Customer Reviews

The Basics of FMEA, 2nd Edition

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is a good primer for the application of FMEA tools. Particularly interesting are the sections on application of the FMEA process to non-manufacturing disciplines such as purchasing and human resources. However, the book is not a thorough enough treatment of the subject to enable an inexperienced person to perform an FMEA. It does serve a purpose to an experienced user, by walking you through the process and providing a structured approach to keep development of the FMEA on track.

Great little book which I, as a Quality Engineer, found useful and which I would be happy to distribute to busy people at all levels of a company knowing there is a good chance it will be read.

This books covers the essentials required to get people started and productive on an FMEA team.

Only complaint is the cost to get it down here in Australia!

This isn't really a textbook on FMEA, it is more akin to a Quick Reference Handbook (QRH). It is tailored for beginners and is fairly general, yet I did find it useful, especially to introduce colleagues to FMEA. The book first explains the basic premises behind FMEA with a bit of history (and the relation of FMEA to ISO 9000 and QS-9000) then outlines the general methodology of FMEA in a no-frills manner.

I thought one of the things the book did best was explaining the derivation of the Risk Priority Number (RPN) and the different issues associated with altering the different components of the RPN (severity, occurrence, and detection) in an effort to mitigate the risk of a certain failure. Likewise I appreciated that the book explained the methodology of applying FMEA to not only physical products, but also processes.

The book is very short (75 pages), and can be read in about half an hour. It is not comprehensive (nor does it claim to be) but it is a good pocket reference, and is a good way to introduce FMEA as a concept.

Book info: I read the 1st edition that was published in 1996.
Pre required knowledge or literature: None
General: The book is easy to read and does not keep repeating itself, but how could it; the book is in pocketsize and only has 75 pages.

Book content:
For a person new to FMEA, this book will be a good starter. For more advanced users, the book will disappoint. If you look in perspective; there is a lot of introduction (15%); examples / case study (16%) and appendix (21%); what makes the content on FMEA a bit short, but you will still get the big picture. And for only USD 6,-- the price / quality ratio seems reasonable to me.

For a person new to FMEA, this book will be a good primer. For more advanced users, the book will disappoint. The authors would have done well to include examples of how FMEA helps industry.

A very useful reference guide for Failure Modes and Effects Analysis. All of the basics are covered along with examples of implementation. Simple step-by-step instructions are listed to aid in the training of FMEA techniques. The authors also mention applying FMEA to non-traditional functions such as Accounting/Finance, Software Design, Marketing, Human Resources, and Purchasing. Highly recommended.

I was very dissappointed by this book. Even at its low price it was not worth the money. It is essentially a small pamphlet. I remember doing FMEA's, and it was much deeper than described here. There is discussion of the mechanics, but very little of the issues. The tie-in topics at the end, for example, with Statistical Process Control, are superficial. I know SPC, and it is much richer than can be covered in two paragraphs. Save your money.

This book provides simple, easy to read and understand of the concept of FMEA. Although it is use to determine the possibility of a failure and the consequence but it is also useful for risk assessment.

The step-by-step examples bring the readers to the final picture on how to complete the FMEA cycle will surely benefit all of us!

This book is a mixed bag - there are many parts that the FMEA virgin would find helpful while other parts the FMEA veteran would find wasteful. Rather than go into specifics (there are many), I will only state the following:

(a) FMEA is not for listing EVERY failure mode - only those that are REASONABLE. The authors suggest brainstorming every possible failure mode. This is a waste of time (you won't catch them all) and will create a document that is unwieldy to manage (this is a "living" document).

(b) Rarely will a recommended action change both detection and occurrence - usually one or the other. Severity typically stays the same. If you change severity, usually you change failure mode.

(c) Do not set RPN "limits" - i.e. "anything above an RPN of xx requires a corrective action." This biases your team and they will tend to "aim low" to avoid triggering corrective action, regardless of how cross-functional the team is.

(d) Do not assign a "budget" to your FMEA team. Again, this can bias the team's decisions. What if a failure mode is discovered that can cause serious injury or a fatality and a fix would cost more than the budget? In 20+ years of working in manufacturing and product design and participating in FMEA creation, I've never had a team that had a FMEA "budget" assigned.

Some of the book is good... teamwork is encouraged and working column-by-column (as opposed to row-by-row) is emphasized.

Read with caution. I recommend studying other texts/sources to get a more complete picture of the FMEA process.

Good book for quick overview (and review) of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis. I would have loved more examples in manufacturing, services, healthcare, finance, not-for-profit, and government industries.