FMECA - introduction

The FMECA method is a commonly used practice in the process and defense industries to perform risk analysis. How Asset Strategy Optimization supports the FMECA method will be explained in the following topics. A brief introduction to FMECA is described here.

FMECA is an abbreviation which means Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis (quantitative analysis of the risk). This method was derived from the 'MIL-STD 1629A' norm from the American Ministry of Defense.

It is defined as: "a reliability evaluation/design technique which examines the potential failure modes within a system and its equipment, in order to determine the effects on equipment and system performance" (source: "FMECA, 1993, by Reliability Analysis Center, Rome").

FMECA aims at signaling risks that come forward during production processes. Risks can be reduced by implementing technical improvements and by setting up and optimizing a maintenance strategy. This mainly involves mitigating risks by applying preventive maintenance.

Performing FMECA in an effective way requires a great deal of experience, insights in the method and a good understanding of the process or system under study. At the core FMECA is a technique which follows a bottom-up approach to discover and describe how components in a system fail and what the effect of their failure will have on the business objectives. Or it is used top-down to identify significant effects on functional failure in the early stage of design, when not all details of the whole system structure are yet identified.

To fully understand and appreciate how the FMECA module in Asset Strategy Optimization supports performing a proper FMECA, deep understanding of what FMECA is required. However, Asset Strategy Optimization will guide you through this process in a logical way, dramatically speeding up the tasks of gathering and organizing the required information.