8/4/2019 Benefits of Design FMEA
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Benefits of Design FMEA
Although it takes considerable time and effort to properly do a
Design FMEA, it can effectivelyidentify serious failures or design
flaws. When considering the cost of performing this type ofFMEA
analysis, please consider what it could be worth to your company.
Avoiding a costlyand embarrassing product recall could save your
company millions of dollars, not to mention
years of effort rebuilding your valuable reputation and trust
with customers. Although thereare other types of FMEA, this article
focuses on design FMEA and highlights some of the keybenefits
associated with this type of analysis.
For those who might not be familiar with Design FMEA here is
some background.Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is an
analysis technique which facilitates theidentification of potential
problems in a design by examining the effects of lower level
failures.Compensating provisions or recommended actions are made to
reduce the chance of theproblem occurring, and mitigate the risk,
if it does occur.
There are many reasons why this analysis technique is helpful.
Here are some of the mostimportant benefits of performing a
detailed Design FMEA:
1) It helps the analyst objectively analyze the design
requirements and look at design trade-offs.
2) It increases the probability that potential failure modes and
their effects have beenconsidered in the design/development
process.
3) The FMEA analyst develops a list of potential failure modes
ranked according to their effecton the customer. This establishes a
list of priorities for future design improvements.
4) A Design FMEA provides a basis for identifying root failure
causes and developing effectivecorrective actions. It also provides
an open issue format for recommending and tracking riskreducing
actions.
5) The analysis provides additional information to help plan
thorough and efficient testprograms.
6) Design FMEAs are effective in identifying reliability and
safety critical components.
7) This type of FMEA analysis provides a foundation for
maintainability, safety, testability, andlogistics analyses.
8) It acts as a valuable trouble-shooting reference when
analyzing future field concerns.
This article just touches on some of the benefits associated
with this type of analysis. DesignFMEA has proven its worth time
and time again throughout many industries. It is regularlyused in
the defense and aerospace industries, automotive,
telecommunications, and medicalindustries along with many others.
There are many good resources where you can find outmore about
Design FMEA. Both large and small companies have benefited from
makingFMEA an integral part of their quality programs.
