FMEA

FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) aims to identify technical risks of the analysis object during development (product/system design, manufacturing/logistics processes) and minimize associated risks via prevention and detection actions. The FMEA helps the development teams with prioritizing and focusing on preventing the occurrence of problems for products and in processes.

For the automotive industry, the FMEA method description provides a procedural model for applying FMEA. A distinction is made between Design FMEA and Process FMEA. The joint FMEA method description by AIAG and VDA provides a supplementary description for the subject of “monitoring and system response”.

The FMEA is ideally performed in the following seven steps:
Step 1: Planning and preparation
Step 2: Structural analysis
Step 3: Functional analysis
Step 4: Failure analysis
Step 5: Risk analysis
Step 6: Optimization
Step 7: FMEA documentation of results is applied in many other industries besides the automotive sector. Examples include: Aerospace, medical devices, mechanical engineering, semiconductor industry.

Glossary Technical terms at a glance