Understand and evaluate the capability of a manufacturing process

You use a manufacturing process to produce a product. This process is subject to constantly changing conditions, resulting in variations in the characteristics of the final product. Moreover, it is not possible for you to measure all the products you make to ensure that each one conforms to your specifications. Statistical science, on the other hand, makes it possible to quantify, on the basis of a few samples, the total variation in production, in order to guarantee that it meets the customer's requirements for all (or almost all) products. This fact sheet introduces the concepts involved in this assessment, which consists in verifying what we call "process capability".

By verifying the suitability (capability) of the manufacturing process, suppliers can ensure their own ability to satisfy their customers, and therefore only commit to specifications that are compatible with their actual production capacities.