Process Sigma | CWX Workflow Tools
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Ops Console / Module 04 / Process Sigma

Process Sigma

Give quality a number you can chase.

A defect count on its own says little. Process sigma converts it into defects per million opportunities, a yield, and a sigma level, the common language of quality. Now a job can be benchmarked, tracked, and compared instead of argued about.

Time2 min
FormatCalculator
SavesPDF · JSON record
← Cost of QualityNext: First Pass Yield →

What it is

Process sigma turns a raw defect count into standard quality measures: defects per million opportunities, yield, and a sigma level you can compare across jobs and shops.

When to use it

To benchmark a process and track it over time. A higher sigma means fewer defects; world class is around six, most shops live between three and four.

How to run it

Enter how many units you ran, how many defects you found, and how many chances for a defect exist on each unit. The tool does the rest.

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DPMO
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Process sigma
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Yield
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Defects per unit

Sigma includes the conventional 1.5 sigma long-term shift. Defects can exceed units when a unit has several; yield here is the share of opportunities with no defect.

Saved

Worked example: a card run

You run 500 cards with 4 chances for a defect each, so 2,000 opportunities, and find 12 defects. That is 6,000 DPMO and a yield of 99.4%, which works out to roughly 4.0 sigma. Solid, but a long way from the 3.4 DPMO that six sigma represents. Now there is a number to beat.