Risk Matrix

The Risk Matrix window displays a risk matrix for each business objective. You can switch to a different business objective by selecting one in the Business Objective selection box.

Risk numbers

The Risk Matrix can be used with or without Risk Number. Without the risk numbers the position of failure behavior can be viewed at top level while avoiding the actual numbers that are involved in the risk assessment. Check the "Show risk number" box to (temporarily) display the risk numbers. Uncheck the box to hide the risk numbers.

 

After reopening the risk matrix the "Show risk numbers" box will be reset to the default value. The default value of the checkbox can be set via the GUI settings. Read more about setting the default value in the GUI settings.

The following section assumes the risk numbers are being shown.

Using the Risk Matrix

To activate the risk matrix, you must first right-click the system that you wish to analyze. In the context menu, you can now select 'Risk Matrix'. This opens the following window.

The risk matrix

Using the pull-down menus in this window, you can select from the listed business objectives and scenarios. In the "Risk Margin" entry field, you can enter a numerical value as the valid risk margin. This is the bottom limit of the values, which will be yielded by the calculation. This value is set through the business objectives settings. Read more about the risk border and business objectives. By checking the "Downtime in Risk Number" option, you can specify whether or not the "Downtime (hours)" value will be displayed in the risk matrix. This check-mark is enabled by default if during the set-up of the Business Objectives you checked the "Downtime in Risk Analysis Calculation" option.

Right next to this is another option, "Delivery time in Risk Analysis Calculation". If your company license also entails the Stock module, this option is available. For the risk calculation, the criticality for each failure cause is calculated using various input data. Normally, Delivery time is a factor to be considered, but its use is optional.

If the option is set to active (checked), any present spare objects that are linked to corrective maintenance actions, will be taken into account during analysis. During this phase, spare objects that are set to "put on stock", are considered as if their delivery time was set to zero. If the spare object was not put into stock, the delivery time will be retrieved from the spare object data. As an alternative, the corrective maintenance action properties screen allows entering delivery time data if no spare object is linked. Should data be present in this field instead, the calculation will take this into account.

The X-axis of the risk matrix contains the classes of the MTTF and, if selected, the Maintenance Duration classes. For each MTTF class, all Maintenance Duration classes are listed once. The Y-axis contains the effects on the business objective, as well as the class within which the effect falls. Each risk matrix field contains three numbers.

The upper number is the Risk Number. If this number is displayed in red, it means that the risk limit has been exceeded. The middle number indicates the number of failure mode and failure cause combinations that this combined class contains according to the calculations. The bottom number indicates the number of failure mode and failure cause combinations that this combined class contains for a selected scenario according to the calculation.

Show failure causes in selected category

The risk matrix shows in each cell the number of failure causes that fall in a certain category. To be able to tell which failure causes are represented by the number, the user may double-click the cell to open an overview. This overview has two sections: the top section represents the middle number in the cell (see above), while the lower section represents the post-simulation number (lower number in cell).

Pass Through

The user may double-click a row in the overview to jump straight to the actual failure cause in the FMECA tree

Export

The two lists shown in the overview can each be exported to Excel, by clicking the Excel button on the lower right of the list. This will yield an exact copy of the list in Excel.

Enable Custom Sorting (option)

In the screen header of this screen a checkbox is provided, labeled 'Enable custom sorting'. If the checkbox is ticked, sorting within the risk matrix grid is enabled. This allows users to reverse the sorting direction of both rows and columns defined for this grid, independently.

Using a sorting-enabled grid

The sorting direction can be altered via clicking on the triangle symbol in the classification column or row headers. Not all headers may be available for sorting, since rearrangement would obfuscate the risk overview presentation. Applying non-default sorting to the view will not affect report output.

The pass-through function (to the Failure cause Criticality Overview screen) and summary overview in the screen bottom will still work as expected.

Remark: You can specify the risk limit in the corresponding Risk Limit field. Although the specified value will be used in the matrix at that given moment, it will not be stored. The specified value is a temporary one. If you wish to permanently change the value used, you need to change this setting through the business objectives.  Read more about the Business Objectives .