This document is intended to define standard methods for the categorization of defects related to electronic printed board assemblies (PBAs). This document will provide consistent methodologies for calculating the following benchmark indices:

• Defects Per Million Opportunities Index (DPMO Index)

• Component DPMO

• Placement DPMO

• Termination DPMO

• Assembly DPMO

DPMO as applied in this standard is a measurement taken on completed product. Only those defects detected or discovered at an assembly’s completed product evaluation are to be included in the calculations. A companion standard, IPC-9261 In-Process DPMO and Estimated Yield for PWAs is used to develop DPMO indices for measuring in-process assembly steps.

It is recognized that a manufacturing index can be obtained through a variety of methods. Overall Manufacturing Index (OMI) is explained in detail in Appendix B.

This document is intended to be used in conjunction with assembly acceptance standards such as IPC/EIA J-STD-001 or IPC-A-610. This document is for benchmarking and is NOT intended to describe how to track or otherwise log defect types or drive corrective action. In-process DPMO is outside the scope of this document.

Note: The intent of this document is to define ‘‘how’’ to arrive at several DPMO related indices. There is no intent to dictate the ‘‘number’’ of assemblies or data points that are needed to calculate these indices. Users of this document are cautioned when comparing one manufacturer’s indices to one another due to differences in assembly complexity and the amount of data that may have been used in a computation.