Defects per Million Opportunities (DPMO) 
Defects per Million Opportunities (DPMO) is a standardized quality measurement that calculates defect levels. Commonly used with quality systems such as Six Sigma, DPMO helps you measure defects so you can reduce them. Combined with the system’s nonconformance capabilities, DPMO can provide feedback and track defects seen at inspection and test to the appropriate root cause operation.
The system supports the standardized DPMO methodology as defined in the IPC-9261 standard, focused on printed board assembly manufacturing.
Features
The system comes with about a hundred NC codes you can use for DPMO. Each of these codes is already assigned a DPMO category and to one of the DPMO-related NC groups that come with the system:
Assembly
The number of assembly defects divided by the number of assembly opportunities (number of assemblies processed) multiplied by 1000000
Component
The number of component defects divided by the number of component opportunities multiplied by 1000000
Placement
The number of placement defects divided by the number of placement opportunities multiplied by 1000000 — applicable for only those processes, where components are placed.
Termination
The number of termination defects divided by the number of termination opportunities multiplied by 1000000
Assigning DPMO categories to NC codes in NC Code Maintenance determines how the system calculates DPMO for that NC code.
Note
The system installs DPMO codes and categories only if, during installation, your installer selects Yes on the Application Server NC codes for DPMO screen. This screen asks whether to install additional NC codes associated with the IPC 9261 specification.
Defining DPMO for Specific Materials
You use Material Maintenance to control how DPMO is defined for materials. You identify which category the system uses to calculate DPMO for the material, the operation at which defects for the material can be assigned, and the number of opportunities defined for the material that has the possibility of being defective.
The operations you define appear in the Root Cause Operation browser when an operator chooses the Root Cause Op field’s browse button in the PCA Dashboard and the nonconformance activities.
Defining the Root Cause Operation
You use Data Type Maintenance to determine whether the DPMO root cause operation is defined during the nonconformance process. You must select one of the following in the Root Cause Operation field:
Optional
Displays the Root Cause Op field in the nonconformance activity so that the operator can optionally choose the root cause operation
Required
Displays the Root Cause Op field in the nonconformance activity so that the operator can choose the root cause operation. If only one root cause operation is available, the operation is selected automatically. If multiple root cause operations are available, the operator has to choose the operation.