Process Capability & Performance (PP, PPK, CP, CPK)

12/16/21, 11:00 AM Process Capability & Performance (Pp, Ppk, Cp, Cpk)
Process Capability & Performance

(Pp, Ppk, Cp, Cpk)
Posted by Ted Hessing
Cp, Pp, Cpk, and Ppk are capability and performance indicators for your process. Is a process capable? Is the process
acceptable? How is the process actually behaving vs how it theoretically could be behaving? These are questions you
can ask during a DMAIC project during both the measure phase (if you have good, existing data) or in the control phase
after you have implemented your changes.
This article deals with an overall examination of Process Capability & Performance (Pp, Ppk, Cp, Cpk).
If you’d like more depth including calculations, etc, see these articles:
Process Performance (Pp, Ppk)
Process Capability (Cp, Cpk)
Z score and process capability
To begin to answer these questions it all starts with customer requirements and the follow up with what we know
mathematically about the variation of the process.
Cp, Cpk, Pp and Ppk are all parameters (indices) that can help us to understand how our process is operating relative to
the specifications, or in other words, they measure how close our process is running to its specification limits.
For requirements we measure the process specifications. To determine the answer to those questions we see how wide
the process dispersion (spread of values) and how centered the process is relative to those specifications.
https://sixsigmastudyguide.com/process-capability-pp-ppk-cp-cpk/ 1/20
Process spread vs centering
On the mathematical side we require the process to follow a normal distribution so we can take advantage of the
properties there. Before using these indices to see how capable and acceptable your process is, test your process for
normality. If it’s not normal, see if you can apply a transform to get it there. If not, you may have to use non-normal
distributions and methods (not part of the Six Sigma Black Belt curriculum. – See the Master Black Belt guide.)
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Cp, Cpk, Pp, Ppk Practice
Questions and Z Charts
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When to Use Pp, Ppk, Cp, and Cpk

The main difference between Pp and Cp on one side and Ppk and Cpk on the other side is whether we use complete set
of data for calculation (Pp and Ppk) where we calculate real performance of the system, or we use sample (pre-
production, batch, logical subgroups) where we calculate capability of the process. In equation for Pp and Ppk we use
standard deviation based on studied data (whole population), and in equation for calculation Cp and Cpk we use sample
deviation or deviation mean within rational subgroups
When to use Pp Ppk Cp Cpk
Differences Between Cp & Pp

The biggest difference between Cp and Pp is how the Standard Deviation is determined. Pp we use sampling and have
to calculate an estimated standard deviation of the sample. In Cp we are assuming a stable process and will likely have
enough data to calculate a true standard deviation.
What Can Process Capability and Process

Performance Tell Us?
Process Capability Analysis tells us how well a process meets a set of specification limits, based on a sample of data
taken from a process. It can be used to establish baseline for the process and measure the future state performance of
the process for comparison.
Cp for processes that are under statistical control and Pp for new processes. A good analogy is parking a car in a garage.
If the car is bigger than the garage, it will not fit within the specification limits and thus is not capable – this case is clear.
What about a case when our car is skinnier than the garage you’re trying to park it in (the specification width)? Can we
consider our parking process as a capable one? It depends on our specification and the width of the car. Are we satisfied
with the probability of 99% that we will park our car, without hitting the wall? This mean that one in a hundred attempts
to park our car will hit the wall of the garage!
One way to calculate Process Capability is through number of defects per opportunity. This is usually used for discrete
data and in manufacturing is usually acceptable number of 3.4 Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO)
The other way to calculate Process Capability is through use of statistical methodology. Processes with normal
distribution of data, have restrictions from one or both side of the curve, based on the Specification Limits (USL- Upper
Specification Limit and LSL- Lower Specification Limit):
Shaded areas represent the probability of defects and our goal is to minimize the size of the shaded areas.
Is a Process Capable?
Process capability analysis is the determining if a process can meet specification.
Here we want to use Pp for new processes or Cp for processes that are under statistical control. A good analogy is
parking a car in a garage. A process that is capable indicates the car (process) is skinnier than the garage you’re trying to
park it in (the specification width). If the car is simply much bigger than the garage, it is not enough to be capable of
fitting within the specification limits and thus is not capable.
See how to calculate Cp.
See how to calculate Pp.
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Practice makes
perfect! Free Cp,
Cpk, Pp, Ppk
practice Download Now!
questions.
Is the Process Acceptable?

A capable process does not necessarily mean it is acceptable. Using the garage example, the car may have crashed into
the side of the garage, or may have missed it completely. This point reflects how centered a process. We can measure
this using Ppk or Cpk.
See how to calculate Cpk.
See how to calculate Ppk.
A Note on a Process Being Both Capable and

Acceptable
A process is said to be capable and acceptable when it meets customer requirements. Having zero defects is usually
unrealistic and not usually a part of customer requirements. A process could be capable, but not acceptable because it is
poorly centered and ends up outside the spec limits (ex car could fit in the garage, but the process for parking it is could
have it just as easily end up in your front door as where it should be).
Six Sigma Process Capability & Performance

Limits
According to Six Sigma philosophy, Cp or Pp and Cpk or Ppk should be greater than 1.50. From a technical standpoint,
Six Sigma deems a process being acceptable only after achieving a maximum defect rate of 3.4 parts per million
opportunities. There is a direct correlation between Cpk or Ppk and parts per million defects because only Cps or Pps
and Cpks or Ppks that are greater than 1.50 are achieving this goal (3.4 Defects per million).
Control Limits, Specification Limits and Process

Capability
Keeping a process in control limits is not sufficient to achieve good quality. Quality is always dictated by the user. For
that we use specification limits when assessing process capability. The process specifications used in process capability
are the voice of the customer and control limits of Statistical Process Control are the voice of the process.
It is very possible to have great process control (indicated on a control chart) yet have poor process capability. That
would be a mismatch of where the process is centered versus where the customer wants it to be centered. Either that or
the process has more variability than the customer desires.
Pp vs Cp (Capability Indices)
Both Cp and Pp are a monitoring indices for the spread of your process compared to the specification spread.
Cp is used when a process is under statistical control. Pp is used when a process is initially starting out.
Uses for Cp & Pp

Used to see if a process is capable.
Neither are concerned with centering. Cp or Pp takes into account dispersion, NOT centering. Since Cp does not
consider process centering so it cannot be used to determine if a process is acceptable.
Cpk & Ppk both take centering into account, so they can be used to see if a process is acceptable
Cp & Pp are NOT concerned with the control of a process. The term “control” infers an element of time and Cp or
Pp is merely a snapshot of the process variation at a given point in time.
For example, a Cp of < 1 does NOT indicate a process is out of control. “Control” is controlling variation over
a period of time. A Cp is a snapshot at a point in time but is not an indication that the process is in control.
Both indices are larger-is-better quality characteristics
Can never be 0.
If Cp or Pp >1, Tolerance is > spread, Process has potential to be capable (depending on centering).
A CP of >1 doesn’t mean quality One could have a Cp of 400 and be producing 100% defects, because the
process was not centered within the specification limits.
If Cp or Pp <1 process spread is > tolerance, and the variation will never fit and the process will never be capable.
A Cp of < 1 does NOT indicate a process is out of control. “Control” is controlling variation over a period of
time
If 0< CP <1, then the specifications are that percentage of the process.
Ex. Cp 0.70 = 70%. A Cp of 0.70 means the specifications are 70% of the process.
Ppk vs Cpk (Acceptable Performance)

Cpk and Ppk are ways to measure the capability of a process because they are monitoring indices for process centering.
Uses for Cp & Pp: Is The Process Acceptable?

Cpk or Ppk takes into account centering and thus can be use to determine if a process is acceptable.
Ways to measure the capability of a process.
Reflect the actual performance of the process.
Both Cpk and Ppk can be a negative numbers.
It means that, on average, the process is not meeting customer requirements.
Can Cpk or Ppk be Negative? What does a negative Cpk or Ppk

Indicate?
Yes, it is possible for Cpk and Ppk to be negative. Let’s look at the equation – for simplicity we will use the Ppk.
Ppk = [ USL – x(bar) ] / 3 s
It is impossible to have a standard deviation be negative so that would mean that x(bar) was larger that the Specification
Limit. In other words, the process average is out of specification.
This could be an indication that the process mean has drifted over either the upper specification or the lower one. This is
not good because it means that the process is not meeting customer requirements.
Pp, Ppk vs Cp, CPK

Cp & Cpk use an estimate for the standard deviation using the R Bar / d2 method.
Pp, Ppk are more liberal where Cp, CPK are more conservative.
Use Pp & Ppk when you are initially setting up your process.
Use Cp & Cpk once the process is in a state of statistical control.
Cpk or Ppk is less than CP or Pp.
Interesting video on assessing Ppk and Cpk in

Minitab.
How to Assess Process Capability using Minitab 17
First Name
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Practice makes perfect! Free Cp, Cpk, Pp,
Ppk practice questions.
Download Now!
Additional notes for Cp, Cpk, Pp, Ppk

http://www.isixsigma.com/tools-templates/capability-indices-process-capability/cp-cpk-pp-and-ppk-know-how-
and-when-use-them/
Concept of Stability
http://www.qimacros.com/lean-six-sigma-articles/stability-analysis-vs-capability-analysis/
Attribute & Discrete Capability

http://statisticaloutsourcingservices.com/Capability.pdf
Monitoring Techniques
See Statistical Process Control
DPMO with Sigma Shift Table
Process Capability & Performance (Pp, Ppk, Cp,

Cpk) Practice Questions
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Contributors
Ted Hessing
I originally created SixSigmaStudyGuide.com to help me prepare for my own Black belt exams. Overtime I've
grown the site to help tens of thousands of Six Sigma belt candidates prepare for their Green Belt & Black Belt
exams. Go here to learn how to pass your Six Sigma exam the 1st time through!
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This entry was posted in Control, Measure and tagged ASQ, Black Belt, Green Belt, Update needed, Villanova.
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Comments (25)
Kirk Ferland
November 30, 2017 at 1:01 pm
I’m studying a new machining process and want to get an initial Pp value. What is the desired minimum num-
ber of measurements to take before starting calculations?
Reply
Six Sigma Study Guide 

December 10, 2017 at 10:27 am
Hi Kirk,
Kirk, Good question. I don’t know the answer off the top of my head, but let’s reason through it
together:
One, in order to get a good Pp value, you need to be reading from a stable process. If the process
isn’t stable, there is no true process capability.
I would start up the new process and start measuring until you’re sure it’s stable. Once the
process is stable, then I’d start looking at how many measurements you’d need. A good guess
would be greater than 30 but I don’t know. My colleagues tell me that a book Measuring Process
Capability by Davis Bothe has an expansive treatment on this along with equations for determin-
ing the min size.
Hope this puts you on the right path.
Sample size affects how precisely you estimate the true process capability index (Cpk). There is
no hard and fine rule. You can live with 30 samples but take note of your precision.
Reply
madhuvishal gupta
if cpk value less the 1.33 ,then what will be the justification
Reply

April 6, 2018 at 4:55 pm
Not sure I understand your question, Madhuvishal. A Cpk of less than 1.0 means that the process
is not capable of meeting its requirements. So, if a Cpk is between 1.33 and 1, the ‘justification’ is
that the process barely meets requirements. Less than that means the process doesn’t meet.
Reply
Sachin Goyal
February 9, 2018 at 3:12 am
As I have read that Pp predict long term process capability and Cp predict short term capability.During new
product development we check Pp and during production on stable process we calculate Cp.
So my question is why need of Cp that give result for short term and why not calculate Pp all the time to make
sure long term capability.
Reply

April 6, 2018 at 4:59 pm
Sachin, this is a much longer answer. In short, you should be using them in tandem.
Here are (2) excellent resources:
https://www.spcforexcel.com/knowledge/process-capability/cpk-alone-not-sufficient
https://www.spcforexcel.com/knowledge/process-capability/cpk-vs-ppk-who-wins
Reply
vikas satre
March 3, 2019 at 3:33 am
sir ,
1.if PPK & PP give exact result of process why need to go with CP & CPK ?
2.if PP & PPK gives exact standard deviation. if we calculate PP & PPK & is in within limit then can we say
cp&cpk need not calculate and process is capable
Reply
Ted Hessing 
March 3, 2019 at 7:20 am
Hi Vikas,
The main difference between Ppk and Cpk is that Ppk tells you how the process performed in the
past while Cpk can provide insight to how it might perform in the future (assuming process
stability.)
You calculate each depending on what exactly you are looking to examine (short term vs long
term expectations.)
Best, Ted.
Reply
Gregoire Mahaut
March 13, 2019 at 12:17 pm
Above, it is written:
Differences Between Cp & Pp
The biggest difference between Cp and Pp is how the Standard Deviation is determined. In Pp we use sam-
pling and have to calculate an estimated standard deviation of the sample. In Cp we are assuming a stable
process and will likely have enough data to calculate a true standard deviation.
I am a bit confused about this statement. Isn’t it more something like:
In Pp, we are considering all the available data, and calculate a true standard deviation. In Cp we use sampling
and have to calculate an estimated standard deviation of the sample.
The stability of the process (assuming the process is stable) allow us to use Cp (with sigma estimated from a
subgroup) to have an insight of the future expected Pp value (with the true standard deviation of this particu-
lar subgroup together with the other ones).
Can you correct me if I’m wrong?
Thanks.
Reply
Ted Hessing 
July 27, 2019 at 4:32 pm
Hi Gregoire,
I’m happy to answer this question inside the Pass Your Six Sigma Green Belt – Custom
membership.
Best, Ted.
Reply
Raj
March 26, 2019 at 2:22 am
Can anyone explain how the Cp, Cpk & Pp, Ppk are determined by taking one example using formulae Bcos m
new to SPC . where i can find all related farmulae to work with spc? any help would be appreciated.
Reply
Ted Hessing 
July 27, 2019 at 4:34 pm
Raj,
I have many, many resources for SPC here.
And there are thousands of practice questions available inside the members section.
Best, Ted.
Reply
Suresh
January 14, 2020 at 6:59 am
comparing with cpk or ppk which should be higher
Reply
Han Vo
January 27, 2020 at 11:00 am
Hi Ted,
I am Han 🙂
Thank you so much for your information.
You mention that : Pp ( New Process or Process not under statistical control) and Cp (Exist Process Under
statistical control) in the table
I would like to ask what is Process Under statistical control?
and some documents said that Cp, Cpk (short term) and Pp, Ppk (long term), is it correct ?
Thanks!
Han
Reply
Husam
July 16, 2020 at 2:29 am
if we transfer product from site to another site how we can compare it statically
Reply
Ted Hessing 
July 16, 2020 at 1:47 pm
Hi Husam,
Thanks for the question. I’m not sure what you’re asking here. Can you elaborate?
Best, Ted.
Reply
Mustafa
September 3, 2020 at 3:36 am
You can use F-test or t-test
Reply
Shivam pateriya
October 1, 2020 at 5:58 am
Hi Ted,
Is Cpk cant be higher then Ppk, if you use same data to calculate?
Reply
Tanner Zornes
October 24, 2020 at 6:37 pm
I think you meant to section heading to say “Uses for Cpk & Ppk: is the Process Acceptable.”
“Uses for Cp & Pp: Is The Process Acceptable?”
Reply
John Simmons
July 8, 2021 at 8:37 am
How does the risk level of the part/process interact with the Cpk/Ppk acceptance criteria? Why would a low
risk and a high risk part have the same 1.50 Ppk requirement? If you base your sample size off of the risk level,
then a lower risk item will have fewer samples, but still need to achieve a 1.50 Ppk. This would make it more
difficult to pass versus a higher risk (more samples) with the same criteria.
Reply
Ted Hessing 
July 8, 2021 at 9:30 am
What do you mean by risk, John?
Reply
Ed
Is there a typo here? “Here we want to use Cp for new processes or Pp for processes that are under statistical
control.”
Shouldn’t Pp be used for new processes and Cp for processes under SC?
Reply
Ramana PV
You are correct Ed.
Cp & Cpk when a process is stable and Pp & Ppk when a process is new, the way you calculate each
are a bit different, too
A process capability study uses data from an initial run of parts to predict whether a manufacturing
process can repeatably produce parts that meet specifications.
Think of it as being similar to a forecast. You will take some historical data, and extrapolate out to
the future to answer the question “can I rely on this process to deliver good parts?”.
A process performance study is used to EVALUATE a manufacturing process and answers the
question: “how did the process actually perform over a period of time?” This is a historical analysis
rather than a predictive analysis, but can still be used to drive process improvements.
Thanks
Reply
Ta
Hello Ted
When value cpk < ppk?
Thank you.
Reply
Ted Hessing 
Hi Ta,
What have you tried so far?
Best, Ted.
Reply
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12/16/21, 11:00 AM Process Capability & Performance (Pp, Ppk, Cp, Cpk)

Process Capability & Performance

after you have implemented your changes.

Process Performance (Pp, Ppk)

Process Capability (Cp, Cpk)

Z score and process capability

mathematically about the variation of the process.

Process spread vs centering

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

When to Use Pp, Ppk, Cp, and Cpk

deviation or deviation mean within rational subgroups

When to use Pp Ppk Cp Cpk

Differences Between Cp & Pp

enough data to calculate a true standard deviation.

What Can Process Capability and Process

the process for comparison.

to park our car will hit the wall of the garage!

Specification Limit and LSL- Lower Specification Limit):

fitting within the specification limits and thus is not capable.

See how to calculate Cp.

See how to calculate Pp.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

Is the Process Acceptable?

this using Ppk or Cpk.

See how to calculate Cpk.

See how to calculate Ppk.

A Note on a Process Being Both Capable and

Six Sigma Process Capability & Performance

Control Limits, Specification Limits and Process

the process has more variability than the customer desires.

Uses for Cp & Pp

consider process centering so it cannot be used to determine if a process is acceptable.

Pp is merely a snapshot of the process variation at a given point in time.

Both indices are larger-is-better quality characteristics

process was not centered within the specification limits.

Ppk vs Cpk (Acceptable Performance)

Uses for Cp & Pp: Is The Process Acceptable?

Ways to measure the capability of a process.

Reflect the actual performance of the process.

Both Cpk and Ppk can be a negative numbers.

It means that, on average, the process is not meeting customer requirements.

Can Cpk or Ppk be Negative? What does a negative Cpk or Ppk

Ppk = [ USL – x(bar) ] / 3 s

Limit. In other words, the process average is out of specification.

Pp, Ppk vs Cp, CPK

Use Cp & Cpk once the process is in a state of statistical control.

Cpk or Ppk is less than CP or Pp.

Interesting video on assessing Ppk and Cpk in

How to Assess Process Capability using Minitab 17

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

Additional notes for Cp, Cpk, Pp, Ppk

Attribute & Discrete Capability

DPMO with Sigma Shift Table

Process Capability & Performance (Pp, Ppk, Cp,

Unlock Additional Members-only Content!

 Upgrade to a Full Membership

If you are a member, you can log in here.

Thank You for being a Member!

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ber of measurements to take before starting calculations?

Six Sigma Study Guide 