Statistical Process Control (SPC) is the application of statistical techniques to determine whether the output of a process conforms to the

product or service design .in SPC, tools called control charts are used primarily to detect production of defective products or services or to indicate that the production process has changed and that products or services will deviate from their design specifications unless something is done to correct the situation. SPC can also be used to inform management of process changes that have changed the output of the process for the better . some examples of process changes that can be detected by SPC are 1. A sudden increase in the proportion of defective gear boxes , 2. A decrease in the average number of complaints per day at a hotel etc .

Process Capability : Process capability refers to the ability of the process to meet the design specifications for a product or service . Design specifications often are expressed as a nominal value , or target , and a tolerance , or allowance above or below the nominal value . for example, design specifications for the useful life of a light bulb might have a nominal value of 1000 hours and a tolerance of 200 hours. This tolerance gives an upper specification of 1200 hours and a lower specification of 800 hours .The process producing the bulbs must be capable of doing so within these design specifications ; otherwise it will produce a certain proportion of defective bulbs .