Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Template

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Failure Modes

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a popular method for managing product or process risks. You can use this approach to identify potential failure modes, their causes, and effects on the system or stakeholders. For each identified cause and effect, you can assess its risk and determine corrective actions.

You can organize failures by items or process step into sections with the following hierarchy: FunctionFailure ModePotential CauseCorrective Action.

For more information see book Effective FMEAs by Carl Carlson.

Document Template

To create a new document describing risks, click Project and select Add Document. In the New Document dialog, choose Predefined, and then Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA).

Instructions

If you create a new document from this template then the application displays detailed guidance in the Instructions pane:

Instructions from the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) document template

Attributes

Common Attributes

NameIdentifierTypeDescription
IdidstringUnique identifier within the document

Function Attributes

NameIdentifierTypeDescription
TypetypeenumSet to “Function”
HeadingheadingstringShort description of the function item or process

Failure Mode Attributes

NameIdentifierTypeDescription
TypetypeenumSet to “Failure Mode”
HeadingheadingstringShort description of the failure
Potential EffectseffectsxhtmlPotential impact of the failure on the system or users
SEVseverityintSeverity rating of failure potential effects as a number from 1 (least severe) to 10 (most severe)

Potential Cause Attributes

NameIdentifierTypeDescription
TypetypeenumSet to “Potential Cause”
HeadingheadingstringDescription of the potential cause
Detection ModedetectionxhtmlDescription of the existing design controls detecting the cause or preventing the failure from occurring
SEVseverityintSeverity rating of the failure potential effects as a number from 1 (least severe) to 10 (most severe)
PROBprobabilityintProbability rating of failure potential cause as a number from 1 (least likely) to 10 (most likely)
DETdetectabilityintDetectability rating of the failure potential cause as a number from 1 (best detectable) to 10 (least detectable)

Corrective Action Attributes

NameIdentifierTypeDescription
TypetypeenumSet to “Corrective Action”
TexttextstringDescription of the action for reducing the occurrence of the cause or improving the detection
Potential EffectseffectsxhtmlPotential impact of the failure on the system or users after the corrective action is applied
Detection ModedetectionxhtmlDescription how the corrective action improves design controls detecting the failure or preventing the failure from occurring
SEVseverityintNew severity rating of the failure potential effects as a number from 1 (least severe) to 10 (most severe)
PROBprobabilityintProbability rating of the failure potential cause as a number from 1 (least likely) to 10 (most likely)
DETdetectabilityintNew detectability rating of the failure potential cause as a number from 1 (best detectable) to 10 (least detectable)
ResponsibilityresponsibilityxhtmlName the responsible person
Target DatetargetDatedateDate when the corrective action should be finished

Example

Check the RISKS document in the Example Project.

Example Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) for ReqView

References

 Try ReqView
Updated for version 2.18.2