Process Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

Introduction

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) gives teams a thorough, priority-based method for getting ahead of failure: identifying what could go wrong, understanding the likely effects, and establishing suitable controls. In a world where processes are changing faster than ever, being redesigned, digitised, automated and increasingly handed to intelligent agents, the risk of introducing new failure modes is higher, not lower.

This activity-based course works through the FMEA step by step, using a hands-on, team-based approach that draws on the knowledge of the people who actually do the work, because that’s where the insight lives. It suits process owners, leaders and teams who want robust, reliable processes, and want to reduce failure-related costs, or respond to a customer request for an FMEA.

Participants will be able to:

• Explain how FMEA makes processes more robust and reliable
• Identify where FMEA would add the most value in their own organisation
• Apply FMEA thinking alongside Agile and digital development approaches
• Work through the steps required to create a Process FMEA
• Appraise and apply appropriate ratings for Severity, Occurrence and Detection
• Prioritise risks using the Risk Priority Number and plan mitigating actions
• Implement control plans to prevent the occurrence of failure modes

Why choose this programme?

Organisations that use FMEA to identify and mitigate process risks tend to have more robust and reliable processes, lower failure-related costs such as rework and recalls, fewer errors and defects, fewer customer complaints and fewer safety incidents. Catalyst’s instructors bring hands-on experience of creating  Process FMEAs across many organisations, using a simple, interactive, team-based approach, including experience of using FMEA with Agile development. Courses are highly interactive and use relevant examples and case studies. The programme carries 16 CPD points.

Delivery Information / Options

The Process FMEA programme is delivered as a one or two-day in-company programme, either virtually or face-to-face. There are no prerequisites.

Course Overview

The programme works through FMEA from first principles to practical application. It opens with the fundamentals of risk management and a clear grounding in what FMEA is, where it applies and who should be in the room. The core of the course builds a Process FMEA from scratch, combining process mapping with the FMEA template, examining failure modes and their effects, working with rating scales and the Risk Priority Number to separate the risks that matter most from the noise.

From here, delegates focus on action: the hierarchy of controls, Poka Yoke and mistake-proofing, and creative approaches to generating effective countermeasures. The course closes with the practicalities of facilitating an FMEA with a team, covering roles, composition and the tips that make for a productive session.