Question

Suppose an electronics manufacturer takes a sample of 5000 devices produced by an assembly line. Each device is inspected or tested for 40 possible defects (varying from scratches on the surface to malfunctions on the audio devices). A total of 8 defects were identified in this sample. What is the defects per million opportunities (DPMO) for this manufacturing process? Does the process meet Six Sigma goals?

Answer 1

DPMO = 40

Does not meet Six Sigma goals

Explanation:

If there are 40 possible defects in each of the 5,000 devices, the number of defect opportunities is:

`n=5,000*40\\n=200,000\ opportunities`

If 8 total defects were found, the DPMO for the sample is:

`DPMO = (8)/(200,000)*1,000,000\\DPMO = 40`

Six Sigma aims to reduce defects to 3.4 Defects Per Million Opportunities, since the DPMO is higher than 3.4, the process does not meet Six Sigma goals.