A failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) pronouced fah-me-ah, is a procedure in operations management for analysis of potential failure modes within a system for classification by severity or determination of the effect of failures on the system. It is widely used in manufacturing industries in various phases of the product life cycle and is now increasingly finding use in the service industry. Failure modes are any errors or defects in a process, design, or item, especially those that affect the customer, and can be potential or actual. Effects analysis refers to studying the consequences of those failures.
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FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) is not the primary tool for Risk Assessment. There are other tools as well.
"FMEA training is essential for anaylizing potential failures of any type of system, most commonly a computer system." "Basically, FMEA training will help an engineer plan for potential failures of anything he or she designs, from computers to NASA space shuttles."
FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) focuses on identifying potential failure modes and their effects on a system or process, while FTA (Fault Tree Analysis) identifies and analyzes potential causes of a specific event or failure. FMEA starts with potential failure modes and works towards potential outcomes, while FTA works backward from an event to identify contributing factors.
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Failure mode effects analysis (FMEA) is used to identify the ways in which a system will fail, the likelihood of each failure mode, and what will happen in the event of each failure. It is used in both product design, to improve intrinsic availability and reliability, and in operations management, to improve process design.
The FMEA is a risk assessment tool that helps systematically define where potential points of failure are located, help define the critical nature of the problems and logically layout the plans to resolve them.
FMEA Stands for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis FMEA reviews a process step by step and asks, "What can go wrong?" That's the failure mode. It then asks what happens if it fails? Next, potential root causes of the failure are listed and the frequency of occurrence is determined. The ability to detect (or prevent) the failure is also reviewed for the current process. These three criteria, Severity (S), Occurrence (O), and Detection (D), are rated on scales of 1 to 10, with a 1 representing only a minor incidence and 10 representing a catastrophic event for S, very frequent occurrence for O, or inability to detect the failure for D. The product of the three S*O*D ratings becomes the Risk Priority Number (RPN). Higher RPNs prioritize the need to eliminate the cause, reduce the frequency, or improve detection and prevention of the failure mode. The second part of FMEA is to determine action steps to reduce the RPN for those items selected. Once actions are taken, the S*O*D ratings and the RPN are revised. Most organizations develop rating scales specific to their processes, products, and services.
FMEA Stands for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis FMEA reviews a process step by step and asks, "What can go wrong?" That's the failure mode. It then asks what happens if it fails? Next, potential root causes of the failure are listed and the frequency of occurrence is determined. The ability to detect (or prevent) the failure is also reviewed for the current process. These three criteria, Severity (S), Occurrence (O), and Detection (D), are rated on scales of 1 to 10, with a 1 representing only a minor incidence and 10 representing a catastrophic event for S, very frequent occurrence for O, or inability to detect the failure for D. The product of the three S*O*D ratings becomes the Risk Priority Number (RPN). Higher RPNs prioritize the need to eliminate the cause, reduce the frequency, or improve detection and prevention of the failure mode. The second part of FMEA is to determine action steps to reduce the RPN for those items selected. Once actions are taken, the S*O*D ratings and the RPN are revised. Most organizations develop rating scales specific to their processes, products, and services.
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RPN stands for Risk Priority Number which is calculated for various possible Failure Modes while doing FMEA study, which has become essential part of DMAIC/DMADV methodologies of Six Sigma. With thanks, LUMINIS INDIA
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The goal of Six Sigma is to increase profits by eliminating variability, defects and waste that undermine customer loyalty.A well-documented failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) with robust action plans and implementation will help an organization avoid rework in software projects, irrespective of the project type (full life cycle development, enhancement or maintenance/production support). In each case, there is an existing process, with a number of process steps/activities. FMEA can unravel the potentially weak steps and show where things may go wrong and where to focus. The FMEA tool - either within a full-fledged Six Sigma DMAIC cycle or without - adds immense value to software projects. The FMEA process begins by identifying the ways in which a product, service or process could fail. A project team examines every element of a process, starting from the inputs and working through to the output delivered to the customer. At each step, the team asks, "What could go wrong here?" The team then figures the probability of each possible failure (known as "occurrence"), the damage it will inflict should it actually fail (termed as "severity"), and the likelihood of finding such failures before final delivery (called "detection"). These three parameters are ranked on a 1-to-10 scale and the product of these three is called the risk priority number, or RPN. The RPN indicates which of the process steps or design components are high-risk items and need to be attended to first for medication and/or control measures. Once this is done, the team has to brainstorm action plans to either reduce occurrence or improve detection. Severity normally remains the same. During the brainstorming, team members need to be clear that the action items should not sound like a wish list or a statement of intent, but should be aimed at adding, deleting or modifying an existing process. If a project team recommends such vague actions as, "Peer reviews should be more effective" or "Problem tickets should be assigned to a team member within 30 minutes of receipt by the team leader," little or no improvement can be expected. Instead, the action points need to be more precise, such as, "If the team leader does not assign a ticket coming to the queue in 30 minutes, a pop-up message will be generated to remind them." The action items vary from introduction of checklist, to mandating reviews before a code release, to planning backup resources, to timely assignment/transfer of problem tickets, etc. Whatever the recommendations, after their implementation, the process flow chart is changed. And once done, the FMEA is executed again in the new process to calculate the reduction in the level of risk exposure. Thus the objective is to first identify the potential risks and then take corrective/preventive action to eliminate or at least reduce those risks. To get the best results, FMEA should be done at the beginning of a software project and every three to six months thereafter. However, it is never too late to do an FMEA. The exercise can be done at anytime during the course of the software project. Besides, if a Six Sigma project is executed to improve performance of an ongoing and long-duration software project (especially one that involves maintenance/production support in addition to development/enhancement), executing a FMEA can add considerable value. Here, FMEA should be part of a "look-ahead meeting," which software project teams normally do to proactively reduce defects/bugs. FMEA is a group activity, normally with six to ten on the team. It may be done in more than one sitting, if necessary. The process owner, or project manager, is normally the leader of the FMEA exercise. However, to get best results, multi-disciplinary representatives from all affected activities should be involved. Team members should include subject matter experts and advisors as appropriate. Each process owner also is responsible for keeping the FMEA updated. The heart of the FMEA is the action points arising out of it and the subsequent process improvement that happens when these actions are implemented. A project team at a large manufacturing company was very enthusiastic using the FMEA through the point of completing the calculation of RPNs for each process step. But once that was done, only a few people participated in the brainstorming session for recommending action points for high-RPN process steps. Needless to say, that organization did not benefit much from using the exercise. FMEA looks simple, but it is an extremely powerful tool when applied in letter and spirit. It helps the team assess stakeholder issues and concerns, identifying and creating a strategy for those that should be moved to a higher level of support. Specifically, FEMA: * Captures the collective knowledge of a team. * Improves the quality, reliability and safety of the process/product. * Is a structured process for identifying areas of concern. * Documents and tracks risk reduction activities. * Helps the team create proactive action plans and thus improve process robustness. Some software project managers argue that they do not really need a separate FMEA tool. Risk analysis and mitigation should be a part of the manager's normal project management job, they say. The point is: If an organization is looking for better results in risk mitigation and improved processes, it needs to use a better tool or technique, such as FMEA. Unless a FMEA is done, improvement activities are likely to remain unclear and unfocused, and may not even get implemented in the pressure of meeting schedules and deadlines. In addition, since FMEA action items are generated by the project team through collective brainstorming, rather than an individual, the buy-in of the actions is much higher, and thus the project manager faces minimum resistance in implementing them. In short, the benefits a software project team will gain from this powerful technique are well worth the time invested in applying it. About the Author: Asoke Das Sarma is a Six Sigma deployment leader in a large multinational computer company. He is based at Bangalore, India, For Help-A complete Six Sigma Mentoring System. This is going to be the industry standard in driving Lean Six Sigma projects. Voice guided with instructions how and where to. Has Continuous training as it walks you through the DMAIC methodology, does statistical analysis, reports and tracks the whole project. No limits to amount of projects, users or capabilities. We will custom tailor to your companies operating applications. This is 1/5 the price of the leading industry software with everything they do not offer in training and analysis. Call 713-436-6941 A demonstration is a must. The goal of Six Sigma is to increase profits by eliminating variability, defects and waste that undermine customer loyalty.A well-documented failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) with robust action plans and implementation will help an organization avoid rework in software projects, irrespective of the project type (full life cycle development, enhancement or maintenance/production support). In each case, there is an existing process, with a number of process steps/activities. FMEA can unravel the potentially weak steps and show where things may go wrong and where to focus. The FMEA tool - either within a full-fledged Six Sigma DMAIC cycle or without - adds immense value to software projects. The FMEA process begins by identifying the ways in which a product, service or process could fail. A project team examines every element of a process, starting from the inputs and working through to the output delivered to the customer. At each step, the team asks, "What could go wrong here?" The team then figures the probability of each possible failure (known as "occurrence"), the damage it will inflict should it actually fail (termed as "severity"), and the likelihood of finding such failures before final delivery (called "detection"). These three parameters are ranked on a 1-to-10 scale and the product of these three is called the risk priority number, or RPN. The RPN indicates which of the process steps or design components are high-risk items and need to be attended to first for medication and/or control measures. Once this is done, the team has to brainstorm action plans to either reduce occurrence or improve detection. Severity normally remains the same. During the brainstorming, team members need to be clear that the action items should not sound like a wish list or a statement of intent, but should be aimed at adding, deleting or modifying an existing process. If a project team recommends such vague actions as, "Peer reviews should be more effective" or "Problem tickets should be assigned to a team member within 30 minutes of receipt by the team leader," little or no improvement can be expected. Instead, the action points need to be more precise, such as, "If the team leader does not assign a ticket coming to the queue in 30 minutes, a pop-up message will be generated to remind them." The action items vary from introduction of checklist, to mandating reviews before a code release, to planning backup resources, to timely assignment/transfer of problem tickets, etc. Whatever the recommendations, after their implementation, the process flow chart is changed. And once done, the FMEA is executed again in the new process to calculate the reduction in the level of risk exposure. Thus the objective is to first identify the potential risks and then take corrective/preventive action to eliminate or at least reduce those risks. To get the best results, FMEA should be done at the beginning of a software project and every three to six months thereafter. However, it is never too late to do an FMEA. The exercise can be done at anytime during the course of the software project. Besides, if a Six Sigma project is executed to improve performance of an ongoing and long-duration software project (especially one that involves maintenance/production support in addition to development/enhancement), executing a FMEA can add considerable value. Here, FMEA should be part of a "look-ahead meeting," which software project teams normally do to proactively reduce defects/bugs. FMEA is a group activity, normally with six to ten on the team. It may be done in more than one sitting, if necessary. The process owner, or project manager, is normally the leader of the FMEA exercise. However, to get best results, multi-disciplinary representatives from all affected activities should be involved. Team members should include subject matter experts and advisors as appropriate. Each process owner also is responsible for keeping the FMEA updated. The heart of the FMEA is the action points arising out of it and the subsequent process improvement that happens when these actions are implemented. A project team at a large manufacturing company was very enthusiastic using the FMEA through the point of completing the calculation of RPNs for each process step. But once that was done, only a few people participated in the brainstorming session for recommending action points for high-RPN process steps. Needless to say, that organization did not benefit much from using the exercise. FMEA looks simple, but it is an extremely powerful tool when applied in letter and spirit. It helps the team assess stakeholder issues and concerns, identifying and creating a strategy for those that should be moved to a higher level of support. Specifically, FEMA: * Captures the collective knowledge of a team. * Improves the quality, reliability and safety of the process/product. * Is a structured process for identifying areas of concern. * Documents and tracks risk reduction activities. * Helps the team create proactive action plans and thus improve process robustness. Some software project managers argue that they do not really need a separate FMEA tool. Risk analysis and mitigation should be a part of the manager's normal project management job, they say. The point is: If an organization is looking for better results in risk mitigation and improved processes, it needs to use a better tool or technique, such as FMEA. Unless a FMEA is done, improvement activities are likely to remain unclear and unfocused, and may not even get implemented in the pressure of meeting schedules and deadlines. In addition, since FMEA action items are generated by the project team through collective brainstorming, rather than an individual, the buy-in of the actions is much higher, and thus the project manager faces minimum resistance in implementing them. In short, the benefits a software project team will gain from this powerful technique are well worth the time invested in applying it. About the Author: Asoke Das Sarma is a Six Sigma deployment leader in a large multinational computer company. He is based at Bangalore, India, For Help-A complete Six Sigma Mentoring System. This is going to be the industry standard in driving Lean Six Sigma projects. Voice guided with instructions how and where to. Has Continuous training as it walks you through the DMAIC methodology, does statistical analysis, reports and tracks the whole project. No limits to amount of projects, users or capabilities. We will custom tailor to your companies operating applications. This is 1/5 the price of the leading industry software with everything they do not offer in training and analysis. Call 713-436-6941 A demonstration is a must.
Robin E. McDermott has written: 'Employee driven quality' -- subject(s): Industrial efficiency, Suggestion systems, Total quality management 'The basics of FMEA' -- subject(s): Quality control, Reliability (Engineering), Quality assurance, Standards, Failure analysis (Engineering)