Prevent Errors with FMEA

Fall is often a time when organizations are developing new Strategic or Annual Operating Plans.  As part of that work, you may be identifying the need for a new service or product.  Once the larger organizational plan is complete, a team is usually formed to engage in the more detailed design work and preparations to launch the product or service.  In that work, the team would be wise to anticipate possible failures or breakdowns in the product or service delivery and undertake steps to prevent them from occurring.

But this work of analyzing and preventing errors is not unique to new product / service design.  Teams working to improve an existing product / service can also benefit from a structured analysis of various “failures” that occur, a great place to start in prioritizing improvement opportunities.  One tool can prove invaluable in both these kinds of efforts.  A Failure Modes and Effects Analysis can be used as part of new product or service design as well as current product / service improvement efforts.  This structured analysis takes the team sequentially through:

1. The identification of possible failure modes

2. The comparative ranking of the failures based on the severity, frequency, and detectability of each failure

The team can then prioritize the highest (worst) failures and determine the most effective way(s) to prevent them from occurring.

You can read more about FMEA under the Planning Services in the service description on my web site.  I also recommend a great little book on the topic, The Basics of FMEA, 2^nd Edition, by R. Mikulak, R. McDermott, and M. Beauregard (ISBN-13: 978-1563273773).

If you would like to discuss a possible use of FMEA in your group or organization, or would like someone to facilitate a group through the Development of a FMEA, contact me at your convenience.