QUALITY CONTROL,

ASSURANCE & RELIABILITY

ET / PE ZC 434
BITS Pilani Lecture 14
Pilani Campus
 RECAP – LECTURE 13

WHAT DID WE COVER?

 CONTROL CHARTS FOR ATTRIBUTES :

 ‘p’ chart – proportion of non-conforming items

 ‘np’ chart – no. of non-conforming items
 c’ chart – no. of nonconformities
 ‘u’ chart – no. of nonconformities per unit
 ‘U’ chart – no. of demerits per unit (severity of
nonconformities)

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 CONTROL CHARTS - SELECTION

U-chart : for severity

of non-conformities

Non-
Non-
conforming
conformities
items

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 TODAY’S OBJECTIVE

 PROCESS CAPABILITY ANALYSIS

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 PROCESS CAPABILITY ANALYSIS

 MEASURE OF PROCESS PERFORMANCE

 WHETHER PRODUCT OR SERVICE MEETS THE SPECIFICATION
REQUIREMENTS OF THE CUSTOMERS
 PROCESS CAPABILITY – PERFORMANCE OF A PROCESS UNDER STATISTICAL
CONTROL
 PROCESS CAPABILITY ANALYSIS – INVOLVES ESTIMATION OF PROCESS
MEAN AND PROCESS STD. DEVIATION OF THE QUALITY CHARACTERISTIC.
 CARRY OUT PROCESS CAPABILITY ANALYSIS ONLY WHEN PROCESS IS IN A
STATE OF STATISTICAL CONTROL. WHY?

 WHEN PROCESS IS UNDER STATISTICAL CONTROL, IT MEANS ONLY SOURCE

OF VARIATION IS BECAUSE OF COMMON CAUSES (ALL SPECIAL CAUSES
ELIMINATED)

 ADDITIONALLY, IF SPECIFICATION LIMITS ARE KNOWN, THE PROCESS

CAPABILITY ANALYSIS WILL ALSO ESTIMATE THE PROPORTION OF NON-
CONFORMING PRODUCT

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 Process Capability vs. Process
Control

• Evaluating Process Performance

– Ability of process to produce parts that conform to
engineering specifications
(CONFORMANCE)
– Ability of process to maintain a state of statistical control;
i.e., be within control limits
(CONTROL)

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 PROCESS CAPABILITY
Process may be in statistical control, but not capable (of meeting specifications)
TRUE OR FALSE?

– Process is off-center from nominal (bias)

– Process variability is too large relative to specifications
(variation)
– Process is both off-center and has large variation.

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 TERMINOLOGIES

CONTROL LIMITS

SPECIFICATION LIMITS

TOLERANCE LIMITS

ARE THEY THE SAME OR DIFFERENT ?

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 CONTROL LIMITS

CONTROL LIMITS ARE (3 STD. DEVIATIONS OF SAMPLE MEAN) FROM PROCESS MEAN
CONTROL LIMITS ARE A MEASURE OF VARIABILITY OF SAMPLE MEANS FOR X BAR CHART

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 CONTROL LIMITS

Control limits on a control chart are:

 Characteristic of the process in question

 Based on the process mean and variation
 Dependent on sampling parameters, viz., sample
size and ά-risk (Type I error)
 Used to identify presence/absence of special-cause
variation in the process

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 SPECIFICATION LIMITS

99.74% OF THE INDIVIDUAL ITEMS WILL LIE IN A RANGE OF ±3σ ABOUT THE MEAN

SPECIFICATION LIMITS HERE REPRESENT VARIABILITY FOR INDIVIDUAL ITEMS

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SPECIFICATION LIMITS

Specification limits or tolerance limits for product

quality characteristics are:
– Characteristic of the part/item (product) in question
– Based on functional design considerations
– Related to/compared with an individual part measurement
– Used to establish a part’s conformance to design intent

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 TERMINOLOGIES

CONTROL LIMITS

SPECIFICATION LIMITS

TOLERANCE LIMITS

ARE THEY THE SAME OR DIFFERENT ?

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 CONTROL LIMITS, SPECIFICATION
LIMITS AND TOLERANCE LIMITS
 CONTROL LIMITS AND SPECIFICATION LIMITS – NO MATHEMATICAL OR
STATISTICAL RELATIONSHIP

 SPECIFICATION LIMITS – SET EXTERNALLY; BY MANAGEMENT, DESIGNERS,

CUSTOMERS, etc

 TOLERANCE LIMITS – SAME AS SPECIFICATION LIMITS

 TERMS TOLERANCE AND SPECIFICATION LIMITS USED INTERCHANGEABLY

 USUALLY, TOLERANCE LIMITS REFER TO PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS;

SPECIFICATION LIMITS REFER TO ALL REQUIREMENTS

 TOLERANCE LIMITS CAN BE TWO SIDED (UPPER AND LOWER) OR ONE

SIDED

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 TERMINOLOGIES

PROCESS CAPABILITY LIMITS

NATURAL TOLERANCE LIMITS

ARE THEY THE SAME OR DIFFERENT ?

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 NATURAL TOLERANCE LIMITS
(PROCESS CAPABILITY LIMITS)

PROCESS CAPABILITY
THESE LIMITS INDICATE DEGREE OF INHERENT VARIATION IN THE PROCESS
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 PROCESS CAPABILITY LIMITS

 NATURAL TOLERANCE LIMITS ARE ALSO KNOWN AS PROCESS

CAPABILITY LIMITS
 INHERENT VARIATIONS IN THE QUALITY CHARACTERISTIC OF
THE INDIVIDUAL ITEMS PRODUCED BY A PROCESS IN
CONTROL
 ESTIMATED BASED ON POPULATION VALUES OR FROM LARGE
SAMPLES

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 TERMINOLOGIES

CONTROL LIMITS

SPECIFICATION LIMITS

TOLERANCE LIMITS

PROCESS CAPABILITY LIMITS

NATURAL TOLERANCE LIMITS

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PROCESS CAPABILITY

• Process capability is the ability of the process

to meet the design specifications for a service
or product.

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 PROCESS CAPABILITY ANALYSIS

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 SPECIFICATIONS AND PROCESS
CAPABILITY

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 SPECIFICATIONS AND PROCESS
CAPABILITY

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 SPECIFICATIONS AND PROCESS
CAPABILITY

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 SPECIFICATIONS AND PROCESS
CAPABILITY

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 SPECIFICATIONS AND PROCESS
CAPABILITY

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 PROCESS CAPABILITY
Process may be in statistical control, but not capable (of meeting specifications)
TRUE OR FALSE?

– Process is off-center from nominal (bias)

– Process variability is too large relative to specifications
(variation)
– Process is both off-center and has large variation.

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PROCESS CAPABILITY

• Process capability is the ability of the process

to meet the design specifications for a service
or product.
• Nominal value is a target for design
specifications.
• Tolerance is an allowance above or below the
nominal value.

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 PROCESS CAPABILITY RATIO, Cp

Process capability ratio, Cp, is the ratio of allowable process spread to the actual
process spread

Process capability ratio, Cp relates process spread (difference between natural

tolerance limits) to specification spread, assuming two sided specification limits.

Upper specification - Lower specification

Cp =
6

Cp MEASURES PROCESS POTENTIAL, NOT PROCESS PERFORMANCE

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 PROCESS CAPABILITY INDICES

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EXAMPLE

The diameter of a part has to fit an assembly. The specifications

for the diameter are 5 ± 0.015 cm. The samples taken from the
process in control yield a sample mean X-bar of 4.99 cm and a
sample standard deviation sigma of 0.004 cm. Find the natural
tolerance limits of the process.

What is the Cp value?

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 EXAMPLE
sample mean X-bar = 4.99 cm; sample standard deviation sigma = 0.004 cm

SPECIFICATION LIMITS = 5 ± 0.015 cm = 4.985 cm TO 5.015 cm = 0.03 cm

Cp = (5.015 – 4.985) / 6σ
= (0.03) / (6*0.004)
= 0.030 / 0.024

Cp = 1.25

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 EXAMPLE
proportion below the LSL is 0.1056
(Appendix A3)
4.978 5.002
LNTL 4.99 UNTL

4.985 5.015

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 PROCESS CAPABILITY INDEX
WHEN Cp=1, PROCESS SPREAD = SPECIFICATION SPREAD
(PROCESS BARELY CAPABLE)

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 PROCESS CAPABILITY INDEX
WHEN Cp<1, INHERENT PROCESS VARIABILITY > SPECIFICATION
SPREAD
(PROCESS IN CONTROL BUT NOT MEETING SPECS)

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 SPECIFICATIONS AND PROCESS
CAPABILITY

Cp >1, PROCESS IS CAPABLE

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 Cp INDICES COMPARISON

Specification Range
Cp Formula USL  LSL
Cp 
IF MEAN VARIES, WHAT
6 x Variation of Distribution
HAPPENS TO Cp ? of Individual Product
reject USL ~ LSL reject
WHICH Cp IS HIGHER?
Cp(1) < Cp(2) (2)

Cp(2) ˃ Cp(1)
(1)

T
-3X(1) +3X(1) X
-3X(2) +3X(2)
N(mX, X)

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 EXAMPLE

Cp < 1, Process is not capable of meeting specs

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 UPPER AND LOWER CAPABILITY
INDICES

UPPER CAPABILITY INDEX

LOWER CAPABILITY INDEX

DESIRABLE TO HAVE CPU AND CPL ≥ 1

WHAT IS THE DISADVANTAGE OF Cp INDEX ?

DOES Cp TAKE INTO ACCOUNT VARIATIONS IN THE MEAN

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 Cpk INDEX

Cpk INDEX TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE PROCESS MEAN

Cpk INDEX REPRESENTS ACTUAL PROCESS CAPABILITY; IT

MEASURES PROCESS PERFORMANCE

Process Capability Index, Cpk, is an index that measures the potential

for a process to generate defective outputs relative to either upper
or lower specifications.

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 Cpk INDEX

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 Cpk INDEX

Process yield, in the context of Cpk,

represents the percentage of output from a
process that falls within the specified tolerance
limits

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 Cp and Cpk INDICES -
RELATIONSHIP
(deviation from target value m)

 Cp measures process potential; does not change as process mean changes

 Cpk includes both process mean and std. deviation to measure actual process
performance
 If Cpk = 1, product is conforming
 Cpk ≤ Cp always;
 Cpk is negative if process mean is outside specifications

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 Cp and Cpk - EXAMPLE

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 INTENSIVE CARE LAB - EXAMPLE

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 with an upper
specification limit of 30 minutes and a lower specification limit of 20
minutes.
The administrator of the lab wants to have three-sigma performance
for her lab. Is the lab process capable of this level of performance?

Upper specification = 30 minutes

Lower specification = 20 minutes
Average service = 26.2 minutes
 = 1.35 minutes

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 INTENSIVE CARE LAB – ASSESSING
PROCESS CAPABILITY
Example Upper specification = 30 minutes
Lower specification = 20 minutes
Average service = 26.2 minutes
 = 1.35 minutes

= =
Cpk = Minimum of
x – Lower specification ,
Upper specification – x
3 3

26.2 – 20.0 30.0 – 26.2

Cpk = Minimum of
3(1.35) , 3(1.35)

Process
Cpk = Minimum of 1.53, 0.94 = 0.94 Capability
Index

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 INTENSIVE CARE LAB – ASSESSING
PROCESS CAPABILITY
Example
Upper specification - Lower specification
Cp =
6
30 - 20
Cp = = 1.23 Process Capability Ratio
6(1.35)

Does not meet 3 (1.00 Cpk) target due to a shift in mean

(Note variability is ok since Cp is over 1.0)

Before Process Modification

Upper specification = 30.0 minutes Lower specification = 20.0 minutes
Average service = 26.2 minutes
 = 1.35 minutes Cpk = 0.94 Cp = 1.23

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 EXAMPLE

Cpk < 1, process will produce non-conforming

components also

FROM APPENDIX A3, AREA BELOW LSL= 0.0475; AREA ABOVE USL=0.0004
TOTAL PROPORTION OF NON-CONFORMING COMPONENTS IS 0.0475+0.0004, APPROX. 4.79%

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 EXAMPLE

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 CAPABILITY RATIO (CR)

CR IS A MEASURE OF THE ABILITY OF A PROCESS TO PRODUCE

WITHIN SPECIFICATION LIMITS

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 Cpm – TAGUCHI CAPABILITY INDEX

TAGUCHI STRESSED REDUCTION IN VARIABILITY AROUND

TARGET VALUE “T”

δ is the bias or the difference between the process mean and the target in
terms of standard deviation.

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 COMPARISON OF CAPABILITY
INDICES

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 COMPARISON OF CAPABILITY
INDICES

WHY Cp value increases?

Why Cpk value is constant in all three cases
Why Cpm value decreases?

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 Cpmk INDEX

 ORIGINAL INDEX – Cp
 SECOND GENERATION INDEX – Cpk & Cpm
 THIRD GENERATION INDEX – Cpmk

Cpmk – TAKES INTO ACCOUNT PROCESS MEAN AND VARIABILITY

AS WELL AS DEVIATION OF PROCESS MEAN FROM TARGET
VALUE

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 COMPARING THE INDICES

𝐶𝑝𝑘
𝐶𝑝𝑚𝑘 =
1 + δ2

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 EXAMPLE

A process in control has an estimated standard deviation of 2 mm. The

product produced by this process has specification limits of 120 ± 8 mm and a target
value of 120 mm. Calculate the process capability indices Cp, CPL, CPU, Cpk, Cpm, and
Cpmk for the process if the process mean shifts from 118 mm first to 122 mm and
then to 124 mm, but the process variability remains the same.

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 EXAMPLE

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 EXAMPLE

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 EXAMPLE

= (118 – 120) / 2 = -1

USL =128; LSL = 112; μ = 118

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 EXAMPLE

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 EXAMPLE

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 CONFIDENCE INTERVAL AND
HYPOTHESIS TESTING – Cp INDEX

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 EXAMPLE

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 EXAMPLE

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 EXAMPLE

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 EXAMPLE

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 CONFIDENCE INTERVAL AND
HYPOTHESIS TESTING – Cpk INDEX

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 BENEFITS OF PROCESS CAPABILITY
ANALYSIS
• UNIFORMITY OF OUTPUT

• MAINTAIN / IMPROVE QUALITY

• FEEDBACK FOR DESIGN

• VENDOR SELECTION / CONTROL

• COST REDUCTION

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 SITUATED LEARNING ASSIGNMENT
Submission deadline -9th May, 2025 (e-Learn submission only)

Questions to be addressed in the report:

Q1. Prepare a problem statement for a problem related to your area of work.
Q2. Explain the background of the problem and identify the relevant area(s) of quality improvement
which can be focused upon.
Q3. Identify the special and common causes relevant to the process associated with your problem area.
Identify the causes which you feel contribute more to your problem. How do you propose to
resolve it. Give proper reasoning.
Q4. Which quality tool(s) (from the 7 basic QC tools) can be used to identify the major causes for your
problem. Justify your selection.
Q5. Using the dataset related to your problem, take a sample of adequate size, draw a histogram and
calculate the mean and standard deviation, identify the type of skewness and kurtosis of your
sample data. What are your observations?
Q.6 Identify which type of probability distribution would be appropriate for the dataset associated with
your process under study. Justify your selection. (You may take guidance of some of the methods
discussed in Chapters 4 & 5 of the Textbook)

Report must be verified and signed by your organization mentor.

There will be no extension of given deadline – any submission after the deadline will not be evaluated.

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 THANK YOU

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