topic Re: cpk VS ppk in Discussions

cpk VS ppk

septon — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 11:05:13 GMT

Hi,

Why do I get different values of ppk and cpk when my data contains only 1 column - why are the within and overall sigma different?For example - for this data:

98.8
99.7
99.7
99.9
99.5
100
100.4
98.8
99.3
100.5
100.4
100.5
100.2
100.4
101.5
100.7
100.7
100.4
99.7
100.3
100.4
101.2
101.2
100
99.7
100.3
101.4
101
100.5

I get:

Thanks

Re: cpk VS ppk

jthi — Sat, 11 Oct 2025 04:52:18 GMT

They estimate sigma in different ways (within sigma for Cpk and overall sigma for Ppk). The calculations are documented somewhere in JMP Help but I couldn't quickly find it. If I remember correctly for example for Cpk if you do not provide subgroup, JMP will consider two consecutive rows as a subgroup and the ordering of the data will affect Cpk (be very careful with this).

Edit: Some documentation here

Quality and Process Methods > Process Capability > Statistical Details for the Process Capability Platform > Statistical Details for Capability Indices for Normal Distributions and here Basic Analysis > Distributions > Options for Continuous Variables > Process Capability

Edit2: Slight improvements to the used language and some extra information. This might be the correct documentation to explain the sigma calculations:

Quality and Process Methods > Process Capability > Statistical Details for the Process Capability Platform > Statistical Details for Variation Statistics

If you specify a subgroup ID column or a constant subgroup size on the launch window, you can specify your preferred within-subgroup variation statistic. See Launch the Process Capability Platform. If you do not specify a subgroup ID column, a constant subgroup size, or a historical sigma, JMP estimates the within sigma using the third method (moving range of subgroups of size two).

Re: cpk VS ppk

matth1 — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 16:06:32 GMT

Order matters for Cpk. I had a hard time getting my head around it as well, so just for fun I created a deliberately extreme example of 1000 random values and the same data set sorted to show the difference.

Code here:

names default to here(1);

dt0 = New Table( "init", New Column( "Random" ), Invisible );
dt0 << Begin Data Update << Add Rows( 1000 );
For Each Row( dt0, :Random = Random Normal( 0, 1 ) );
dt0 << End Data Update;

dt_sort = dt0 << Sort( By( :Random ), Order( Ascending ), Invisible );
dt_sort:Random << Set Name( "Sorted" );

dt = dt0 << Join( With( dt_sort ), By Row Number, Output Table( "cpk_vs_ppk" ) );
Close( dt0, No Save );
Close( dt_sort, No Save );

For Each( {col}, dt << get column references(),
	col << Set Property( "Spec Limits", {LSL( -2.5 ), USL( 2.5 ), Show Limits( 1 )} )
);

Wait( 0 );

win01 = New Window( "Cpk vs Ppk",
	Text Box( "The Random column conatins 1000 rows of normally distributed random data", <<set wrap( 1000 ) ),
	Text Box( "The Sorted column is the same data, just sorted low-high", <<set wrap( 1000 ) ),
	Text Box(
		"Switch between the two colums to show the impact of data order on Cpk (but not Ppk)",
		<<set wrap( 1000 )
	),
	Data Filter Context Box(
		H List Box(
			V List Box(
				cs = dt << column switcher( :Random, {:Random, :Sorted} ),
				dt << data filter( Local, Show Controls( 0 ), Add Filter( Columns( :Random ) ) )
			),
			V List Box(
				dist = dt << Distribution(
					Continuous Distribution(
						Column( :Random ),
						Quantiles( 0 ),
						Summary Statistics( 0 ),
						Horizontal Layout( 1 ),
						Histogram( 0 ),
						Vertical( 0 ),
						Outlier Box Plot( 0 ),
						Process Capability(
							Use Column Property Specs,
							Process Capability Analysis( Nonconformance( 0 ) )
						)
					)
				),
				Text Box( "    " ),
				runchart = dt << Graph Builder(
					Transform Column( "Row", Formula( Row() ) ),
					Size( 795, 393 ),
					Show Control Panel( 0 ),
					Variables( X( :Row ), Y( :Random ) ),
					Elements( Points( X, Y, Legend( 3 ) ), Line( X, Y, Legend( 5 ) ) ),
					SendToReport(
						Dispatch( {}, "Row", ScaleBox,
							{Min( -5 ), Max( 1005 ), Inc( 200 ), Minor Ticks( 3 ), Label Row( Show Major Grid( 1 ) )
							}
						),
						Dispatch( {}, "Random", ScaleBox, {Label Row( Show Major Grid( 1 ) )} ),
						Dispatch( {}, "400", ScaleBox,
							{Legend Model( 5, Properties( 0, {Line Width( 1 )}, Item ID( "Random", 1 ) ) )}
						)
					)
				)
			)
		)
	)
);

cs << link platform( dist );
cs << link platform( runchart );

Switch between the random and sorted columns to demonstrate it.

In the sorted column there is a tiny difference between consecutive points compared to a (on average) larger difference between consecutive points in the random example.

回复： cpk VS ppk

Xinghua — Sat, 11 Oct 2025 01:27:59 GMT

The calculation formulas for CPK and PPK are exactly the same. The only difference is the algorithm for calculating the sample standard deviation. CPK uses an estimation standard, which has the concept of "group".

Re: cpk VS ppk

christian-z — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 07:14:33 GMT

Just to add to the good answers already posted by others, I would also recommend the Quality and Process Chapter of the STIPS online learning course. It explains how Cpk and Ppk are calculated with some concrete, hands-on examples: SPC, MSA and Process Capability Training | JMP.