FMEA Foundations

Summary

Our one-day FMEA Foundations course is designed to give learners the essential knowledge and confidence to participate effectively in Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) activities.

It is ideal for anyone who is new to the methodology and explores the underpinning knowledge required to understand the purpose, structure, and value of both Design FMEA (DFMEA) and Process FMEA (PFMEA) in a product, process or service environment.

Through the use of practical exercises, the course demystifies the methodology, presenting FMEA as a clear, structured and dynamic tool, that can be used to help organisations identify risks early, improve reliability and ensure customer requirements are met.

How will I benefit?

After the course you will be able to:

  • Understand the purpose and value of FMEA in preventing failures
  • Learn the differences between Design FMEA (DFMEA) and Process FMEA (PFMEA)
  • Gain confidence to contribute effectively to FMEA workshops and team activities
  • Develop practical knowledge to apply FMEA principles immediately in your role
  • Learn how to document an FMEA study using a standard template

Who should attend?

This course is ideal for anyone involved in the design or development of products, processes, or services and those who need to contribute to FMEA activities at a working level. It is particularly suited to:

  • are new to FMEA and want to understand the basics
  • have been asked to join or support an FMEA team
  • want to understand how FMEA relates to and impacts their role

Course Outline / Key Topics

Overview of FMEA as a proactive risk-reduction tool

  • How FMEA supports product, process, and service requirements
  • Real-world examples of how FMEA prevents issues reaching customers
  • Introduction to DFMEA (Design FMEA) and PFMEA (Process FMEA)
  • Why cross-functional collaboration is essential to support FMEA activity

Introduction to the standard FMEA workflow and terminology

  • Definitions of functions, failure modes, effects, causes, and controls
  • The inputs required to support the completion of an FMEA

Identification

  • How to identify failure modes and effects
  • How to identify Causes and Controls

Introduction to severity, occurrence and detectability scoring

  • What each rating represents and how it is used
  • How ratings drive prioritisation decisions
  • Common pitfalls and how to avoid mis-scoring

How to prioritise and manage risks

  • Introduction to RPN or Action Priority (AP)
  • How to interpret risk ratings

How recommended actions support risk reduction

  • Use of design guides, rules and standards
  • Improved prevention and detection controls