Design for Quality and Reliability

Dr. Vipindas K.
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
IIITDM Kurnool
Statistical Tool – Process Capability
Process Capability
• Till now we have studied ways of monitoring the production process to ensure that
it is in a state of control and that there are no assignable causes of variation

• Another important aspect of statistical quality control is evaluating the ability of a

production process to meet or exceed preset specifications

• This is called process capability

• This can be understood from the term specification

Process Capability
• Product specifications are preset ranges of acceptable quality characteristics, such
as product dimensions

• For a product to be considered acceptable, its characteristics must fall within this
preset range. Otherwise, the product is not acceptable

• Product specifications, or tolerance limits, are usually established by design

engineers or product design specialists.
Process Capability
• Specifications for a product are preset on the basis of how the product is going to
be used or what customer expectations are

• Any production process has a certain amount of natural variation associated with it

• To be capable of producing an acceptable product, the process variation cannot

exceed the preset specifications

• Process capability thus involves evaluating process variability relative to preset

product specifications in order to determine whether the process is capable of
producing an acceptable product
Measuring Process Capability
• Setting up control charts to monitor whether a process is in control does not
guarantee process capability

• To produce an acceptable product, the process must be capable and in control

before production begins

• Consider the example of Coca-Cola bottle filling operation.

• Let’s say that the specification for the acceptable volume of liquid is preset at 16
ounces ±0.2 ounces, which is 15.8 and 16.2 ounces
Measuring Process Capability
• The process produces 99.74 percent
(three sigma) of the product with
volumes between 15.8 and 16.2
ounces

• Almost all the output falls within

the preset specification range

Fig. A
Measuring Process Capability
• The process produces 99.74 percent (three
sigma) of the product with volumes
between 15.7 and 16.3 ounces.

• Here, the process variability is outside the

preset specifications

• The process is not capable of producing

the product within the preset specifications
Fig. B
Measuring Process Capability
• The production process produces 99.74
percent (three sigma) of the product with
volumes between 15.9 and 16.1 ounces

• In this case the process variability is

within specifications and the process
exceeds the minimum capability
Fig. C
Measuring Process Capability
• Process capability is measured by the Process Capability Index, Cp

• Cp is computed as the ratio of the specification width to the width of the process
variability

• where the specification width is the difference between the upper specification
limit (USL) and the lower specification limit (LSL) of the process. The process
width is computed as 6 standard deviations (6σ) of the process being monitored
Measuring Process Capability
• There are three possible ranges of values for Cp that also help us interpret its
value:
• Cp = 1: A value of Cp equal to 1 means that the process variability just meets specifications,
as in Fig. A. We would then say that the process is minimally capable.

• Cp ≤ 1: A value of Cp below 1 means that the process variability is outside the range of
specification, as in Fig B. This means that the process is not capable of producing within
specification and the process must be improved.

• Cp ≥ 1: A value of Cp above 1 means that the process variability is tighter than

specifications and the process exceeds minimal capability, as in Fig C.
Measuring Process Capability
• A Cp value of 1 means that 99.74 percent of the products produced will fall within
the specification limits
• This also means that .26 percent (100% - 99.74%) of the products will not be acceptable

• Although this percentage sounds very small, when we think of it in terms of parts per
million (ppm) we can see that it can still result in a lot of defects.
Measuring Process Capability
• The number .26 percent corresponds to 2600 parts per million (ppm) defective (0.0026 X
1,000,000)

• That number can seem very high if we think of it in terms of 2600 wrong prescriptions out
of a million, or 2600 incorrect medical procedures out of a million, or even 2600
malfunctioning aircraft out of a million

• The way to reduce the ppm defective is to increase process capability

Measuring Process Capability
Measuring Process Capability
Measuring Process Capability
Shortcomings in Cp

• Process capability measure (Cp) assumes that process variability is centered on the
specification range

• Mean of the process may not always match with center of the specification limit
Measuring Process Capability
• Consider the example of Coca-Cola bottle
filling process
• Specification limits are set between 15.8 and
16.2 ounces, with a mean of 16.0 ounces

• Assume process mean is 15.9 ounces as shown

in the figure

• This shift in the process mean may result in

some products will fall outside the specification
range
Process variability not centered across specification width
• Cp measure may not able to capture this shift
Measuring Process Capability
• Cpk is another measure of process capability which can capture the shift in the process
mean/center with respect to the specification range

• Here, the process capability of each half of the normal distribution is computed and the
minimum of the two is used
Measuring Process Capability
• Consider the example shown in the figure

• Since Cp = 1, we will conclude that the process is

capable
• However, it is clear that process is producing out
Process variability not centered across specification width
of spec products
Measuring Process Capability
• Calculate Cpk

• The computed Cpk value is less than 1, revealing

that the process is not capable
Process variability not centered across specification width
Measuring Process Capability
• Example:
Measuring Process Capability
• Solution:
Six Sigma Quality
• The term Six Sigma was coined by the Motorola Corporation in the 1980s to describe the high
level of quality the company was striving to achieve

• The level of defects associated with Six Sigma is approximately 3.4 ppm

• Recall that ±3 sigma (σ) means that 2600 ppm are defective
Six Sigma Quality
• Figure shows a process distribution with quality levels of ±3 sigma (σ) and ±6 sigma (σ)

PPM defective for 3 versus 6 quality

Six Sigma Quality
• To achieve the goal of Six Sigma, Motorola has instituted a quality focus in every aspect of its
organization
• Before a product is designed, marketing ensures that product characteristics are exactly what customers want.

• Operations ensures that exact product characteristics can be achieved through product design, the
manufacturing process, and the materials used

• The Six Sigma concept is an integral part of other functions as well.

• It is used in the finance and accounting departments to reduce costing errors and the time required to close the
books at the end of the month.
Six Sigma Quality
• There are two aspects to implementing the Six Sigma concept

• The first is the use of technical tools to identify and eliminate causes of quality problems
• These technical tools include the statistical quality control tools

• The problem-solving tool, such as cause-and-effect diagrams, flow charts, and Pareto analysis

• The second aspect of Six Sigma implementation is people involvement

• In Six Sigma all employees have the training to use technical tools and are responsible for rooting out quality
problems
Six Sigma Quality
• Six Sigma experts are given titles like, Black belts, Master black belts and Green belts

• Black belts, Master black belts

• Individuals who have extensive training in the use of technical tools and are responsible for carrying out the
implementation of Six Sigma

• They are experienced individuals who oversee the measuring, analyzing, process controlling, and improving.

• They achieve this by acting as coaches, team leaders, and facilitators of the process of continuous
improvement.

• Green belts
• Individuals who have sufficient training in technical tools to serve on teams or on small individual projects
Six Sigma Quality
• Successful Six Sigma implementation requires commitment from top company leaders

• A key individual is a Champion of Six Sigma

• This is a person who comes from the top ranks of the organization and is responsible for
providing direction and overseeing all aspects of the process