Are Cpk & Ppk acronyms? If so, what do they actually mean or represent?

Since their introduction, there has been a lot of speculation as to meaning. Here is my two cents worth. Cp has always been know as capability of the process since I became aware of it and it has been around for some time. My connection with Cpk came through the Ford "Continuous Process Control and Process Capability Improvement Manual" probably more than 20 years ago. In the Ford manual, a k value was used to represent the number of standard deviations between the Target and the . I would assume that the Cpk came literally from Cp with a k factor adjustment. In reference to the Pp and Ppk, the reference from the beginning has been to Process Performance as opposed to Process Capability.

What is the difference between Cp and Pp? The technical difference is that the 6 sigma used for the Cp calculation (or the 3 sigma used for the Cpk calculation) comes from the estimate of sigma based on the average range, and the 6 sigma used for Pp calculation (or 3 sigma used for the Ppk calculation) comes from the estimate of sigma based on using all the data and the classical formula for the standard deviation. View the formulas for Cp and Cpk; view the formulas for Pp and Ppk. In general, if the process is in control and normally distributed (standard assumptions when doing capability analysis), both values should be close. However, since most processes wander around a little bit (and are in control), an intuitive interpretation is that the Cpk is what you could be doing and Ppk is what you are doing.

What is the difference in the formulas for Cpk and Ppk? The only difference I see is the i and r after the sigma symbol. What are these referring to? The six sigma used for the Cpk calculation comes from the estimate of sigma based on the average range (r). The six sigma used for the Ppk calculation comes from the estimate of sigma based on using all the Individual data (i) and the classical formula. In general, if the process is in control and normally distributed (standard assumptions when doing capability analysis), both values should be close. However, since most processes wander around a little bit (and are still in control), an intuitive interpretation is that the Cpk is what you could be doing and Ppk is what you are doing.

Are there maximum values for Cp, Cpk, Pp and Ppk? No. As long as the spec range does not change and you continually reduce the variation, you will increase these indices. I have seen as high as 36 and have heard of higher.

How can I improve Cpk value, when it is less than 1.0? First, compare Cpk to Cp. If Cpk is less than Cp and Cp is greater than one, center the process in the specification. This should make Cpk comparable to Cp. If Cp and Cpk are less than one, there are two actions you can take. The first (an unadvisable one) is to widen the specification particularly on the side that has the spec limit closest to the center of the process ( ). The second and more advisable answer is to improve the process by reducing variation in the process. If the process is off-center, it would be advisable to try to center it as you try to improve it.

Is it possible to have a Ppk value of 10 and a Pp number of 5? This should not occur. You might have a negative number for the Ppk that is larger in absolute value then the Pp number. This implies that the process mean lies outside the specification limits.

What do the letters in Cp and Cpk stand for? There is no authoritative answer. Cp has been around for a long time and many believe it stands for Capability of the Process. Others say Process Capability, but that would reverse the letters. As for Cpk, in the literature that I first saw about Cpk, k was the amount of the difference in the target value and in standard deviations (the number of standard deviations that the process is off target). Before you ask, Pp generally is said to be Process Performance.

Why do capability indices formulas divide by 3? When calculating Cp you divide the specification range by six sigma. This is plus and minus three sigma on each side of the mean of the process which would include about 99.7% of the distribution of output if the process is normal. Cp considers only the spread and not the centering of the process. Consequently, you can have a capable process (Cp > 1) and not be making any good product. Cpk considers the mean of the process and calculates two values ([Cp-usl = (USL

- )/3] and [Cp-lsl = ( - LSL)/3]). Since the specification has been split into two pieces, the process spread is split into two as well [(6 )/2 = (3 )].

What is an ideal Cpm value? Generally there is no "ideal." Bigger is always better. The difference in Cpm as defined in SQCpack is in the calculation of the stand deviation or variance term. The standard deviation for Cpm is based on using the target value rather than the mean which will make sigma(pm) larger and Cpm smaller when the process is not centered on the target value. You could say "ideally" the process should be centered in the specification making Cpm = Cp. However, Cp might only be 0.80 which clearly is not "ideal."

Can I compare two processes based on only the Cpk values of each of them? Is there any other tool by which I can say that one process is better than other? It depends on what you mean by better. If the processes are producing the same product dimension, then you can compare them more or less directly. Cpk includes a centering factor as well as the variation factor. Unless you want to compare centering as part of the two processes, use Cp.

Can the process performance index Ppk be applied on the ongoing process? If yes, how? The capability indices are designed to be applied to on going processes. They are an indication of what a customer can expect in terms of quality from a particular process. If you have a control chart on a characteristic for a process, SQCpack or CHARTrunner will calculate these values for you if you enter the specifications. If you do not have either of these programs, the capability analysis article series provides information on calculating capability.

Why would I have Cp and Cpk indices well over 1 when some readings are outside the specification limits? My first guess would be that if you look at a control chart of the data, it is out of control. Before you can do capability analysis, the process should be predictable and that requires that it be

stable (in-control). For a more detailed discussion, see How can Cpk be good with data outside the Definitions Cp = Process Capability. A simple and straightforward indicator of process capability. Cpk = Process Capability Index. Adjustment of Cp for the effect of non-centered distribution. Pp = Process Performance. A simple and straightforward indicator of process performance. Ppk = Process Performance Index. Adjustment of Pp for the effect of non-centered distribution. Interpreting Cp, Cpk "Cpk is an index (a simple number) which measures how close a process is running to its specification limits, relative to the natural variability of the process. The larger the index, the less likely it is that any item will be outside the specs." Neil Polhemus "If you hunt our shoot targets with bow, darts, or gun try this analogy. If your shots are falling in the same spot forming a good group this is a high cP, and when the sighting is adjusted so this tight group of shots is landing on the bullseye, you now have a high cpK." Tommy "Cpk measures how close you are to your target and how consistent you are to around your average performance. A person may be performing with minimum variation, but he can be away from his target towards one of the specification limit, which indicates lower Cpk, whereas Cp will be high. On the other hand, a person may be on average exactly at the target, but the variation in performance is high (but still lower than the tolerance band (i.e. specification interval). In such case also Cpk will be lower, but Cp will be high. Cpk will be higher only when you r meeting the target consistently with minimum variation." Ajit "You must have a Cpk of 1.33 [4 sigma] or higher to satisfy most customers." Joe Perito "Consider a car and a garage. The garage defines the specification limits; the car defines the output of the process. If the car is only a little bit smaller than the garage, you had better park it right in the middle of the garage (center of the specification) if you want to get all of the car in the garage. If the car is wider than the garage, it does not matter if you have it centered; it will not fit. If the car is a lot smaller than the garage (six sigma process), it doesn't matter if you park it exactly in the middle; it will fit and you have plenty of room on either side. If you have a process that is in control and with little variation, you should be able to park the car easily within the garage and thus meet customer requirements. Cpk tells you the relationship between the size of the car, the size of the garage and how far away from the middle of the garage you parked the car." Ben "The value itself can be thought of as the amount the process (car) can widen before hitting the nearest spec limit (garage door edge). Cpk=1/2 means you've crunched nearest the door edge (ouch!) Cpk=1 means you're just touching the nearest edge Cpk=2 means your width can grow 2 times before touching Cpk=3 means your width can grow 3 times before touching" Larry Seibel

Interpreting Pp, Ppk "Process Performance Index basically tries to verify if the sample that you have generated from the process is capable to meet Customer CTQs (requirements). It differs from Process Capability in that Process Performance only applies to a specific batch of material. Samples from the batch may need to be quite large to be representative of the variation in the batch. Process Performance is only used when process control cannot be evaluated. An example of this is for a short preproduction run. Process Performance generally uses sample sigma in its calculation; Process capability uses the process sigma value determined from either the Moving Range, Range, or Sigma control charts." Praneet Differences Between Cpk and Ppk "Cpk is for short term, Ppk is for long term." Sundeep Singh "Ppk produces an index number (like 1.33) for the process variation. Cpk references the variation to your specification limits. If you just want to know how much variation the process exhibits, a Ppk measurement is fine. If you want to know how that variation will affect the ability of your process to meet customer requirements (CTQ's), you should use Cpk." Michael Whaley "It could be argued that the use of Ppk and Cpk (with sufficient sample size) are far more valid estimates of long and short term capability of processes since the 1.5 sigma shift has a shaky statistical foundation." Eoin "Cpk tells you what the process is CAPABLE of doing in future, assuming it remains in a state of statistical control. Ppk tells you how the process has performed in the past. You cannot use it predict the future, like with Cpk, because the process is not in a state of control. The values for Cpk and Ppk will converge to almost the same value when the process is in statistical control. that is because Sigma and the sample standard deviation will be identical (at least as can be distinguished by an F-test). When out of control, the values will be distinctly different, perhaps by a very wide margin." Jim Parnella "Cp and Cpk are for computing the index with respect to the subgrouping of your data (different shifts, machines, operators, etc.), while Pp and Ppk are for the whole process (no subgrouping). For both Ppk and Cpk the 'k' stands for 'centralizing facteur'- it assumes the index takes into consideration the fact that your data is maybe not centered (and hence, your index shall be smaller). It is more realistic to use Pp & Ppk than Cp or Cpk as the process variation cannot be tempered with by inappropriate subgrouping. However, Cp and Cpk can be very useful in order to know if, under the best conditions, the process is capable of fitting into the specs or not.It basically gives you the best case scenario for the existing process." Chantal "Cp should always be greater than 2.0 for a good process which is under statistical control. For a good process under statistical control, Cpk should be greater than 1.5." Ranganadha Kumar "As for Ppk/Cpk, they mean one or the other and you will find people confusing the definitions and you WILL find books defining them versa and vice versa. You will have to ask the definition the person is using that you are talking to." Joe Perito

"I just finished up a meeting with a vendor and we had a nice discussion of Cpk vs PPk. We had the definitions exactly reversed between us. The outcome was to standardize on definitions and move forward from there. My suggestion to others is that each company have a procedure or document (we do not) which has the definitions of Cpk and Ppk in it. This provides everyone a standard to refer to for WHEN we forgot or get confused." John Adamo "The Six Sigma community standardized on definitions of Cp, Cpk, Pp, and Ppk from AIAG SPC manual page 80. You can get the manual for about $7." Gary Calculating Cpk and Ppk "Cp = (USL - LSL)/6*Std.Dev Cpl = (Mean - LSL)/3*Std.dev Cpu = (USL-Mean)/3*Std.dev Cpk = Min(Cpl,Cpu)" Ranganadha Kumar "Cpk is calculated using an estimate of the standard deviation calculated using R-bar/d2. Ppk uses the usual form of the standard deviation ie the root of the variance or the square root of the sum of squares divided by n-1. The R-bar/D2 estimation of the standard deviation has a smoothing effect and the Cpk statistic is less sensitive to points which are further away from the mean than is Ppk." Eoin "Cpk is calculated using RBar/d2 or SBar/c4 for Sigma in the denominator of you equation. This calculation for Sigma REQUIRES the process to be in a state of statistical control. If not in control, your calculation of Sigma (and hence Cpk) is useless - it is only valid when in-control." Jim Parnella "You can have a 'good' Cpk yet still have data outside the specification, and the process needs to be in control before evaluating Cpk." Matt