Bootstrap Confidence Limits for Short-Run Capability Indices

The capability indices are widely used by quality professionals as an estimate of process capability. Recently, techniques and tables were developed to construct confidence limits for each index. These techniques are based on the assumption that the underlying process is normally distributed. In industries it may not be possible to get large samples, and, hence, the normality assumption is often violated. For the short-run production processes where sample size is small, appropriate indices can be developed. In this article, the capability indices such as C_p, C_pk, and C_pm are modified, and appropriate capability indices are constructed. A further bootstrap technique is used to define the confidence intervals. A simulation using two distributions (one normal and the other nonnormal) is conducted, and a comparison is made to show the performances of the three nonparametric confidence intervals.     

Multivariate process incapability vector

Process capability indices evaluate the capability of the processes in satisfying customer's requirements. This paper introduces a superstructure multivariate process incapability vector for multivariate normal processes and then, compares it with four recently proposed multivariate process capability indices to show its better performance. In addition, the effects of two modification factors are investigated. Also, bootstrap confidence intervals for the first component of the proposed vector are obtained. Furthermore, real manufacturing data sets are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed vector.     

工序能力分析与评价中的几个问题

在工序质量分析与控制中,计算与评价工序能力指数是一项非常重要的工作,也是计算机辅助质量系统的一个重要模块。文章针对目前在工序能力计算与分析中出现的问题,提出了如何合理地进行抽样、样本数据的正态性检验以及对非正态性数据的处理、Ｃｐ的置信区间以及与样本含量的关系,旨在为实际生产过程中质量工程师进行工序能力分析和评价提供指导。     

The stochastic control of process capability indices

In manufacturing science, process capability indices play a role analogous to economic indices in government statistics. The existing capability indices are passive devices whose main role is to retroactively monitor process capability. The have been developed under the restrictive assumption of process stability, and the procedures for using them are based on ad hoc rules. Using the normative point of view for decision making, it can be shown that some of the indices are, at best, convoluted special cases of a more general strategy; they can be justified only under special assumptions, and the manner in which they are currently used could lead to incoherent actions. The available process capability indices should therefore be abandoned and replaced by procedures that are normative, and also proactive with respect to both, prediction and control. An approach towards achieving this goal is proposed. Research Sponsored by The National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-0001 (Under Purchase Order No. 43NANB610868), The U.S. Army Research Office Grant DAAG-55-97-1-0323, and The Air Force Office of Scientific Research Grant AFOSR-F-49620-95-0107     

On the performance of different capability indices under normal and non-normal distributions

In this article, we have examined the performance of some useful capability indices using normal and non-normal distributions. The confidence intervals are calculated and mean coverage rates are observed for different capability indices. The effects of symmetry and kurtosis of parent distributions are examined on the mean coverage rates of different capability indices. Moreover, we have investigated the robustness (of confidence interval) using the median and percentile-based indices. We have considered the well-known distributions including normal, gamma, t, Weibull, and chi-squared. For these process scenarios, we have observed that some indices resist disturbance only in symmetry of the parent distribution, some resist the disturbance in symmetry and kurtosis of the distribution, and some indices don’t resist against either type of disturbance.     

Monitoring manufacturing quality for multiple Li-BPIC processes based on capability index C pmk

The multi-process performance analysis chart (MPPAC) based on process capability indices has been developed to analyse the manufacturing performance for multiple processes, which conveys critical information regarding the departure of the process mean from the target value, process variability, capability levels, which provides a guideline of directions for capability improvement. Existing MPPAC researches have plotted the sample estimates of the process indices on the chart. Conclusions were then made on whether processes meet the capability requirement and directions need to be taken for further quality improvement. Such an approach is highly unreliable since the sample point estimate is a random variable with no assessment of the sampling errors. Further, existing MPPAC researches only considered one single sample. Current quality control practice is to estimate process capability using multiple groups of control chart samples rather than one single sample. In this paper, we propose the C _pmk MPPAC combining the accuracy index C _a to access the performance of multiple manufacturing processes. Distributions of the estimated C _pmk and C _a are derived based on multiple control chart samples, and accurate lower confidence bounds are calculated. The lower confidence bounds of the estimated C _pmk and C _a are then employed to the MPPAC to provide reliable capability grouping for those multiple processes. A real-world example is presented to illustrate the applicability of the proposed MPPAC.     

Comparing Two Process Capability Indices under Balanced One‐Way Random Effect Model

Process capability indices such as C_p, C_pk, C_pmk and C_pm are widely used in manufacturing industries to provide a quantitative measurement of the performance of the products. In this article, we derived generalized confidence intervals for the difference between process capability indices for two processes under one‐way random effect model. Our study provides coverage probability close to the nominal value in almost all cases as shown via simulation. An example from industrial contexts is given to illustrate the results. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measuring the Process Yield for Circular Profiles

Two indices C_p(circular) and C_pk(circular) based on the functional method have been proposed to measure the process capability of circular profiles. However, these two indices only provide potential capability and a lower bound on the process yield, respectively. In this paper, we develop a new yield index S_pk(circular) for circular profiles. This index provides an exact measure of process yield. The asymptotic normal distribution of the estimated index is derived. The statistical inferences such as hypothesis testing, confidence interval, and lower confidence interval can be easily constructed. A simulation study is conducted to assess the performance of the proposed method. The simulation results confirm that the estimates are close to the true value and the coverage rates of the confidence intervals are greater than the 95% lower limit of the stated nominal in most cases. One real data set is used to illustrate the applicability of the proposed method. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Bayesian procedure for process capability assessment

The usual practice of judging process capability by evaluating point estimates of some process capability indices has a flaw that there is no assessment on the error distributions of these estimates. However, the distributions of these estimates are usually so complicated that it is very difficult to obtain good interval estimates. In this paper we adopt a Bayesian approach to obtain an interval estimation, particularly for the index C_pm. The posterior probability p that the process under investigation is capable is derived; then the credible interval, a Bayesian analogue of the classical confidence interval, can be obtained. We claim that the process is capable if all the points in the credible interval are greater than the pre‐specified capability level ω, say 1.33. To make this Bayesian procedure very easy for practitioners to implement on manufacturing floors, we tabulate the minimum values of Ĉ_pm/ω, for which the posterior probability p reaches the desirable level, say 95%. For the special cases where the process mean equals the target value for C_pm and equals the midpoint of the two specification limits for C_pk, the procedure is even simpler; only chi‐square tables are needed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On properties of probability-based multivariate process capability indices

Multivariate process capability indices (MPCIs) have been proposed to measure multivariate process capability in real-world application over the past three decades. For the practitioner's point of view, the intention of this paper is to examine the performances and distributional properties of probability-based MPCIs. Considering issues of construction of capability indices in multivariate setup and computation with performance, we found that probability-based MPCIs are a proper generalization of univariate basic process capability indices (PCIs). In the beginning of this decade, computation of probability-based indices was a difficult and time-consuming task, but in the computer age statistics, computation of probability-based MPCIs is simple and quick. Recent work on the performance of MPCI NMC_pm and distributional properties of its estimator reasonably recommended this index, for use in practical situations. To study distributional properties of natural estimators of probability-based MPCIs and recommended index estimator, we conducted simulation study. Though natural estimators of probability-based indices are negatively biased, they are better with respect to mean, relative bias, mean square error. Probability-based MPCI MC_pm is better as compared with NMC_pm with respect to performance and as its estimator quality. Hence, in real-world practice, we recommend probability-based MPCIs as a multivariate analogue of basic PCIs.     

Generalized confidence intervals for assessing process capability of multiple production lines

Process capability indices (PCIs) have become popular as unit‐less measures on whether a process is capable of reproducing items meeting the quality requirement. A reliable approach for testing process capability is to establish an interval estimate, for which we can assert that it contains the true PCI value with a reasonable degree of certainty. However, the construction of such an interval estimate is not trivial, since the distribution of the commonly used C_pk index involves unknown parameters. In this paper, we adopt the concept of generalized confidence intervals and generalized pivotal quantities to derive the generalized lower confidence bounds for providing critical information on process performance. Two practical applications in the area of process capability were considered, they include (i) assessing whether a process under investigation is capable and (ii) providing the lowest performance of the manufacturing processes from several production lines or several suppliers for quality assurance. The applicability of the derived results is also illustrated with examples. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparing Confidence Intervals for Multivariate Process Capability Indices

Multivariate process capability indices (MPCIs) are needed for process capability analysis when the quality of a process is determined by several univariate quality characteristics that are correlated. There are several different MPCIs described in the literature, but confidence intervals have been derived for only a handful of these. In practice, the conclusion about process capability must be drawn from a random sample. Hence, confidence intervals or tests for MPCIs are important. With a case study as a start and under the assumption of multivariate normality, we review and compare four different available methods for calculating confidence intervals of MPCIs that generalize the univariate index C_p. Two of the methods are based on the ratio of a tolerance region to a process region, and two are based on the principal component analysis. For two of the methods, we derive approximate confidence intervals, which are easy to calculate and can be used for moderate sample sizes. We discuss issues that need to be solved before the studied methods can be applied more generally in practice. For instance, three of the methods have approximate confidence levels only, but no investigation has been carried out on how good these approximations are. Furthermore, we highlight the problem with the correspondence between the index value and the probability of nonconformance. We also elucidate a major drawback with the existing MPCIs on the basis of the principal component analysis. Our investigation shows the need for more research to obtain an MPCI with confidence interval such that conclusions about the process capability can be drawn at a known confidence level and that a stated value of the MPCI limits the probability of nonconformance in a known way. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Algebraic Relationship Between Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Capability Indices

There have been many investigations on the capability indices C_p, C_pk, C_pm, and C_pmk, for the common situation in which the target is the midpoint of the tolerance interval. However, only a few investigations deal with the specific case of asymmetrical tolerances. In that particular case, a number of symmetrical and asymmetrical indices are put forward, but there is no full literature treatment or synthesis showing the similarity between those indices and the common ones. We intend here, to demonstrate that the algebraic links between the indices C_p, C_pk, C_pm, and C_pmk, are similar to the ones which relate the symmetrical indices proposed in the case of asymmetrical tolerances. In that case, the algebraic structure allows us to propose asymmetrical indices families. An example based on a pharmaceutical filling operation is used to illustrate the application.     

One‐sided Process Capability Assessment in the Presence of Measurement Errors

In the manufacturing industry, many product characteristics are of one‐sided specifications. The well‐known process capability indices C_PU and C_PL are often used to measure process performance. Most capability research works have assumed no measurement errors. Unfortunately, such an assumption is not realistic even if the measurement is conducted using highly sophisticated advanced measuring instruments. Therefore, conclusions drawn regarding process capability are not reliable. In this paper, we consider the estimation and testing of C_PU and C_PL with the presence of measurement errors, to obtain adjusted lower confidence bounds and critical values for true process capability, which can be used to determine whether the factory processes meet the capability requirement when the measurement errors are unavoidable. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New capability indices for evaluating the performance of multivariate manufacturing processes

Generally, an industrial product has more than one quality characteristic. In order to establish performance measures for evaluating the capability of a multivariate manufacturing process, several multivariate process capability indices have been developed in the past few years. Among them, Taam's MC_p and MC_pm indices have the drawback of overestimation and Hubele's three‐component capability vector lacks simplicity in practice. In this article, taking the correlation among multiple quality characteristics into account, we develop two novel indices; NMC_p and NMC_pm. Using two numerical examples we demonstrate that the true performance of multivariate processes are accurately reflected in our NMC_p and NMC_pm indices and in their associated interval estimates. Finally, simulation results show that our indices outperform both those of Taam and Hubele. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrating Customer Perception into Process Capability Measures

Process capability indices provide a measure of the output of an in‐control process that conforms to a set of specification limits. These measures, which assume that process output is approximately normally distributed, are intended for measuring process capability for manufacturing systems. When the performance of a system results in a product that fails to fall within a given specification range, however, the product is typically scrapped or reworked, and the actual distribution that the customer perceives after inspection is truncated. In this paper, the concept of a truncated measure for three types of quality characteristics is introduced as the key to linking customer perception to process capability. Subsequently, a set of customer‐perceived process capability indices is presented as an extension of traditional manufacturer‐based counterparts. Finally, data transformation‐based process capability indices are also discussed. A comparative study and numerical example reveal considerable differences among the traditional and proposed process capability indices. It is believed that the proposed process capability index for various quality characteristics may more aptly lead to process improvement by facilitating a better understanding of the integrated effects found in engineering design problems. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A New Method for Constructing Confidence Intervals for the Index Cpm

In the statistical literature on the study of the capability of processes through the use of indices, C_pm appears to have been one of the most widely used capability indices and its estimation has attracted much interest. In this article, a new method for constructing approximate confidence intervals or lower confidence limits for this index is suggested. The method is based on an approximation of the non‐central chi‐square distribution, which was proposed by Pearson. Its coverage appears to be more satisfactory compared with that achieved by any of the two most widely used methods that were proposed by Boyles, in situations where one is interested in assessing a lower confidence limit for C_pm. This is supported by the results of an extensive simulation study. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of Testing Normality on Estimating Process Capability Indices

Process capability indices are used to measure whether a manufacturing process meets the specifications. The studies of these indices are usually based on the assumption that the process follows a normal distribution. These include the indices C_p, C_pk, C_pm, and C_pmk. When the investigator is uncertain whether the process follows a normal distribution, a test of normality may be used to resolve the uncertainty. If the test accepts the null hypothesis that the process follows a normal distribution, the investigator uses C_p, C_pk, C_pm, or C_pmk. If the test rejects the null hypothesis, the investigator uses indices under non-normal distributions. Therefore the test of normality is a preliminary test that determines the form of the distribution and the index to use. In this paper we study the effect of the preliminary test of normality on the estimation of the four process capability indices mentioned above.     

Generalized confidence intervals for process capability indices

The concept of generalized confidence intervals is used to derive lower confidence limits for some of the commonly used process capability indices. For the cases where approximate lower confidence limits are already available, numerical comparisons are made among the available approximations and the generalized lower confidence limit. The numerical results indicate that the generalized confidence interval does provide coverage probabilities very close to the nominal confidence level. Two examples are given to illustrate the results. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.