Failure Mode Effects Analysis
Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a Six Sigma tool in the “Analyze” phase of DMAIC. The goal of an FMEA is to identify, categorize, and prioritize the failure modes of a process/project/or solution to a problem and decide when/which to mitigate.
How to Perform an FMEA
Abridged.
- Brainstorm how a process/project/product may fail, using either historical occurrences or your imagination. Look at each of the individual parts that constitute the whole. Make a list of these failure modes.
- Walk through the list of a failure modes & assign 3 scores to each:
- “P” - Probability - how likely is the failure mode to occur?
- “S” - Severity - if the failure mode occurred, how bad would it be?
- “D” - Detectability - how easy is it to tell if the failure mode is occurring?
- Consider the overall risk of each failure mode by taking “P”x”S”, and consider “D”.