The Purpose Of FMEA

The Purpose of an FMEA

FMEAs help us focus on and understand the impact of potential process or product failures

A disciplined analysis is used to rank the risks relative to each other.

A Risk Priority Number, or RPN, is calculated for each failure mode and its resulting effect(s).

The RPN is a function of three factors: The Severity of the effect, the frequency of Occurrence of the cause of the failure, and the ability to Detect the failure or effect.

 The RPN = The Severity ranking X the Occurrence ranking X the Detection ranking.
 The RPN can range from a low of 1 to a high of 1,000.

Develop a Corrective or Preventive Action Plan to reduce risks with unacceptable high RPNs.

Use FMEAs as the basis for Control Plans. Control Plans are a summary of proactive defect prevention and reactive detection techniques. Control Plans must mirror the FMEA.