FMEA Process - Fundamentals

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is bottom up, inductive failure analysis that considers the effect that failure of lower level components and assemblies will have on the overall system. This technique is used across engineering to understand how systems can fail, the causes of failure and to identify the best ways to reduce risk.

Description

This course covers the fundamental FMEA process, with the following aims:

  • Familiarise delegates with the terminology used with FMEA
  • Explain the purpose and approaches of FMEA in Reliability Engineering
  • Introduce the core components of FMEA
  • Discuss how risks can be prioritised
  • Discuss the activities that should follow the analysis process

Key terminology and process steps will be covered, along with covering additional tools that support completion of the analysis.

It is not intended to provide guidance on any particular standards (e.g. MIL-STD-1629A, J1739, AIAG), but instead covers a general approach that can applied to specific scenarios. Tailored courses are available separately that can cover specific interpretations.

Who Should Attend?

This course is intended for engineers that need to identify and prioritise system failure modes and their causes in a structured and methodical way.

Prerequisites

The course does not require existing experience of FMEAs.

Duration

6 hours 3 x 2 hour sessions 

Agenda

Sessions

Introduction

  • Terminology
  • Purpose
  • Approaches

The FMEA process

Preparing for FMEA

  • Defining scope
  • System definition
  • Assembling the right team
  • Ground rules and assumptions

Performing FMEA

  • Functions, failures, effects, causes
  • Failure prevention, detection and mitigation
  • Ranking and prioritising failure modes

FMEA follow up activities

  • Reporting and communicating findings
  • Corrective actions
  • Assessing FMEA effectiveness
  • The FMEA as a living document