Six Sigma
PLAYBOOK
Process Capability and Process
Performance
A process capability index refers to the theoretic
ability or inability of a stable, uniform process
to produce a value or characteristic within an
allowable tolerance range. Process capability is
the predictable performance that can be ex-
pected of a stable process without further im-
provement. One index for process capability is
called Cp.
In actual practice, however, even stable proc-
esses may not be centered or stay centered on
the desired target value. The distance from the
process mean to the target value may be small or
it may be quite large. As this distance increases,
there is a greater tendency for produced values
to go beyond one of the tolerance limits. The
index of this actual process performance is
called Cpk.
What can it do for you?
Determining numerical values for process capa-
bility and actual process performance will en-
able you to estimate the relative percentage of
acceptable and unacceptable characteristics your
process is producing on an ongoing basis. In
addition to helping you understand the dynamics
of your process, calculating Cp and Cpk will
help you determine where improvement efforts
are required or where they will produce the big-
gest payoff. The application of Cp and Cpk is of
great value in the measure and analyze phases of
Six Sigma methodology. The ultimate objective
for calculating Cp and Cpk is to create a mar -
Playbook Topic 16
Topic 16
riage of design tolerances and manufacturing
capabilities that makes it almost impossible to
generate defectseven if long-term variation or
process drift occurs. Understanding and consid-
ering the capability of production processes is
also helpful in determining tolerances during the
design phase of the New Product Introduction
Process.
How do you do it?
Before you begin to calculate process capability,
you must have a stable processthat is, a proc-
ess without assignable cause variationand a
process with a normal distributionthat is, if
you made a histogram of the values produced
(Playbook 6), you would see a symmetrical, uni-
formly sloping, bell-shaped curve. Run charts
(Playbook 8) with their tests for statistical sta-
bility can be used as indicators of process sta-
bility.
You must know the process standard deviation
or sigma value (). [Computer programs such as
Excel and Minitab, as well as many business
calculators, can be used to calculate the value of
sigma. A method of deriving process standard
deviation from the mean of sample ranges and a
table of coefficients will be described in Play-
book 22.] You must also know or be able to es-
timate the upper and lower specification limits
(USL and LSL) for the characteristic produced
by your process.
Page 1
 0.970 1.000 1.030
LSL Target USL
Calculating Cp. One way of looking at proc- (USL - LSL)
ess capability focuses on the nominal target Cp =
6
value for the produced characteristic and the Cp =
(1.030 - 0.970)
specification limits and, then, superimposes the 0.06
0.06
actual process performance on these require- Cp = =1
0.06
ments. To calculate process capability:
.97 .98 .99 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03

(USL LSL ) = 0.01

Cp =
6 Example of Cp=1

The process mean or average is not always the

The index of process capability (Cp) is stan-
same as the target value, however. In fact, proc-
dardized against a nominal process that has a
ess means may wander about a central tendency
tolerance range that coincides with six standard
rather than stay exactly the same over time.
deviations (that is, an upper specification limit
that falls at +3 from the target value and a
lower specification limit that falls at -3 from
the target value.) If your process is like that, it
would have a Cp of 1.

A good way of thinking about process capability

Calculating Cpk. To determine the actual pro- is to focus on process performance characteris-
cess performance index, or Cpk, in addition to tics and then to superimpose the specification
the process Cp you need to know the variance requirements on this information. This way of
between the target value and the actual process calculating Cp and Cpk uses standard deviation
average, . units or z-values. (As you will see, z-values are
Example of variation from target very helpful in predicting the number of defects
a process will produce. Because of that, this
0.970 1.000 1.015 1.030 method of calculating Cp and Cpk can offer
LSL Target USL greater insight when process capability is being
considered as part of an interactive design proc-
ess.)

.97 .98 .99 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04

Playbook Topic 16 Page 2

 A z-value is the absolute difference between a lower specification limit divided by three. The
measured value (x) and the process mean, divided smaller number is the Cpk.
by the process standard deviation.

z z
x C pk = min LSL , USL
z= 3 3

This method of calculating Cpk also works well

The z-value for the upper specification limit
for quality characteristics that have highly-
would be:
skewed, nonnormal distributions, such as di-
ameter, roundness, mold dimensions or cus-
USL tomer waiting time. (See issue 6 of Playbook on
zUSL = histograms for a discussion of skewed distribu-
tions.) These types of data frequently have natu-
ral lower limits. With highly skewed data, only
one tail of the distribution needs to be consid-
ered in calculating Cpk.
The z-value for the lower specification limit
would be:
LSL
z LSL =

The process capability index, or Cp, is the z-

value for the upper specification limit plus the z- Cp = 1, Cpk = 1 Cp = 1, Cpk = .5

value of the lower specification limit, divided by

six, the number of standard deviations (plus and
minus three from the process mean) considered
as the norm. Cp = 1.5, Cpk = 1.5 Cp = 1.5, Cpk = 1.0

zUSL + z LSL
Cp =
6 Cp = 2, Cpk = 2 Cp = 2, Cpk = 1.5

How process capability and process performance

might look to a shooter
To determine the actual process performance
index, or Cpk, calculate the z-value for the up-
per specification limit divided by three (the
number of standard deviations from the process
mean to either specification limit considered as
the norm.) Compare this with the z-value of the

Playbook Topic 16 Page 3

 Here's an example showing how Cp and Cpk
might look for a steadily improving process.
You will note that the target and the specifica-
tion limits are the same in each instance. For
each level of improvement, the process is shown
centered on the target and then shifted off-target
by 1.5 standard deviations. (A 1.5 sigma shift
has been empirically demonstrated to be the
random shift or drift over the long term for typi-
cal processes.)

Process Centered Process Shifted 1.5

LSL Target USL

Z Z Z Z
Cp = USL + LSL Cp = USL + LSL LSL
6 6 Target USL
Cp = 3 + 3 = 1 Cp = 1.5 + 4.5 = 1
6 6
Z Z Z Z
Cpk = min( USL , LSL) Cpk = min( USL, LSL)
3 3 3 3
Cpk = min (1, 1) = 1 Cpk = min (.5, 1.5) = .5

-4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4

At start of improvement Shifted process produces many defects

Target

LSL USL LSL USL

Target
Cp = 4.5 + 4.5 = 1.5 Cp = 3.0 + 6.0 = 1.5
6 6
Cpk = min(4.5 , 4.5) = 1.5 Cpk = min( 3 , 6 ) = 1.0
3 3 3 3

-5 -4-3-2-1 1 2 3 4 5 -6 -5-4-3-2 -1 1 2 3

As improvement progresses Shifted process produces several defects

Target

LSL USL

Cp = 6 + 6 = 2 Cp = 4.5 + 7.5 = 2
6 6
Cpk = min( 6 , 6 ) =2 Cpk = min( 4.5 , 7.5) = 1.5 LSL USL
3 3 Target 3 3

-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 6 -6-5-4-3 -2-1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

As improvement reaches maturity Shifted process produces virtually no defects

Playbook Topic 16 Page 4

 Now what? z-value of 1.5 is .0668 or 6.68% defective. In
The essential value of process capability analy- this case, it is reasonable to disregard the
sis lies in its ability to predict what percentage .0000034 probability and consider that the
of characteristics, parts or assemblies will be shifted process will produce good parts at the

yy
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produced without a defect, that is, within speci- rate of 93.42%. (You may wish to review Play-
fication limits. This is where z-values come in. book issue 1 on Six Sigma Quality, which
touches on this same subject.)
Some final thoughts

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Process capability and process performance
Z analysis are particularly valuable to help im-
prove yield. As such, they should be applied to
processes that show the highest payoff poten-
tialsuch as processes showing high losses or
Graphically, a z-value would be the distance, high nonconformance rates, or processes that
measured in standard deviations, from the proc- must maintain tight, interactive tolerances.
ess mean to the specification limit. A z-table
Understanding process capabilities is also criti-
shows the probability of values occurring at the
cal for designers. By considering the limits of
z-value or beyond. [A z-table is attached to this
process capabilities, design engineers can create
issue. Z-values will be covered in greater detail
highly manufacturable, robust designsdesigns
in Playbook 20.]
able to accommodate long-term, random drift in
Note that the z-table shows only the probability stable processes without generating defects or
of occurrence at one tail of the distribution. If defective material.
you are considering the probability of process
values exceeding both the upper and the lower
specification limits, you may need to add the
probabilities for both z-values to determine the
actual probability of producing a defect.
For example, in the process with Cp = 1, Cpk =
1, the z-value of both the upper and the lower
specification limits is 3. From the table, the
probability of values occurring at or beyond z
=3 is .00135. Since this probability exists at
both ends of the curve, the total probability of
making a defect with this process is .0027, or
.27% defective.
When the same process is shifted by 1.5 sigma
(Cp = 1, Cpk = .5), the z-value of one specifica-
tion limit is 1.5 and the z-value of the other is
4.5. The probability associated with a z-value of
4.5 is .0000034 (3.4 chances per million.) On
the other hand, the probability associated with a

1996, The General Electric Company. Playbook is published by GE Aircraft Engines Executive Communication and edited by Janet Grove.
For further information or for assistance in using Six Sigma tools contact the Master Belt for your organization.

Playbook Topic 16 Page 5