ISO 22514-8:2014 aims to define the evaluation method to quantify the short-term capability of a production process (capacity of the production tool, widely termed capability), i.e. the machine performance index, to ensure compliance to a toleranced measurable product characteristic, when said process does not feature any kind of sorting system.

If the production process integrates a sorting system, then this one (clearing away nonconforming parts) should be analysed independently.

ISO 22514-8:2014 does not aim to define evaluation methods of the capability of a production process that is gauged through long-term observation (capability process or performance process indices).

ISO 22514-8:2014 defines the principles guiding the development of indicators for quantifying capability, and the statistical methods to be employed.

The characteristics used to evaluate production process capability have statistical distributions, and it is presumed, a priori, that at least one of these distributions is multi-modal. A distribution is presumed to be multimodal if it results from the marked effect of at least one cause inducing a significant difference between the produced items.

ISO 22514-8:2014 applies, for example, to characteristics generated by processes such as the following: multi-cavity casting, multi-fixture machining, batch load treatments.

Each cavity, fixture, or position in the batch load corresponds to a different state. The multi-state process can be understood as the result of the combination of different states within the same process (e.g. cavity, fixture, position in the batch load).