Six Sigma seeks to eradicate product defects, errors, and failures that diminish the quality of the experience for the end user. The Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) provides teams working on Six Sigma projects with a tool that can assist them in predicting the most likely process failures that will have an effect on a customer. The significance of the impact can also be estimated with the help of FMEA.
The Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) technique is utilized during the Analyze phase of the Six Sigma DMAIC cycle. It is able to assist project teams in determining which aspects of a product or a process are more likely to be flawed or unsuccessful. Teams working on a project can improve product quality and cut the number of errors that occur as a result by either modifying the processes that are already in place or developing new processes specifically designed to correct potential flaws.
Those individuals who are going to be tasked with improving already established procedures make excellent candidates for the Six Sigma Green Belt certification. It’s possible that this is a reference to processes that aren’t standardized or don’t have any metrics that have been established for them. Alternatively, the organization may be attempting to reduce the number of mistakes that are made or the amount of time that is required to finish those processes. FMEA provides project teams with improved product quality and reduces errors by modifying the processes that are already in place. This is accomplished through the analysis of data and the generation of reports.
Implementing FMEA in Everyday Operations
The FMEA provides the greatest value to project teams that already possess in-depth functional knowledge of the process. The outcomes are even more satisfying when this specific functional knowledge is contained within the bounds of a project scope that has been meticulously outlined.
When should the FMEA be used?
When dealing with situations involving services, products, or processes, an FMEA is an essential piece of methodology. The scenarios may be brand-new, or they may have been modified or rethought to serve multiple functions. It is important to conduct FMEA on a regular basis throughout the lifetime of a process, product, or service in order to ensure that it is functioning properly. Businesses can structure what needs to be addressed specifically and track continuous improvement by implementing FMEA alongside a Six Sigma approach. Just because a problem has been resolved during the process doesn’t guarantee that it won’t occur again. Through the control phase, FMEA keeps track of the issue, making sure it doesn’t happen again and providing updates if a new issue is found.
It is recommended to use FMEA for
- When a module is being designed from scratch or redesigned in the wake of the development of a quality function.
- When an existing module is used in a new eco-system, this is known as “when.”
- Before the creation of control plans for a newly modified or existing process.
- When planning improvement goals for a module that is already in use.
- When determining the cause of a malfunction in an existing module.
- To evaluate a component on a periodic basis.
Making the FMEA Work for Your Organization
After the team working on the project has determined how likely each outcome is to be, they can move on to calculating the Risk Priority Number (RPN). The RPN is calculated by multiplying the three rankings—occurrence, severity, and detection—into each other.
After all the numbers have been multiplied together, each possible reason for the failure will be assigned a risk priority number in the range of 0 to 1,000. The most significant numbers denote the potential errors that expose the process to the greatest amount of risk. When beginning the process of improving a procedure, a project team will initially concentrate on those potential failures that have the highest risk priority numbers.
Finding the most likely causes of failure is made easier for project teams when they evaluate each stage of the production process using the FMEA methodology. Experienced Six Sigma project teams are aware that addressing occurrence will have the greatest impact on the customer out of the three components (detection, severity, and occurrence) that make up the risk potential number.
The FMEA method assists project teams in determining the potential flaws and errors that are brought on by a production process. In addition to assisting in the evaluation of processes that result in errors, it also provides this information with a number that can be understood in an objective manner and easily compared to the results of other processes.
When looking to improve a certain business procedure, the FEMA priority list is something that needs to be taken into consideration. The FMEA methodology assists project teams in pinpointing the most likely cause of project failures when it is implemented. Teams that have experience working on Six Sigma projects are aware that the detection, severity, and occurrence of defects all have a significant impact on the customer experience. Therefore, with the help of FMEA, the potential flaws can be easily identified and eliminated before they even have a chance to manifest themselves.
With the help of Simplilearn’s Lean Six Sigma and DMAIC training, you can put FMEA at the center of your project right away. FMEA and Six Sigma are complementary methodologies that, when used together, produce insights that are factual and specific and lead to the continuous improvement of processes all along the value chain.
Simplilearn, in partnership, provides some of the most influential and well-known curricula in the world, which includes training that is both extensive and detailed on FMEA as well as other methodologies. This will enable anyone getting a certification in one of the lean six sigma processes, for instance, Six Sigma Green belt certification, to be at the top of the A game anywhere they go.
