Failure mode effects analysis, also known as FMEA, is a structured way to identify the different ways a system can fail. It can be a very effective tool for identifying the highest risks for failure. Prioritizing those risks provides direction on what action(s) should be taken, which makes FMEA an excellent tool for identifying and preventing failures within a system. Frequently individuals confuse root cause analysis and failure modes effects analysis , but they connect in a simple way.
The term “failure mode” defines the manner in which something can fail. A failure mode is simply a way something can fail. A single part can fail in different ways. Therefore a system consisting of multiple parts can have many different failure modes. FMEA helps prioritize the different failure modes (in terms of risk).
Failure analysis is different than failure modes effects analysis in one basic way. Failure analysis is about why something “did” fail while FMEA is about how something “could” fail. “Did” is in the past, “could” is in the future. Anything in the past actually did occur a particular way. People may speculate on different ways a failure “could” have happened, but there is only one set of causes for how it actually “did” happen.
For an incident the occurred in the past all of the causes are linked with AND relationships. An incident in the past “did” happen in a particular way and all of the causes were required. For an incident in the future, one that “could” happen, all of the different failure modes are linked with OR relationships. It “could” fail several different ways. FMEA identifies cause-and-effect relationships for something that “could” happen. Failure analysis identifies the cause-and-effect relationships for something that “did” happen. A failure mode is simply a cause. It’s a cause of how something “could” fail.
Root cause analysis is a method for digging into the cause-and-effect relationships of any problem. It can be used for problems that did happen or could happen. It can also be used to explain why something went well. The point is problem solving within any organization should be based on the cause-and-effect principle. It’s more important to understand the underlying principle than to pick the “right tool.” The more an organization focuses on the principle the better it becomes at understanding how to use the different tools and less effort is placed on chasing the program of the month.
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