O

Objective: A specific statement of a desired short term condition or achievement; includes measurable end results to be accomplished by specific teams or individuals within time limits.

Operating characteristic curve (OC curve): A graph to determine the probability of accepting lots as a function of the lots' or processes' quality level when using various sampling plans. There are three types: type A curves, which give the probability of acceptance for an individual lot coming from finite production (will not continue in the future); type B curves, which give the probability of acceptance for lots coming from a continuous process; and type C curves, which (for a continuous sampling plan) give the long run percentage of product accepted during the sampling phase.

Opportunity:   Any area of a product, process, or service that must be right to achieve customer satisfaction. Only operations that add value and have a direct connection to customer CTQs contain opportunities.

Opportunity for defects:  An observable, measurable opening for a defect to occur, either in a final outcome or within processes leading toward the final outcome. Anything undesirable from a customer point-of-view.

Original equipment manufacturer's (OEM): A company that uses product components from one or more other companies to build a product that it sells under its own company name and brand. Sometimes mistakenly used to refer to the company that supplies the components.

Ott, Ellis R. (deceased): An educator who devoted his career to providing U.S. industry with statistical quality control professionals. In 1946, Ott became the chairman of the mathematics department at Rutgers University's University College with one condition: that he could also consult on and teach quality control. His influence led the university to establish the Rutgers Statistics Center. Ott, an ASQ Honorary Member, developed the analysis of means procedure and published many papers.

Out-of-control process: A process in which the statistical measure being evaluated is not in a state of statistical control. In other words, the variations among the observed sampling results can be attributed to a constant system of chance causes (see also "in-control process").

Out of spec: A term that indicates a unit does not meet a given requirement.

Outputs: Products, materials, services or information provided to customers (internal or external), from a process.

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