Four easy ways to avoid FMEA mistakes

Why involving the process expert and prioritizing risk are two of four key ways to avoid common PFMEA mistakes

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Vishy Chandra
Vishy Chandra
02/06/2014

four easy ways avoid PFMEA mistakes

Process Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is one of the essential tools in any Six Sigma practitioner’s toolkit. But like most basic things in world, it can be easy to go wrong in using this tool.

This article does not explain how and why you should use the FMEA template. Instead, I look at common mistakes I have seen people doing while updating this tool and offer advice to avoid them. 

Involve the process expert

Good Six Sigma practitioners often take out the Process FMEA template as early as the measure phase of a define, measure, analyze, improve and control (DMAIC) cycle and start adding variables that they have identified by brainstorming and using a cause-and-effect diagram. Did you consult your process expert before adding them in to your template?

You may have updated a variable as uncontrollable, but for all you know, it may well be controlled. How many of you consult your process experts before updating the PFMEA?

Prioritize risk that is meaningful to your organization

Most PFMEA templates come with a standard guideline – Risk Priority Number (RPN) – for rating three factors: severity, occurrence and detection. People make the mistake of taking the standard as standard rather than making the ratings talk about the process defect.

Instead, modify the way you want the ratings to look but be consistent in your approach. Remember that project teams after you may want to use the template depending on how you use it.

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Use the PFMEA more than once

With so much effort having gone into creating this tool, why would you not keep updating it? A PFMEA is like a living document, which needs to be updated every time there is a process change.

Related article: Deploying FMEA intelligently to minimize risks and continuously improve shopfloor processes

Avoid spending too much time preparing a control plan

Good practitioners will actually spend very little time connecting their PFMEA to control plans. If you are preparing a good control plan, just look at what you did to your FMEA as you may have not treated it properly.

Think of these four recommendations and avoid making common mistakes you may have done in your process FMEA templates in the past. 

Are you making the same mistakes? Let us know by leaving a comment below. 


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