Question

question

a call center identifies error-free ordering as a requirement. agents typically fill in the order form when taking orders. a dpmo study on the process is being conducted.

what are defect opportunities?

• the sample size is 200
• there are 12 fields on the electronic order form
• there are two fields that agents need to fill with their subjective feedback
• billing and shipping are two separate address fields and cannot be left blank
• there are 22 defects for every 200 orders

Explanation:

Define defect opportunities

In Six Sigma and quality management, a defect opportunity is any characteristic, part, or step in a process that can fail to meet a customer requirement. For a form-filling process, each field that must be completed correctly represents a distinct opportunity for an error (defect) to occur.

Analyze the process context

The problem describes a call center where agents fill in an electronic order form. The goal is error-free ordering. Therefore, each required field on the electronic order form represents a specific opportunity where an agent could make a mistake.

Evaluate the given options

• The sample size is 200: This represents the sample size \(N\), not the opportunities per unit.
• There are 12 fields on the electronic order form: Since each field can be filled incorrectly, these 12 fields represent the 12 defect opportunities per unit. This matches the definition of defect opportunities.
• There are two fields that agents need to fill with their subjective feedback: Subjective feedback fields are typically not counted as standard defect opportunities in a structured DPMO study because they cannot be easily measured against objective pass/fail criteria.
• Billing and shipping are two separate address fields and cannot be left blank: While these are specific fields, they only represent a subset of the total opportunities, not the complete definition of the opportunities on the form.
• There are 22 defects for every 200 orders: This represents the actual number of defects found, not the opportunities for defects to occur.

Select the correct option

The statement "There are 12 fields on the electronic order form" directly identifies the total number of defect opportunities per unit (order form) for the DPMO calculation.

Answer:

• The sample size is 200
• There are 12 fields on the electronic order form (Correct answer)
• There are two fields that agents need to fill with their subjective feedback
• Billing and shipping are two separate address fields and cannot be left blank
• There are 22 defects for every 200 orders