FMEA - Failure Mode and Effects Analysis

Preventing Disaster with FMEA

You can use the FMEA - Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (a template in the QI Macros) to analyze and prevent disasters. You can use it to analyze a product (car, x-ray, MRI), part (car door), or process (part stamping process or elective surgery).

  • Designing a product or part uses a Design FMEA.
  • Analyzing a process uses a Process FMEA.

When you've got a product or a process that can affect human life (e.g., radiology or amputation in a hospital), you want to anticipate all of the ways that the product or process could go wrong and affect your customer. The automobile and airline industries do this routinely to mitigate and prevent potential problems.


Here is an example of the FMEA Template in the QI Macros for Excel

fmea template in excel for pfmea and dfmea

Use the DFMEA or PFMEA to analyze and prevent the effects of potential failures before they happen. Can you afford an injury or a death? Probably not. Can you afford the time and money involved in litigation? Probably not. Is it cheaper to use the FMEA and prevent potential problems? No doubt, especially when the consequences are extreme. Are you going to catch everything? No, because some things are outside of our ability to imagine them.

Save yourself time and money by analyzing the potential causes of failure using the FMEA.

To create a Fmea in Excel using the QI Macros...
Try It Now!
