Initial
Conditions Results Action
Item Item Fun ction Fail ure Mo des Ca
uses Control/Critical/ Signi ficant item Fail ure Ef fects S O D RPN Curr ent Con trols Recom mended Corre ctive Action Corre ctive Action Taken S O D RPN
Preliminary Consideration of FMEA
It is important that the scope of the FMEA study is clearly defined. This allows the FMEA team to suggest and implement improvements freely within the defined boundaries. The following is a list of questions that help to define the boundaries of the study:
▪ What aspects of the FMEA is the team responsible for? e.g. FMEA analysis, recommendations for improvement, implementation of improvements. ▪ What is the budget for the FMEA?
▪ Does the project have a deadline? ▪ What is the scope of the FMEA?
When it comes to planning the meeting, the following is a suggested list of considerations:
▪ People—People involved in all meetings may differ in values, attitudes, experiences, gender, age and education. All these differences must be accounted for in the planning of the meeting.
▪ Purpose—As mentioned before, the scope of the study—the purpose, objective and the goal—must be understood by all, both management and participants.
▪ Atmosphere or climate—The atmosphere contributes to the effectiveness of the meeting. It is imperative that whoever plans the meeting takes into consideration the climate and atmosphere.
▪ Place and space—All meetings are held in a place and a space. Therefore, planners must consider the following:
○ Access to the space, available parking; ○ Size of the space;
○ Acoustics, lighting, temperature control; ○ Cost;
○ Equipment requirements.
▪ Costs—The FMEA budget should take into consideration the required preparation time, as it can be lengthy. The required preparation work is discussed further in the next section. As the system, design, process or service personnel assigned to do the FMEA may be in different places, one should consider the travel expenses of participants. ▪ Time dimensions—When estimating the time required for conducting the FMEA, one
should consider the conditions, objectives and complexity of the project. The time constraints should be fully evaluated. If the meeting is going to be prolonged, the agenda items and objects should be adjusted accordingly.
▪ Prework and “after the official meeting work”—The quality of the FMEA study depends on good preparation work, which is discussed further in the next section. ▪ Plans, program and agenda—All meetings have an agenda, for without an agenda,
there cannot be a meeting. A detailed planned program or agenda, which can be shared (no surprises) by all participants, is a valuable addition to a meeting. When planning the agenda, make sure all the objectives of the meeting are covered.
▪ Follow-up—After the meetings have ended, there is a need for some follow-up in these areas:
○ Implementing action items;
○ Communicating information to all appropriate personnel; ○ Publishing the documented study and writing the report.
Preparation Before FMEA Sessions
Before conducting a FMEA, preparation work should be done to ensure that the FMEA study is carried out smoothly. The following are the recommended procedures for doing so:
1. Define scope
After considering the questions outlined in the previous section, the study scope should be defined and documented. This would help prevent the FMEA team from focusing on the wrong aspect of the product, process or service during the FMEA. It would also assist the process of data collection (next step).
2. Collect data
On the basis of the scope defined in step 1, assemble as much information as possible. The following are some examples:
▪ Product prototype; ▪ Design specification; ▪ Design drawings; ▪ Process flow diagram; ▪ Operating manual; ▪ Maintenance log.
3. Break down the system
During the process of breaking down the product/process/service into smaller items, consider the following:
▪ If items are too small, you can lose your sense of analysis and incur excessive repetition;
▪ If items are too large, they can become confusing and hard to handle. The best way to size an item is based on item function.
4. Prepare list of potential failure modes
The list of potential failure modes prepared at this stage acts as a starting point for the FMEA section. It is not intended to replace the effort of identifying the potential failure modes during the FMEA section. The list can be established based on this information: ▪ Failure history of products with similar design;
▪ Product recalls;
▪ Failure records of the product/process/system; ▪ Review of the product/process/system.
5. Assemble FMEA team
A FMEA study requires efforts of experts from different areas. It cannot be done on an individual basis. Hence, the team should be cross-functional and multi-disciplined. It is important to ensure that the appropriate individuals are going to participate.
6. Choose the right tool for transcribing FMEA
Choosing the right tool for transcribing the FMEA ensures efficiency of conducting the analysis. There are three different methods (non-computer and computer based):
▪ Manual transcription; ▪ Spreadsheet-type software;
▪ Risk analysis software (Windows based).
Table 7–2 compares the features of the above methods. Each feature is ranked from 10 to 1, with 10 being the best performance. It is concluded that using risk analysis software is the best and most efficient method.