What is FMEA and What is it Used for?
The scenario described can be steered in a significantly different direction with the support of an FMEA. FMEA is the abbreviation for Failure Mode an Effects Analysis. This stands for an analysis that triggers the process of detecting and avoiding errors at an early stage.
The best prerequisite for sound quality management is therefore the performance of an FMEA analysis. It can be used in any product development process. This also applies when a product is to be modified or adapted to technical innovations.
FMEA software is used for successful analysis for defect detection and defect avoidance, and intensive FMEA training covers the advantages of this software.
Stumbling Blocks in Product Development
Failures in the product development process are not uncommon. They occur due to imprecise work instructions, untrained employees or errors that cannot be recognized by the production manager at first glance.
This is where FMEA analysis and FMEA training come in. With the help of FMEA software and an organized application of the FMEA AIAG/VDA, the responsible persons in the production process detect errors that often cannot be recognized at first glance. For example, it can be quickly recognized that the wrong material was used in a certain work step or that a work instruction was not implemented correctly.
Another advantage of FMEA software is obvious. Because the software enables all potential errors to be identified and eliminated at an early stage, a product development process can usually be carried through to the end without any disruptions. The analysis for FMEA includes all important steps from the conception of the product to the delivery to the customer. This allows the company to significantly reduce costs.
FMEA Analysis - Applicable to Any Product Development Process
FMEA analysis is not only applicable to a specific product development process. By means of the software developed for FMEA, FMEA analysis can be applied to any development and production process.
During an FMEA training course, participants learn how the analysis can be flexibly adapted to the development and production processes in their own company and what benefits their own company can derive from it. Training courses also cover the basics of FMEA AIAG/VDA. This specifically examines, for example, defects that arise in the production processes of companies based in the automotive industry. However, through variations and appropriate adaptation mechanisms, the standards set here can also be implemented in any other production process.
Legal Basis of FMEA Analysis
There are no legal requirements that make the use of FMEA analysis mandatory in every company. However, because quality assurance does not only lead to higher sales figures, but also includes a personal responsibility of the producing company, an organized quality management should be part of the due diligence of the company's leaders. This also refers to production processes, which bring the most benefits to the company when they can be carried out to the end without disruptions.
Every production is preceded by the development of the product. Since errors can also occur here, the development process should be taken just as seriously as the production process. FMEA software addresses this problem and offers companies compact failure analysis with design FMEA and process FMEA, among others. Users gain comprehensive knowledge of FMEA and its application when they attend an FMEA training course.
AIAG/VDA Alignment
In 2021, the FMEA analysis has undergone an innovative innovation. The VDA (German Association of the Automotive Industry) and the AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group) have developed a joint standard for FMEA.
The transatlantic alignment reforms the FMEA VDA. In the current version, the defect detection strategy applied until then helps to identify, analyze and eliminate defects even sooner. The mechanisms for error prevention have also undergone an innovation that benefits the users of FMEA software.
Participants in an FMEA training course are comprehensively informed about the sub-steps that have been introduced so that the FMEA analysis follows a transatlantic uniform standard.
Changes to the Alignment Process
The changes to the alignment process primarily relate to the number of steps required for a comprehensive FMEA analysis.
After harmonization, two additional steps have been added for failure analysis to be successfully applied to a production process. In an FMEA conducted prior to the harmonization process, there were five phases, but now these have been increased to seven. Harmonization has led to individual phases being supplemented and expanded. In addition to improved failure analysis, this means a higher-quality cost-benefit factor for each individual production process. Further informative details on the reform of FMEA VDA are the subject of FMEA training courses.
Requirements Management - Definition and Implementation
With requirements management, FMEA analysis experiences a further innovation. Every company has to respond to wishes and needs that are influenced from the outside. On the one side are the customers, who expect a certain benefit from the purchase of the product. On the other side are the stakeholders, who do not want to see their share of the profit endangered by too high a cost. With targeted implementation of measures, both groups can be satisfied.
Requirements management is also introduced as part of an FMEA training course. Participants learn how to use it and what advantages it creates for their company.
Professional Support with FMEA Software
With the use of FMEA software, the FMEA analysis can be supported professionally. The knowledge acquired during the FMEA training can also be used in a targeted manner.
FMEA software offers comprehensive solution options for FMEA analysis, which can be individually adapted to each production development process. Users benefit, for example, from a risk analysis that shows which risk can be minimized with a detected defect.
Those who decide to participate in an FMEA training course will gain comprehensive knowledge about the benefits of FMEA software. In addition to the application, those interested also learn how FMEA can be successfully implemented in their company.
Conclusion
Quality management primarily means requirements management. In order for a company to manufacture high-quality products, certain requirements must be met. Only in this way can a product development process run smoothly.
However, the reality in many companies looks different. Product creation processes are often interrupted by production disruptions because errors have crept in during planning or execution, bringing production to a standstill in the worst case.
To ensure that products can be manufactured on schedule, one of a company's most urgent tasks must be to identify the non-obvious errors in good time and eliminate them before the product creation process even begins.
Company managers looking for a solution to this problem are supported by a successfully conducted FMEA analysis. During an informative FMEA training course, participants are provided with the necessary knowledge to use FMEA software in a target-oriented manner and to learn about its advantages. With the help of appropriate software, users can develop a basic strategy that provides the appropriate solution for successful defect identification and defect detection in any product development process.
Thus, the use of software for FMEA is the best basis for avoiding stumbling blocks in a product development process. An FMEA training course offers interested parties deep insights into the application of FMEA software and provides answers to all questions regarding the implementation of FMEA in one's own company. Through a preventive fault detection and fault avoidance strategy, FMEA analysis contributes to comprehensive quality assurance.