Definition
(c) To assess the potential severity of the failure and identify sources of the failure, and then to implement a structured approach to remedy to prevent it.
In detail
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a structured preventive method used to assess the severity, occurrence, and detection of potential failures and take corrective actions. It addresses the identification of risks during the product or process design phase to avoid problems. Unlike DFMEA, FMEA covers both design and process, while DFMEA focuses on design. The output is typically a list of failure modes ranked by Risk Priority Number (RPN) along with improvement measures.
Example in practice
In new product development, the team used FMEA to analyze potential failure modes of key components. They identified a high-risk mode with a high RPN value, prompting immediate design changes and additional inspection methods. Through proactive prevention, quality issues after product launch were avoided, saving rework and recall costs.