Benefits of FMEA

What do we do at hand when we encounter a system failure event? First, we likely start to understand the failure event and its causes and then find a solution. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) captures a series of reasoning and process, and I’d like to take a moment to share the benefits of using FMEA herein.

• Robust solutions: FMEA describes the effects of failures, their causes, and prevention of the losses due to failure modes. It tracks issues of similar kinds. FMEA comes into play when we need to find assignable causes and solutions quickly. It also plays a crucial role as a database in problem-solving and helps get the robust design in the first place.
• Data-driven decisions: Making the right decision on time is critical as approaching a production phase. FMEA provides quantitative metrics, including RPN, Design Risk, and Prevention Risk, for discerning show-stoppers. We can and will adjust the thresholds by which to filter issues as FMEA is getting mature. A matured FMEA guides us on what to focus on in a system design.
• Prevention from recurring failures: FMEA tracks occurrences of failure events. We acquire insight into how serious failure events look like and how potentially they can appear as a show-stopper. The understanding helps us to pivot our focus at a different development stage.
• Reliable and agile project plans: FMEA can be a potent tool in project planning. It gives you an insight into how long a new project takes to complete, depending on new technologies, new designs, or carry-over systems.

Updating FMEA constantly is vital to make the most of it and requires cross-functional efforts. A hierarchical FMEA from a system and subsystems to components is maintainable.