13.1. PROCESS CAPABILITY ANALYSIS (PCA)

Process capability analysis is a two-stage process that involves:

  1. Bringing a process into a state of statistical control for a reasonable period of time.

  2. Comparing the long-term process performance to management or engineering requirements.

Process capability analysis can be done with either attribute data or continuous data if and only if the process is in statistical control, and has been for a reasonable period of time (Figure 13.1).[]

[] Occasional freak values from known causes can usually be ignored.

Application of process capability methods to processes that are not in statistical control results in unreliable estimates of process capability and should never be done.

13.1.1. How to perform a process ...

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