are situations where this is either impractical,
impossible or uneconomical.
– Destructive tests, where no products survive test
• In these situations, acceptance plans are sensible
 Why acceptance sampling ??

Acceptance sampling is useful when

✓ Large numbers of items must be processed in a short

amount of time.
✓ The cost of “passing defective” is low.
✓ Fatigue/boredom is caused by inspecting large numbers
of items.
✓ Destructive testing is required.
 Acceptance sampling Plan

• A form of inspection applied to lots or

batches of items before or after a process
to judge conformance to predetermined
standards.
• In other words, an acceptance plan is the
overall scheme for either accepting or
rejecting a lot based on information gained
from samples.
Sampling Plans specify:

• lot size (N),

• sample size(n),
• number of samples (single, double or multiple ), and
• acceptance/rejection criteria (c) .

Sampling plans involve

✓ Single sampling
✓ Double sampling
✓ Multiple sampling
 Single sampling plan

A Single Sampling Plan is one where:

➢ A representative sample of ‘n’ items is drawn from a lot

size of ‘N’ items.
➢ Each item in the sample is examined and classified as
good/defective.
➢ If the number of defective exceeds a specified rejection
number(c-cut off point), the whole lot is rejected;
➢ Otherwise the whole lot is accepted
 Single-Sampling Plan
Lot of N Items

Random
Sample of
N - n Items n Items

d Defectives
Inspect n Items
found in sample
d>c d<c

Reject Lot Accept Lot

 Double-Sampling Plan
• One small sample is drawn initially.
• If the number of defectives is less than or equal
to some lower limit (c1), the lot is accepted.
• If the number of defectives is greater than some
upper limit (c2), the lot is rejected.
• If the number of defectives is neither, a second
larger sample is drawn.
• Lot is either accepted or rejected on the basis of
the information from both of the samples.
 Double-Sampling Plan

Lot of N Items

Random
Sample of
N – n1 Items n1 Items

d1 Defectives
Inspect n1 Items
found in sample

d1 > c2 d1 < c1
Accept Lot
c1 < d1 < c2
Reject Lot
Continue (to next slide)
 Double-Sampling Plan
Continue (from previous slide)

N – n1 Items

Random
N – (n1 + n2) Sample of
Items n2 Items

d2 Defectives
Reject Lot Inspect n2 Items
Found in Sample

(d1 + d2) > c2

(d1+ d2) < c2
Accept Lot
 A Multiple sampling plan
• A Multiple Sampling Plan is similar to the double
sampling plan in that successive trials are made, each of
which has acceptance, rejection and inconclusive
options.

• Which Plan you choose depends on

➢ Cost and time

➢Number of samples needed and number of items
in each sample
 Sequential-Sampling Plan
Number of Defectives
7

6
Reject Lot
5

4
Continue Sampling
3

1 Accept Lot
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
Units Sampled (n)
 Acceptance sampling (Purposes)

Determine quality level

Ensure quality is within predetermined level

Advantages Disadvantages
• Economy • Risks of accepting “bad” lots
• Less handling damage and rejecting “good” lots
• Fewer inspectors • Added planning and
• Upgrading of the inspection job documentation
• Applicability to destructive • Sample provides less
testing information than 100 percent
inspection.
• Entire lot rejection
• (motivation for improvement)
 Operating Characteristic Curve (OCC)

• An Operating Characteristic Curve (OCC) is a

probability curve for a sampling plan that shows the
probabilities of accepting lots with various lot quality
levels (% defectives)
 Operating Characteristic (OC)
1.00 Curve
Probability of Accepting the Lot

.90 n = 15, c = 0
.80
.70
.60 Producer’s Risk () = 3.67%
.50 Consumer’s Risk () = 8.74%
.40
AQL = 3%
.30
LTPD = 15%
.20
.10
% Defectives
in Lots
0 5 10 15 20 25
 Customer Acceptance Levels

• Most customers understand that 100% inspection is impractical and

are generally willing to accept that a certain level of defectives will
be produced.

• The Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) is the percentage level of

defects at which a customer is willing to accept as lot as good.
• The Lot Tolerance Percent Defective (LTPD) is the upper limit on
the percentage of defectives that a a customer is willing to accept.

• Customers want lots with quality better than or equal to the AQL but
are willing to live with some lots with quality as poor as the LTPD,
but prefer not to accept lots with quality levels worse than the
LTPD.
 Customer Acceptance Levels
• The sampling plan must be designed to assure the customer that
they will be receiving the required AQL and LTPD.

• The AQL and LTPD are dependent on many things (reliability,

liability, competitor quality levels, etc.) and will vary by industry and
by customer. Typically industry standards are set because suppliers
have more than one customer and customers have more than one
supplier.

• The Customer’s Risk is the probability that an unacceptable lot

(e.g. above the LTPD ) will be accepted.

• The Producer’s Risk is the probability that a “good” lot will be

rejected.
 OC Curve (continued)
• Management may want to:
– Specify the performance of the sampling
procedure by identifying two points on the
graph:
• AQL and 
• LTPD and 
– Then find the combination of n and c that
provides a curve that passes through both
points
 Definitions
• Average outgoing quality (AOQ) – Given the actual % of
defectives in lots and a particular sampling plan, the
AOQ is the average % defectives in lots leaving an
inspection station.

• Average outgoing quality limit (AOQL) – Given a

particular sampling plan, the AOQL is the maximum
AOQ that can occur as the actual % defectives in lots
varies.
 Average Outgoing Quality
(AOQ) Curve
✓ AOQ curve shows information depicted on the
OC curve in a different form.
✓ Horizontal axis is the same as the horizontal axis
for the OC curve (percent defective in a lot).
✓ Vertical axis is the average quality that will leave
the quality control procedure for a particular
sampling plan.
✓ Average quality is calculated based on the
assumption that lots that are rejected are 100%
inspected before entering the production
system.
 AOQ Curve
✓ As the percent defective in a lot increases, AOQ will
increase to a point and then decrease.

✓ AOQ value where the maximum is attained is referred to

as the average outgoing quality level (AOQL).

✓ AOQL is the worst average quality that will exit the

quality control procedure using the sampling plan n and
c.
 Quality Control in Services
• In all services there is a continuing need to
monitor quality
• Control charts are used extensively in
services to monitor and control their
quality levels
• Quality cannot be inspected into products.
Processes must be operated to achieve
quality conformance; quality control is
used to achieve this.
• Statistical control charts are used
extensively to provide feedback to
everyone about quality performance
• Where 100% inspection and testing are
impractical, uneconomical, or impossible,
acceptance plans may be used to
determine if lots of products are likely to
meet customer expectations.
• The trend is toward 100% inspection and
testing; automated inspection and testing
has made such an approach effective and
economical.