Accendo Reliability

Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site

Carl S. Carlson — Thought Leader

Author of Inside FMEA articles, FMEA Resources page, and multiple books, and a co-host on Speaking of Reliability.


This author's archive lists contributions of articles and episodes.

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Note from “Inside FMEA” Author

As of the date of this note, the Inside FMEA series of articles has completed the “Introduction to FMEA Series,” and is nearly complete with the “FMEA Fundamentals Series.”

This year, Inside FMEA articles will continue on a monthly basis. Each article will be posted for readers on the 1st day of the month.

As soon as the “FMEA Fundamentals Series” is completed, articles will continue with the “FMEA Preparation Series,” followed by the “FMEA Facilitation Series” and the “FMEA Special Topics Series.”

Readers of my book, Effective FMEAs, will continue to find the content of the Inside FMEA articles consistent with the concepts in the book.

It is my sincere desire that each and every person who reads Inside FMEA articles will discover the articles enjoyable to read and experience improved success in FMEA applications. As I say to readers of my book, “best wishes for effective FMEAs.”

Carl S. Carlson

 

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Understanding FMEA Severity Risk – Part 2

Understanding FMEA Severity Risk – Part 2

Problems and Solutions

Is action always required on high-severity issues? What if severity is high (9 or 10 on a severity scale of 1 to 10), and the occurrence and detection rankings are both low? Is action still required? This problem, as well as a challenging problem involving fail-safe strategies, are the subject of this problem-solution article.

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Understanding FMEA Severity Risk – Part 1

Understanding FMEA Severity Risk – Part 1

The Seriousness of Consequences

Have you ever been in an FMEA meeting where the team did not agree on the severity rating? Understanding and correctly applying severity risk is an important part of FMEA application. This article discusses the subject of severity risk, including examples for design and process FMEAs, and offers a tip on what to do when the team does not agree on the severity risk rating.

“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”
Henry Ford

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FMEA Q and A – Difference Between Controls and Actions

FMEA Q and A – Difference Between Controls and Actions

FMEA Q and A

A reader is having difficulty seeing the difference between a detection control and a recommended action, and sees them as interchangeable. This has repercussions for the linkage between the Design FMEA and Design Verification Plan, and is the subject of this FMEA Q and A article.

“The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.”
Thomas Berger [Read more…]

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Understanding FMEA Recommended Actions – Part 1

Understanding FMEA Recommended Actions – Part 1

Actions Speak Louder than Words

Consider these questions: How many recommendations are needed to address the root cause of a high-risk problem? If the FMEA team is addressing an issue with high-severity and high-occurrence ratings, is it usual to have a single recommended action to reduce risk? Why not? Read on, to learn the essential elements of FMEA recommended actions, and answers to this questions.

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”
Leonardo da Vinci

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