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To get the most from your new FMEA template, watch the short video below now. Because, I’m not just sending you spreadsheets; this workbook can be your launchpad to getting your products/systems not just accepted, but celebrated by your customer(s) for impeccable reliability, quality and safety.

3 Reasons to Use this FMEA Template
(...instead of the other 4 you already downloaded)

A well done FMEA is an effective and legal ‘due diligence’ document. It shows what has been done to achieve reliability, avoid safety hazards and avoid high warranty repair costs. This FMEA template can also be a key driver of innovation, maintainability, diagnostic fault detection and other product improvements. 

Whether you use this FMEA template to...

After some years of facilitating engineering, systems integration and product development teams through their FMEA activities, I discovered a few tricks (methods & tools), which I now use to complete FMEA activities in a more timely manner and get better results from the effort. So, let me explain these FMEA preparation methods and tools, in the video (above) and in the text (below). The video and text complement each other, yet are not redundant. These method/tools empower users of this FMEA template to complete their FMEA activity 3-5X faster, without missing any critical failure modes.

Some companies contract me to do FMEA for them or to facilitate their FMEA activity more quickly and effectively. While others are simply looking to do their own FMEAs faster, in compliance with industry standards and customer expectations, without missing any critical failure modes.

If that is your goal, here are four more FMEA preparation methods and tools I use, to:

Giving engineers and development specialists time they need to eliminate or mitigate critical FMs before the next peer review or customer review. 

4 Additional Tools

Method/Tool 1: The FBI-Block Diagram

Most often FMEA facilitators or project leads prepare for FMEA team activity by collecting a list of system functions and/or creating an RBD, a Reliability Block Diagram, or a FBD, Functional Block Diagram, or what is often called a B-Diagram, Boundary Diagram. Although these models help to describe the system to be analyzed and the components within the system (Items in the FMEA), I have found they are not complete enough to identify all potential failure modes (FMs), into the FMEA (especially when seeking all; e, m, i, and p FM’s). 

I often see development specialists and FMEA teams that round up one of these block diagrams to describe the system (because they have been told, “they are supposed to", but then make very little if any attempt to use the model to identify Items and failure modes (FMs) to analyze within the FMEA. Even the manager of Reliability and Robust Engineering, at a large company I worked with, did not understand, and could not explain the difference between FM, Failure Modes and SES, System Error States.

To remove FMEA team confusion and reduce total FMEA labor hours and to empower teams to easily identify all seen and potential FMs, I combined advantages of various block diagram types into one model/tool called an FBI-Block Diagram (Functional Boundary and Interface-Block Diagram).

The FBI-Block Diagram can be used to: 

What is the Value of a FBI-Block Diagram?

The Value of a tool is often hard to quantify, because a tool not used, is useless (of no value). Also, a tool may be used more or less effectively. Also, a single tool provides just a fraction of the value when using multiple tools (like a saw and a measuring tape, or like the FBI-Block Diagram and the FH-Decomp table), to accomplish a project like FMEA. So, after describing the FH-Decomp Table (below) you will see how and why I put a value of $25,000 on the FBI-Block Diagram. Keep reading and I’ll show you a way you might get these models and tools for free.

Method/Tool 2: FH-Decomp Table

The FH-Decomp table is a valuable FMEA preparation tool to extract all functions and failure modes from an FBI-Block Diagram and prioritize those functions, so you don’t miss any critical failure modes. It organizes and quickly populates the FMEA. Refer to the Exhaust System FB-Diagram (above), to see how the FH-Decomp Table is filled in… 

What is the Value of a FBI-Block Diagram?

The Value of a tool is often hard to quantify, because a tool not used, is useless (of no value). Also, a tool may be miss-used, or used more or less effectively. Also, a single tool provides just a fraction of the value when using multiple tools (like a hammer and a measuring tape, or like the FBI-Block Diagram and the FH-Decomp table), to accomplish a project like FMEA. So, after describing the FH-Decomp Table (below) you will see how and why I put a value of $25,000 on the FBI-Block Diagram. Keep reading and I’ll show you a way you might get these models (tools) for free.

Method/Tool 2: FH-Decomp Table

The FH-Decomp table is a valuable FMEA preparation tool to extract all functions and failure modes out of the FBI-Block Diagram, prioritize those functions, so you don’t miss any critical failure modes and quickly organize and populate the FMEA. Refer to the Exhaust System FB-Diagram (above), to see how the FH-Decomp Table is filled in… 

Why do you need an FH-Decomp Table?

Maybe you don’t. Over several years facilitating FMEA groups, I never saw anything like this. But, the very month I discovered the FH-Decomp Table, my job was on the line (at risk of ending). Yet, the next month after presenting this FH-Comp Table, my job was ‘locked-in’ secure.

Jobs of the other eleven FMEA facilitators in my department were also on the line, about to be eliminated, because the director of systems engineering had put up an ultimatum. He had been getting complaints over the last 2-3 years about how much time FMEA was taking away from other engineering duties and complaints that the engineers were still missing critical failure modes (FMs not showing up in the FMEA but manifesting themselves in system verification or validation tests). So, the Director had put out this ultimatum, “If you can’t come up with a way to do FMEA a lot faster and show me (justify) that you’re not missing critical FMs, then next quarter we will lay off the FMEA facilitators and contract these services out to an FMEA facilitator services company!”

Well, put it that way and you’ve got my attention! I felt like our FMEA facilitators knew what they were doing. It’s just that management couldn’t look at an FMEA (a spreadsheet with 26 subject columns and 300-500 rows of potential FM information) and make hardly any sense of it at all. Management was simply confused, I thought. And they don’t like being confused. So, I started creating this simple Function to Hardware correlation table to show them we did understand the system functions and the component functions (FMEA Items) and how they might fail. However, when I completed the table and the FMEA facilitators started looking at it, they discovered that the table helped them identify all possible failure modes and account for them. It also helped them move their FMEA teams much faster through populating the failure modes (FM’s) into the worksheet, in a very systematic fashion. Even, identify and prioritize which of these might be most critical.

Management loved it, because they could now see what was going on. The FH-Decomp Table acts like an index and an audit tool for the FMEA. The engineers and FMEA teams loved it because they could very systematically and faster populate the FMEA, without missing any critical failure modes (FMs)! The FMEA facilitators loved it because it saved our jobs. No more talk of contracting out FMEA.

Over the next year we documented carefully to find what this method/tool was saving us. We knew we were moving much faster and, very logically, we were not missing any critical failure modes. And, it gave us  rational for more accurately calculating RPN, and later AP. During that next year the accounting department and the Six Sigma Master-Blackbelt Leaders verified that we had saved $4,205,817.00 by completing FMEA activities in less than 1/3rd the time.

Summary Purposes of FH-Decomp Table:

• Helps tie hardware/software blocks (components or Items) to their sub-functions and to the system output function(s).
• Better communicate to management and other development specialists the internal components and their functions (why each is needed).
• Acts as an index to the FMEA and helps identify all functional failure modes going into the FMEA.
• It also serves as an audit tool to ensure critical failure modes are not missed.
• Greatly speeds up population of failure modes into the FMEA.
• Provides rationale, in some cases, to eliminate the FMEA all together.

What is the Value of an FH-Decomp Table?

Since the value of a tool is only a fraction of the money saved doing the FMEA project. I started my value calculation with the savings all four (4) method/tools used to help generate and reduce FMEA team labor hours (for the company). That year, the company saved $4,205,817 by doing their FMEA’s in less than 1/3rd the time. That’s across 40 FMEAs done that year = $105,145.43 per FMEA. I divided that savings by the four (4) preparation method/tools used = $26,286.36 per tool.

So, the value of each tool, when properly used, is a conservative $25,000 for each tool (each time the tools were used, to do an FMEA). Savings were verified by the company’s accounting department and their Six Sigma Project Leaders.

Method/Tool 3: P-Diagram – Template and Example (Excel Worksheets)

• Helps communicate to management and other development specialists the System Functions and Error States (System FM’s) caused by; environmental noise factors (stresses), manufacturing variables, aging, customer use and miss-use as well as internal stresses and sub-system interactive noise factors. ‘Kind of a graphical model of the entire FMEA and of the system being analyzed.
• Correlates stresses and noise factors with design controls, into the FMEA, implemented to prevent malfunction and system failures.
• Helps the FMEA team fill in “End Effect” and SEVerity columns in the FMEA, as well as “cause” and all four “Design Control” columns and think about OCCurrence column scoring.
• Plan and report DVP&R verification and validation testing for the product or system.

Value of the P-Diagram: $25,000

Since the value of a tool is only a fraction of the money saved doing the FMEA project, see value calculation, above, for the FH-Comp Table, Method/Tool 2 of 4.

Method/Tool 4 of 4 : AIAG VDA Compliant DFMEA Template and Example 

• If you need this FMEA Template, you know why you need it, because it is the new AIAG VDA Standard required for doing DFMEA in the Automotive Industry.
• Puts an emphasis on safety and severity (over detection)
• This AP template automatically adjusts from S X O X D = RPN to AP, Action Priority (on Safety, Criticality and all 4 Design Control types to improve the product or system)

Value of the AIAG VDA DFMEA Template: $25,000

Since the value of a tool is only a fraction of the money saved doing the FMEA project, see my value calculation, above, for the FH-Comp Table, Tool 2 of 4.

I never charge $25,000 for these four additional method/tools, but their value does factor into what I charge for FMEA coaching, training and facilitating rapid-innovative product/system improvements.

However, right now, because you requested the Free FMEA template and because I feel some Q&A and Coaching would really help your team get the most from all this, I am offering all four of the above method/tools as bonus items for free. For those who attend my next online 3-hour work-shop titled:

Completing Your DFMEA 3X Faster, without Missing Any Critical Failure Modes

Because you have downloaded the FMEA Template, this $500 workshop is yours for only $197 per attendee.
Attendees will:

1. Also receive all four Method/Tools described above, at no additional cost. ($25,000 X 4 = $100,000 Value)
2. Get a working knowledge of these methods and FMEA tools, during the 3 hour online workshop and see…
3. How to complete FMEA activities 3X faster, without missing any critical failure modes.

Only two online Workshop opportunities; Sept 7th, 9am-12n or Sept 12th, 9am-12n (limit: 15 per session)
To Register & Save Your Place in the Sept 7th or 12th 3-hour, online workshop, Click Here

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