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P CHARTS Charts used to plot percent defectives in a sample. 
P/N Part Number 
P3I Pre Planned Product Improvement 
PA Performance Assessment 
Packaging A unit that provides protection and containment of items plus ease of handling by manual or mechanical means.
Paradigm A way of thinking about a given subject that defines how one views events, relationships, ideas, etc. within the boundaries of that subject.
Paradigm Shift A point in the knowledge or structure which underlies a science or discipline changes in such a fundamental way that the belief and behavior of the people involved are changed. 
PARAMETER A constant defining a particular property of the density function of a variable.
PARETO ANALYSIS A bar chart in which the bars are displayed by frequency, in descending order, identifying the most important defects.
Pareto Analysis 80/20 rule focus on the important stuff....
Pareto chart A bar chart that orders data from the most frequent to the least frequent, allowing the analyst to determine the most important factor in a given situation or process.
Pareto Chart is a special form of a bar graph and is used to display the relative importance of problems or conditions
Pareto Chart shows the distribution of items and arranges them from the most frequent to the least frequent with the final bar being misc. The tool is named after Wilfredo Pareto, the Italian economist who determined that wealth is not evenly distributed. Some of the people have most of the money. This tool is a graphical picture of the most frequent causes of a particular problem. It shows where to put your initial effort to get the most gain.
Pareto Charts A problem solving/statistical tool that ranks problem areas, or sources of variation , according to their contribution to cost or to total variation . 
PARETO DIAGRAM A chart which ranks, or places in order, common occurrences.
Pareto principle The idea that a few root problems are responsible for the large majority of consequences. The Pareto principle is derived from the work of Vilfredo Pareto, a turn-of-the-century Italian economist who studied the distributions of wealth in different countries. He concluded that a fairly consistent minority about 20% of people controlled the large majority about 80% of a society's wealth. This same distribution has been observed in other areas and has been termed the Pareto principle. It is defined by J.M. Juran as the idea that 80% of all effects are produced by only 20% of the possible causes.
Parts Per Million (PPM)PPM is a way of stating the performance of a process in terms of actual or projected defective material. PPM data can be used to indicate areas variation requiring attention. 
Percent chart (p chart) A control chart that determines the stability of a process by finding what percentage of total units in a sample are defective.
Performance Measure An indicator that can be used to evaluate quality, cost, or cycle time characteristics of an activity or process usually against a target or standard value.
Performance requirement. (IEEE) A requirement that imposes conditions on a functional requirement; e.g., a requirement that specifies the speed. accuracy, or memory usage with which a given function must be performed.
PERFORMANCE STANDARD Expectation of how often a job or task should be done right. An attitude that "I will do my job right the first time, every time" is such a standard.
Peripheral device. Equipment that is directly connected a computer. A peripheral device can be used to input data: e.g., keypad, bar code reader, transducer, laboratory test equipment: or to output data; eg., printer, disk drive, video system, tape drive, valve controller, motor controller. Syn: peripheral equipment.
PERTURBATION A non random disturbance.
PFMEA Process Failure Mode Effects Analysis: An analytical technique used to assure that potential process failure modes and associated causes have been considered and addressed. 
Physical requirement. (IEEE) A requirement that specifies a physical characteristic that a system or system component must posses; e.g., material, shape, size, weight.
Pie chart A chart that compares groups of data to the whole data set by showing each group as a "slice" of the entire "pie." Pie charts are particularly useful for investigating what percentage each group represents.
Plan Do Study Act (PDSA or PDCA) Originally Shewhart's Plan Do Check Act or the application of the scientific method to engineering and management. Deming later changed Check to Study. A look before you leap approach to standardization or maintenance (Standardize Do Check Act), solving problems and improvement or reactive mode (Check Act Plan Do) and achieving opportunities and new developments or proactive mode (Plan Do Check Act). . 
Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle A four-step improvement process originally conceived of by Walter A. Shewhart. The first step involves planning for the necessary improvement; the second step is the implementation of the plan; the third step is to check the results of the plan; the last step is to act upon the results of the plan. It is also known as the Shewhart cycle, the Deming cycle, and the PDCA cycle.
Platform. The hardware and software which must be present and functioning for an application program to run [perform] as intended. A platform includes, but is not limited to the operating system or executive software, communication software, microprocessor. network, input/output hardware, any generic software libraries, database management, user interface software, and the like.
PO Purchase Order 
POI Program of Instruction
Pokayoke Japanese approach to mistake proofing. Primarily activities for front line employees empowered to make changes to their work processes to enhance accuracy, safety, and efficiency. 
Policy deployment Another name for hoshin planning.

Polling. A technique a CPU can use to learn if a peripheral device is ready to receive data or to send data. In this method each device is checked or polled in-turn to determine if that device needs service. The device must wait until it is polled in order to send or receive data. This method is useful if the device's data can wait for a period of time before being processed, since each device must await its turn in the polling scheme before it will be serviced by the processor. Contrast with interrupt.
POPULATION A group of similar items from which a sample is drawn. Often referred to as the universe. 
Population A theoretical, infinitely large sample
Population Total set of items from which a sample set is taken.
Portal An internet browser combined with a search engine. 
POWER OF AN EXPERIMENT The probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is false and accepting the alternate hypothesis when it is true.
PPAP Production Parts Approval Process
PPM Predictive Preventative Maintenance
PPP Proper Prior Planning
Precision The closeness of agreement between randomly selected individual measurements or test results. Also see Accuracy.
Predictive Maintenance Maintenance performed on equipment just prior to the predicted breakdown of that equipment. 
Preliminary Bill of Material An initial Bill of Material completed prior to design and print release. 
Preliminary Process Capability Studies Preliminary Process Capability Studies are short term studies conducted to obtain early information on the performance of new or revised processes relative to internal or customer requirements. In many cases, preliminary studies should be conducted at several points in the evolution of new processes (e.g., at the equipment or tooling subcontractor's plant, after installation at the supplier's plant) These studies should be based on as many measurements as possible. When X Bar and R charts, at least twenty subgroups (typically three to five pieces) are required to obtain sufficient data for decision making. When this amount of data is not available, control charts should be started with whatever data is available. 
Present Value The current value of a future series of cash flow given a discount factor or interest value. Used to evaluate the alternative investments. 
PREVENTION The practice of eliminating unwanted variation a priori (before the fact), e.g., predicting a future condition from a control chart and then applying corrective action before the predicted event transpires.
Preventive Action Action(s) designed to prevent the occurrence of non-conformances, or non-conformities. 
Preventive Maintenance Maintenance performed on equipment, with the intent on prolonging equipment life and/or preventing breakdown and malfunction. 
PRICE OF NON QUALITY (PONQ) What it costs to do things wrong, resulting in losses such as time, money and opportunity. An equation for estimating PONQ is: the amount of time required to fix a defect x the number of defects x the hourly wage rate (fully burdened with overhead, overtime, benefits, etc.).
PRIMARY CONTROL VARIABLES The major independent variables used in the experiment.
PROBABILITY The chance of something happening; the percent or number of occurrences over a large number of trials.
PROBABILITY OF AN EVENT The number of successful events divided by the total number of trials.
PROBLEM A deviation from a specified standard.
PROBLEM AVOIDANCE Causing non conformance not to happen. Problem avoidance involves planning, proofing, and regulating job processes, thereby eliminating opportunities for error.
PROBLEM ELIMINATION PROCESS (PROCEDURE ) A formalized problem identification and resolution procedure developed by the Problem Elimination Coordinator and utilized by all employees.
PROBLEM ELIMINATION TEAM A group of employees working together to solve a quality problem. There are two types of Problem Elimination Teams regular Problem Elimination Teams and Quality Council sponsored Problem Elimination Teams.
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION A formal system employees can use to identify barriers that prevent them from doing their jobs right the first time.
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION AND TRACKING SYSTEM The second tier of the Problem Elimination Procedure administered by the Problem Elimination Coordinator.
PROBLEM SOLVING The process of solving problems; the isolation and control of those conditions which generate or facilitate the creation of undesirable symptoms.
Procedures Documented processes that are used when work affects more than one function or department of an organization. 
PROCESS A particular method of doing something, generally involving a number of steps or operations.
PROCESS A series of actions that lead to a desired result; converting inputs into outputs.
Process A collection of activities that together produce a usable product or service by applying resources from one or more functional areas. 
PROCESS AVERAGE The central tendency of a given process characteristic across a given amount of time or at a specific point in time.
Process capability 1. A statistical measure indicating the inherent variation for a given event in a stable process, usually defined as the process width divided by 6 sigma. 2. Competence of the process, based on tested performance, to achieve certain results.
Process capability index Measurement indicating the ability of a process to produce specified results. Cp and Cpk are two process capability indices.
Process Combination of people, equipment, materials, methods, and environment that produce output. 
PROCESS COMPARISONS A logical method of questioning that compares the process conditions when a non conforming output was produced with the process conditions when a conforming output was produced.
PROCESS CONTROL Operations with a built in finding and adjusting step to keep a product or service in conformance with the specifications. 
PROCESS CONTROL CHART Any of a number of various types of graphs upon which data are plotted against specific control limits.
Process Decision Program Chart (PDPC) method helps determine which processes to use to obtain desired results by evaluating the progress of events and the variety of conceivable outcomes. Implementation plans do not always progress as anticipated. When problems, technical or otherwise, arise, solutions are frequently not apparent. The PDPC method, in response to these kinds of problems, anticipates possible outcomes and prepares countermeasures that will lead to the best possible solutions.
Process Decision Program Chart PDPC Chart is a method that graphically displays as many alternatives and contingencies that can be determined in advance to strategies for dealing with them can be determined in advance. 
Process Flow Diagram Depicts the flow of material through the process, including any rework or repair operations. 
Process Model Also Activity Model A graphic representation of a business process that exhibits the activities and their interdependencies that make up the business process to any desired level of detail. An activity model reveals the interactions between activities in terms of inputs and outputs while showing the controls placed on each activity and the types of resources assigned to each activity. 
Process Portal Software which focuses the user of the Portal to the explicit knowledge required to solve his/her particular problem, or deal with a particular situation or series of events. Changes Implicit Knowledge to Explicit Knowledge. 
PROCESS SCOPE The specific beginning and end points of any process for the purpose of analysis. The more specific the smallest element, the more meaningful the analysis of the input controls.
PROCESS SPREAD The range of values which a given process characteristic displays; this particular term most often applies to the range but may also encompass the variance. The spread may be based on a set of data collected at a specific point in time or may reflect the variability across a given amount of time.
Process Variation The variables in a process that affect outcomes. Two types of process variation special cause and common cause. 
PRODUCERS RISK Probability of rejecting a lot when, in fact, the lot should have been accepted (see ALPHA RISK). 
Product Assurance Plan A part of the Product Quality Plan. It is a prevention oriented management tool that addresses product design, process design, and when applicable software design. 
Production database. The computer file that contains the establishment's current production data.
Production Part Approval Submissions The submissions are based on small quantities of parts taken from a significant production run made with production tooling, processes, and cycle times. Parts for production part approval are checked by the supplier to all engineering requirements. 
Production Trial Run Product made using all production tools, processes, equipment, environment, facility, and cycle time. 
Program design language. (IEEE) A specification language with special constructs and, sometimes, verification protocols, used to develop, analyze, and document a program design.
Program mutation. (IEEE) A computer program that has been purposely altered from the intended version to evaluate the ability of program test cases to detect the alteration. See: testing, mutation.
Program.(1) (ISO) A sequence of instructions suitable for processing. Processing may include the use of an assembler, a compiler, an interpreter, or another translator to prepare the program for execution. The instructions may include statements and necessary declarations. (2) (ISO) To design, write, and test programs. (~) (ANSI) In programming languages, a set of one or more interrelated modules capable of being executed. (4) Loosely, a routine. (5) Loosely, to write a routine.
Programming language. (IEEE) A language used to express computer programs. See: computer language, high-level language, low-level language.
programming standards. See: coding standards.
PROJECT A problem. usually calling for planned action.
Project plan. (NIST) A management document describing the approach taken for a project. The plan typically describes work to be done, resources required, methods to be used, the configuration management and quality assurance procedures to be followed, the schedules to be met, the project organization, etc. Project in this context is a generic term. Some projects may also need integration plans, security plans, test plans, quality assurance plans, etc. See: documentation plan, software development plan, test plan, software engineering.
Proof of correctness. (NBS) The use of techniques of mathematical logic to infer that a relation between program variables assumed true at program entry implies that another relation between program variables holds at program exit.
protocol. achieving communication.
Prototyping. Using software tools to accelerate the software development process by facilitating the identification of required functionality during analysis and design phases. A limitation of this technique is the identification of system or software problems and hazards. See: rapid prototyping.
Pseudocode. A combination of programming language and natural language used to express a software design. If used, it is usually the last document produced prior to writing the source code.
PSW Product Sample Warrant 

PSW Part  Submission Warrant

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