10/9/2016 10StepstoConductaPFMEA

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10StepstoConductaPFMEA

10STEPSTOCONDUCTAPFMEA

Step1

ReviewtheprocessUseaprocessflowcharttoidentifyeachprocesscomponent.

Step2

BrainstormpotentialfailuremodesReviewexistingdocumentationanddataforclues.

Step3

ListpotentialeffectsoffailureTheremaybemorethanoneforeachfailure.

Step4

AssignSeverityrankingsBasedontheseverityoftheconsequencesoffailure.

Step5

AssignOccurrencerankingsBasedonhowfrequentlythecauseofthefailureislikelytooccur.

Step6
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AssignDetectionrankingsBasedonthechancesthefailurewillbedetectedpriortothecustomerfindingit.

Step7

CalculatetheRPNSeverityXOccurrenceXDetection.

Step8

DeveloptheactionplanDefinewhowilldowhatbywhen.

Step9

TakeactionImplementtheimprovementsidentifiedbyyourPFMEAteam.

Step10

CalculatetheresultingRPNReevaluateeachofthepotentialfailuresonceimprovementshavebeenmadeanddeterminethe
impactoftheimprovements.

STEP1:REVIEWTHEPROCESS

Reviewtheprocesscomponentsandtheintendedfunctionorfunctionsofthosecomponents.

Useofadetailedflowchartoftheprocessoratraveler(orrouter)isagoodstartingpointforreviewingtheprocess.

Thereareseveralreasonsforreviewingtheprocess

First,thereviewhelpsassurethatallteammembersarefamiliarwiththeprocess.Thisisespeciallyimportantifyouhaveteam
memberswhodonotworkontheprocessonadailybasis.
Thesecondreasonforreviewingtheprocessistoidentifyeachofthemaincomponentsoftheprocessanddeterminethefunction
orfunctionsofeachofthosecomponents.
Finally,thisreviewstepwillhelpassurethatyouarestudyingallcomponentsoftheprocesswiththePFMEA.

Usingtheprocessflowchart,labeleachcomponentwithasequentialreferencenumber.

ThesereferencenumberswillbeusedthroughouttheFMEAprocess.
ThemarkedupflowchartwillgiveyouapowerfulvisualtorefertothroughoutthePFMEA.

Withtheprocessflowchartinhand,thePFMEAteammembersshouldfamiliarizethemselveswiththeprocessby
physicallywalkingthroughtheprocess.Thisisthetimetoassureeveryoneontheteamunderstandsthebasicprocess
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flowandtheworkingsoftheprocesscomponents.

Foreachcomponent,listitsintendedfunctionorfunctions.

Thefunctionofthecomponentisthevalueaddingrolethatcomponentperformsorprovides.
Manycomponentshavemorethanonefunction.

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STEP2:BRAINSTORMPOTENTIALFAILUREMODES

InStep2,considerthepotentialfailuremodesforeachcomponentanditscorrespondingfunction.

Apotentialfailuremoderepresentsanymannerinwhichthecomponentorprocessstepcouldfailtoperformitsintendedfunction
orfunctions.

UsingthelistofcomponentsandrelatedfunctionsgeneratedinStep1,asateam,brainstormthepotentialfailuremodes
foreachfunction.

Donttakeshortcutsherethisisthetimetobethorough.

Prepareforthebrainstormingsession.

Beforeyoubeginthebrainstormingsession,reviewdocumentationforcluesaboutpotentialfailuremodes.

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STEP3:LISTPOTENTIALEFFECTSOFFAILURE

Determinetheeffectsassociatedwitheachfailuremode.Theeffectisrelateddirectlytotheabilityofthatspecific
componenttoperformitsintendedfunction.

Aneffectistheimpactafailurecouldmakeifitoccurred.
Somefailureswillhaveaneffectonthecustomersandothersontheenvironment,thefacility,andeventheprocessitself.

Aswithfailuremodes,usedescriptiveanddetailedtermstodefineeffects.

Theeffectshouldbestatedintermsmeaningfultoproductorsystemperformance.
Iftheeffectsaredefinedingeneralterms,itwillbedifficulttoidentify(andreduce)truepotentialrisks.

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STEP4:ASSIGNSEVERITYRANKINGS

Assignaseverityrankingtoeacheffectthathasbeenidentified.

Theseverityrankingisanestimateofhowseriousaneffectwouldbeshoulditoccur.
Todeterminetheseverity,considertheimpacttheeffectwouldhaveonthecustomer,ondownstreamoperations,oronthe
employeesoperatingtheprocess.

Theseverityrankingisbasedonarelativescalerangingfrom1to10.

A10meanstheeffecthasadangerouslyhighseverityleadingtoahazardwithoutwarning.
Conversely,aseverityrankingof1meanstheseverityisextremelylow.

Therankingscales(forseverity,occurrence,anddetection)aremissioncriticalforthesuccessofaPFMEAbecausethey
establishthebasisfordeterminingriskofonefailuremodeandeffectrelativetoanother.

ThesamerankingscalesforPFMEAsshouldbeusedconsistentlythroughoutyourorganization.Thiswillmakeitpossibleto
comparetheRPNsfromdifferentFMEAstooneanother.
SeeFMEAChecklistsandFormsforanexamplePFMEASeverityRankingScale.

Thebestwaytocustomizearankingscaleistostartwithastandard,genericscaleandthenmodifyittobemore
meaningfultoyourorganization.

Asyouaddexamplesspecifictoyourorganization,consideraddingseveralcolumnswitheachcolumnfocusedonatopic.
Onetopiccouldprovidedescriptionsofseveritylevelsforoperationalfailures,anothercolumnforcustomersatisfactionfailures,
andathirdforenvironmental,health,andsafetyissues.
SeeFMEAChecklistsandFormsforanexamplesofCustomPFMEARankingScales.(Examplesofcustomscalesforseverity,
occurrence,anddetectionrankingsareincludedinthisAppendix.)

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STEP5:ASSIGNOCCURRENCERANKINGS

Next,considerthepotentialcauseorfailuremechanismforeachfailuremodethenassignanoccurrencerankingtoeach
ofthosecausesorfailuremechanisms.

Weneedtoknowthepotentialcausetodeterminetheoccurrencerankingbecause,justliketheseverityrankingisdriven
bytheeffect,theoccurrencerankingisafunctionofthecause.Theoccurrencerankingisbasedonthelikelihood,or
frequency,thatthecause(ormechanismoffailure)willoccur.

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Ifweknowthecause,wecanbetteridentifyhowfrequentlyaspecificmodeoffailurewilloccur.Howdoyoufindtheroot
cause?

Therearemanyproblemfindingandproblemsolvingmethodologies.
Oneoftheeasiesttouseisthe5Whystechnique.
Oncethecauseisknown,capturedataonthefrequencyofcauses.Sourcesofdatamaybescrapandreworkreports,customer
complaints,andequipmentmaintenancerecords.

Theoccurrencerankingscale,liketheseverityranking,isonarelativescalefrom1to10.

Anoccurrencerankingof10meansthefailuremodeoccurrenceisveryhigh,andhappensallofthetime.Conversely,a1
meanstheprobabilityofoccurrenceisremote.
SeeFMEAChecklistsandFormsforanexamplePFMEAOccurrenceRankingScale.

Yourorganizationmayneedanoccurrencerankingscalecustomizedforalowvolume,complexassemblyprocessora
mixtureofhighvolume,simpleprocessesandlowvolume,complexprocesses.

Considercustomizedoccurrencerankingscalesbasedontimebased,eventbased,orpiecebasedfrequencies.
SeeFMEAChecklistsandFormsforexamplesofCustomPFMEARankingScales.(Examplesofcustomscalesforseverity,
occurrence,anddetectionrankingsareincludedinthisAppendix.)

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STEP6:ASSIGNDETECTIONRANKINGS

Toassigndetectionrankings,identifytheprocessorproductrelatedcontrolsinplaceforeachfailuremodeandthen
assignadetectionrankingtoeachcontrol.Detectionrankingsevaluatethecurrentprocesscontrolsinplace.

Acontrolcanrelatetothefailuremodeitself,thecause(ormechanism)offailure,ortheeffectsofafailuremode.
Tomakeevaluatingcontrolsevenmorecomplex,controlscaneitherpreventafailuremodeorcausefromoccurringordetecta
failuremode,causeoffailure,oreffectoffailureafterithasoccurred.
Notethatpreventioncontrolscannotrelatetoaneffect.Iffailuresareprevented,aneffect(offailure)cannotexist!

TheDetectionrankingscale,liketheSeverityandOccurrencescales,isonarelativescalefrom1to10.

ADetectionrankingof1meansthechanceofdetectingafailureiscertain.
Conversely,a10meansthereisabsolutecertaintyofnondetection.Thisbasicallymeansthattherearenocontrolsinplaceto
preventordetect.
SeeFMEAChecklistsandFormsforanexamplePFMEADetectionRankingScale.

TakingaleadfromAIAG,considerthreedifferentformsofCustomDetectionRankingoptions.Customexamplesfor
MistakeProofing,Gauging,andManualInspectioncontrolscanbehelpfultoPFMEAteams.

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SeeFMEAChecklistsandFormsforexamplesofCustomPFMEARankingScales.(Examplesofcustomscalesforseverity,
occurrence,anddetectionrankingsareincludedinthisAppendix.)

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STEP7:CALCULATETHERPN

TheRPNistheRiskPriorityNumber.TheRPNgivesusarelativeriskranking.ThehighertheRPN,thehigherthepotential
risk.

TheRPNiscalculatedbymultiplyingthethreerankingstogether.MultiplytheSeverityrankingtimestheOccurrence
rankingtimestheDetectionranking.CalculatetheRPNforeachfailuremodeandeffect.

EditorialNote:ThecurrentFMEAManualfromAIAGsuggestsonlycalculatingtheRPNforthehighesteffectrankingforeachfailure
mode.Wedonotagreewiththissuggestionwebelievethatifthissuggestionisfollowed,itwillbetooeasytomisstheneedfor
furtherimprovementonaspecificfailuremode.

Sinceeachofthethreerelativerankingscalesrangesfrom1to10,theRPNwillalwaysbebetween1and1000.The
highertheRPN,thehighertherelativerisk.TheRPNgivesusanexcellenttooltoprioritizefocusedimprovementefforts.

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STEP8:DEVELOPTHEACTIONPLAN

TakingactionmeansreducingtheRPN.TheRPNcanbereducedbyloweringanyofthethreerankings(severity,
occurrence,ordetection)individuallyorincombinationwithoneanother.

AreductionintheSeverityrankingforaPFMEAisoftenthemostdifficult.Itusuallyrequiresaphysicalmodificationto
theprocessequipmentorlayout.

ReductionintheOccurrencerankingisaccomplishedbyremovingorcontrollingthepotentialcauses.

Mistakeproofingtoolsareoftenusedtoreducethefrequencyofoccurrence.

AreductionintheDetectionrankingcanbeaccomplishedbyimprovingtheprocesscontrolsinplace.

Addingprocessfailsafeshutdowns,alarmsignals(sensorsorSPC),andvalidationpracticesincludingworkinstructions,setup
procedures,calibrationprograms,andpreventativemaintenancearealldetectionrankingimprovementapproaches.

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WhatisconsideredanacceptableRPN?Theanswertothatquestiondependsontheorganization.

Forexample,anorganizationmaydecideanyRPNaboveamaximumtargetof200presentsanunacceptableriskandmustbe
reduced.Ifso,thenanactionplanidentifyingwhowilldowhatbywhenisneeded.

TherearemanytoolstoaidthePFMEAteaminreducingtherelativeriskoffailuremodesrequiringaction.Amongthe
mostpowerfultoolsareMistakeProofing,StatisticalProcessControl,andDesignofExperiments.

MistakeProofing(PokaYoke)

Techniquesthatcanmakeitimpossibleforamistaketooccur,reducingtheOccurrencerankingto1.
EspeciallyimportantwhentheSeverityrankingis10.

StatisticalProcessControl(SPC)

Astatisticaltoolthathelpsdefinetheoutputofaprocesstodeterminethecapabilityoftheprocessagainstthespecificationand
thentomaintaincontroloftheprocessinthefuture.

DesignofExperiments(DOE)

Afamilyofpowerfulstatisticalimprovementtechniquesthatcanidentifythemostcriticalvariablesinaprocessandtheoptimal
settingsforthesevariables.

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STEP9:TAKEACTION

TheActionPlanoutlineswhatstepsareneededtoimplementthesolution,whowilldothem,andwhentheywillbe
completed.

AsimplesolutionwillonlyneedaSimpleActionPlanwhileacomplexsolutionneedsmorethoroughplanningand
documentation.

MostActionPlansidentifiedduringaPFMEAwillbeofthesimplewho,what,&whencategory.Responsibilitiesandtarget
completiondatesforspecificactionstobetakenareidentified.
Sometimes,theActionPlanscantriggerafairlylargescaleproject.Ifthathappens,conventionalprojectmanagementtoolssuch
asPERTChartsandGanttChartswillbeneededtokeeptheActionPlanontrack.
MostActionPlansidentifiedduringaPFMEAwillbeofthesimplewho,what,&whencategory.Responsibilitiesandtarget
completiondatesforspecificactionstobetakenareidentified.

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STEP10:RECALCULATETHERESULTINGRPN

ThisstepinaPFMEAconfirmstheactionplanhadthedesiredresultsbycalculatingtheresultingRPN.

TorecalculatetheRPN,reassesstheseverity,occurrence,anddetectionrankingsforthefailuremodesaftertheaction
planhasbeencompleted.

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