DPPM

DPPM is an acronym used in quality management with several common meanings. In many contexts it denotes Defects Per Million, a metric that expresses how frequently defects occur in a process or product. The term is closely related to DPMO, Defects Per Million Opportunities, and in some industries DPPM is used interchangeably with that standard metric. Some users also employ DPPM to mean defective parts per million, counting defective parts rather than opportunities when counting is constrained by units produced.

Calculation typically involves counting defects and the opportunities for defects, then scaling to a per million basis. A common formulation is DPPM = (defects / opportunities) × 1,000,000. For example, if a production run yields 6 defects in 1,000,000 opportunities, the DPPM is 6. If opportunities are defined per unit, the same logic applies: a process with 6 defects in one million inspected opportunities has a DPPM of 6.

The metric is widely used in manufacturing and service industries to track quality and benchmark performance, but its meaning depends on how opportunities are defined. DPPM measurements are not directly comparable across processes unless the opportunity definitions and counting rules are aligned. DPPM is related to yield and to other quality metrics such as DPMO and defect density.

See also: DPMO, quality metrics, Six Sigma.