What is DPMO?
DPMO stands for Defects Per Million Opportunities. It is a metric used to measure the quality performance of a process by calculating the number of defects in a product or service per million opportunities for a defect to occur.
How is DPMO Calculated?
The formula for DPMO is: DPMO = (Number of Defects / Total Number of Opportunities) x 1,000,000
Example of DPMO Calculation
Let’s say a company produces 10,000 products and 50 of them are defective. The DPMO would be (50 / 10,000) x 1,000,000 = 5,000 DPMO.
Case Study: Using DPMO to Improve Quality
A manufacturing plant implemented DPMO to measure the defects in their production line. By tracking the DPMO over time, they were able to identify areas of improvement and reduce defects, ultimately increasing customer satisfaction and saving costs.
Benefits of DPMO
- Provides a standardized method for measuring quality performance
- Helps identify areas for improvement
- Allows for benchmarking against industry standards
