Operating Characteristic

(OC) Curves
Ben M. Coppolo
Penn State University
 Presentation Overview
• Operation Characteristic (OC)
curve Defined
• Explanation of OC curves
• How to construct an OC curve
• An example of an OC curve
• Problem solving exercise
OC Curve Defined
• What is an Operations
Characteristics Curve?
– the probability of accepting
incoming lots.
OC Curves Uses
• Selection of sampling plans

• Aids in selection of plans that

are effective in reducing risk

• Help keep the high cost of

inspection down
OC Curves
• What can OC curves be used for
in an organization?
Types of OC Curves
• Type A
– Gives the probability of acceptance for
an individual lot coming from finite
production
• Type B
– Give the probability of acceptance for
lots coming from a continuous process
• Type C
– Give the long-run percentage of product
accepted during the sampling phase
OC Graphs Explained
• Y axis
– Gives the probability that the lot
will be accepted
• X axis =p
– Fraction Defective
• Pf is the probability of rejection,
found by 1-PA
OC Curve
Definition of Variables
PA = The probability of acceptance
p = The fraction or percent defective
PF or alpha = The probability of
rejection
N = Lot size
n = The sample size
A = The maximum number of defects
OC Curve Calculation
• Two Ways of Calculating OC
Curves
– Binomial Distribution
– Poisson formula
• P(A) = ( (np)^A * e^-np)/A !
OC Curve Calculation
• Binomial Distribution
– Cannot use because:
• Binomials are based on constant
probabilities.
• N is not infinite
• p changes
– But we can use something else.
OC Curve Calculation
• A Poisson formula can be used
– P(A) = ((np)^A * e^-np) /A !
• Poisson is a limit
– Limitations of using Poisson
• n<= 1/10 total batch N
• Little faith in probability calculation when n is
quite small and p quite large.
• We will use Poisson charts to make
this easier.
Calculation of OC Curve
• Find your sample size, n
• Find your fraction defect p
• Multiply n*p
• A=d
• From a Poisson table find your
PA
Calculation of an OC
Curve
• N = 1000 Np d= 3
• n = 60 .6 99.8
• p = .01
1.2 87.9
• A=3
3 64.7
• Find PA for p = .
01, .02, .05, .07, . 4.2 39.5
1, and .12? 6 151
7.2 072
Properties of OC Curves
• Ideal curve
would be
perfectly
perpendicular
from 0 to 100%
for a given
fraction
defective.
Properties of OC Curves
• The acceptance number and
sample size are most important
factors.
• Decreasing the acceptance
number is preferred over
increasing sample size.
• The larger the sample size the
steeper the curve.
Properties of OC Curves
Properties of OC Curves
• By changing the
acceptance
level, the shape
of the curve will
change. All
curves permit
the same
fraction of
sample to be
nonconforming.
Example Uses
• A company that produces push
rods for engines in cars.
• A powdered metal company that
need to test the strength of the
product when the product
comes out of the kiln.
• The accuracy of the size of
bushings.
Problem
• MRC is an engine company that
builds the engines for GCF cars.
They are use a control policy of
inspecting 15% of incoming lots
and rejects lots with a fraction
defect greater than 3%. Find
the probability of accepting the
following lots:
Problem
1. A lot size of 300 of which 5 are
defective.
2. A lot size of 1000 of which 4
are defective.
3. A lot size of 2500 of which 9
are defective.
4. Use Poisson formula to find the
answer to number 2.
Summary
• Types of OC curves
– Type A, Type B, Type C
• Constructing OC curves
• Properties of OC Curves
• OC Curve Uses
• Calculation of an OC Curve
 Poisson Table
d
np 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0.02 980 1000
0.04 961 999 1000
0.06 942 998 1000
0.08 923 997 1000
0.1 905 995 1000
0.15 861 990 999 1000
0.2 819 982 999 1000
0.25 779 974 998 1000
0.3 741 963 996 1000
0.35 705 951 994 1000
0.4 670 938 992 999 1000
0.45 638 925 989 999 1000
0.5 607 910 986 998 1000
0.55 577 894 982 998 1000
0.6 549 878 977 997 1000
0.65 522 861 972 996 999 1000
0.7 497 844 966 994 999 1000
0.75 472 827 959 993 999 1000
0.8 449 809 953 991 999 1000
0.85 427 791 945 989 998 1000
0.9 407 772 937 987 998 1000
0.95 387 754 929 984 997 1000
1 368 736 920 981 996 999 1000
Poisson Table
d
np 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1.1 333 699 900 974 995 999 1000
1.2 301 663 879 966 992 998 1000
1.3 273 627 857 957 989 998 1000
1.4 247 592 833 946 986 997 999 1000
1.5 223 558 809 937 981 996 999 1000
1.6 202 525 783 921 976 994 999 1000
1.7 183 493 757 907 970 992 998 1000
1.8 165 463 731 891 964 990 997 999 1000
1.9 150 434 704 875 956 987 997 999 1000
2 135 406 677 857 947 983 995 999 1000
2.2 111 335 623 819 928 975 993 998 1000
2.4 91 308 570 779 904 964 988 997 999 1000
2.6 74 267 518 736 877 951 983 995 999 1000
2.8 61 231 469 692 848 935 976 992 998 999 1000
3 50 199 423 647 815 916 966 988 996 999 1000
3.2 41 171 380 603 781 895 955 983 994 998 1000
3.4 33 147 340 558 744 871 942 977 992 997 999
3.6 27 126 303 515 706 844 927 969 988 996 999
3.8 22 107 269 473 668 816 909 960 984 994 998
4 18 92 238 433 629 785 889 949 979 992 997
4.2 15 78 210 395 590 753 867 936 972 989 996
4.4 12 66 185 359 551 720 844 921 964 985 994
4.6 10 56 163 326 513 686 818 905 955 980 992
4.8 8 48 143 294 476 651 791 887 944 975 990
Poisson Table
d
np 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
5 7 40 125 265 440 616 762 867 932 968 986
5.2 6 34 109 238 406 581 732 845 918 960 982
5.4 5 29 95 213 373 546 702 822 903 951 977
5.6 4 24 82 191 342 512 670 797 886 941 972
5.8 3 21 72 170 313 478 638 771 867 929 965
6 2 17 62 151 285 446 606 744 847 916 957
6.2 2 15 54 134 259 414 574 716 826 902 949
0.4 2 12 46 119 235 384 542 687 803 886 939
6.6 1 10 40 105 213 355 511 658 780 869 927
6.8 1 9 34 93 192 327 480 628 755 850 915
7 1 7 30 82 173 301 450 599 729 830 901
7.2 1 6 25 72 156 276 420 569 703 810 887
7.4 1 5 22 63 140 253 392 539 676 788 871
7.6 1 4 19 55 125 231 365 510 648 765 854
7.8 0 4 16 48 112 210 338 481 620 741 835
8 0 3 14 42 100 191 313 453 593 717 816
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