Introduction
How is a manufacturing process determined to be capable of producing parts that meet engineering requirements? Some, like the finish of a gear tooth are critical, while the roughness of a non-contact surface isn’t critical. The critical characteristics need to be identified and checked to determine if the process is capable.
This article defines the analysis concepts and indices.
Prototypes and Series Production
Process capability assessments (PCA) start during the product development process and continue into series production. Prototype parts are created by a variety of methods, ranging from hand-crafted parts to short term manufacturing in a production intent process under factory conditions. The methods that are closest to series production are the most realistic.