Enter the total number of defects, the total number of units sampled, and total opportunities per unit into the calculator. The calculator will evaluate the defects per million opportunities (DPMO).

DPMO Formula

The following equation is used to calculate the defects per million opportunities of a manufactured good.

DPMO = 1000000 x D / (U x O)
  • Where DPMO is the defects per million opportunities
  • D is the number of defects
  • U is the number of units
  • O is the number of opportunities per unit.

To calculate the defects per million opportunities, multiply the number of defects by 1 million, then divide by the product of the number of units times the number of opportunities per unit.

In the case of the equation above equation, this is considering that there may be more than 1 opportunity for defect per manufactured good.

DPMO Definition

DPMO stands for defects per million opportunities. In manufacturing, it’s a measure of how many defects would occur in a lot of goods with 1 million opportunities. It’s important to understand that it’s 1 million opportunities and not 1 million units, although they could be equal. This is because units often have more than one point of failure or opportunity for failure.

DPMO Example

How to calculate DPMO?

  1. First, determine the total number of defects.

    Measure the total number of defects in a sample of product.

  2. Next, determine the total number of units.

    Measure the total number of units in the sample.

  3. Next, determine the total number of opportunities.

    Determine the total number of opportunities for defects per unit.

  4. Finally, calculate the DPMO.

    Using the formula, calculate the total defects per million opportunities.

FAQ

What is DPMO?

DPMO stands for defects per million opportunities. It’s a measure of how many defects a production of goods contains per million defect opportunities.