
| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| USL | Upper specification limit | 
| LSL | Lower specification limit | 
| Toler | Multiplier of the sigma tolerance (Minitab uses 6 as the default value) | 
![]()  | Overall standard deviation | 
Cpm is available only when a target is specified. Minitab calculates Cpm based on known values of LSL, USL, and T.
| Known value | Cpm | 
|---|---|
| LSL and USL only | * | 
| LSL, USL, and T = m |  
![]()  | 
 
| LSL, USL, and T ≠ m |  
![]()  | 
 
| USL and T only |  
![]()  | 
 
| LSL and T only |  
![]()  | 
 
| Either LSL or USL only | * | 
| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| * | Missing value | 
| USL | Upper specification limit | 
| LSL | Lower specification limit | 
| m | Midpoint between USL and LSL | 
| T | Target value | 
| Xij | jth observation in the ith subgroup | 
| ni | Number of observations in the ith subgroup | 
| Toler | Multiplier of the sigma tolerance (Minitab uses 6 as the default value) | 

The expected number of parts per million that are outside of the specification limits, based on the overall variation of the process, is


| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| PPM | Parts per million | 
| LSL | Lower specification limit | 
| USL | Upper specification limit | 
| Φ (X) | Cumulative distribution function (CDF) of a standard normal distribution | 
![]()  | Average of the observations | 
| s | Overall standard deviation | 
Benchmark Z statistics for overall capability are calculated by finding the Z value using the standard normal (0,1) distribution for the corresponding statistics.



where:


| Term | Description | 
|---|---|
| LSL | Lower specification limit | 
| USL | Upper specification limit | 
| Φ (X) | Cumulative distribution function (CDF) of a standard normal distribution | 
| Φ-1 (X) | Inverse CDF of a standard normal distribution | 
![]()  | Overall standard deviation |