Accendo Reliability

Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site

  • Home
  • About
    • Contributors
    • About Us
    • Colophon
    • Survey
  • Reliability.fm
    • Speaking Of Reliability
    • Rooted in Reliability: The Plant Performance Podcast
    • Quality during Design
    • CMMSradio
    • Way of the Quality Warrior
    • Critical Talks
    • Asset Performance
    • Dare to Know
    • Maintenance Disrupted
    • Metal Conversations
    • The Leadership Connection
    • Practical Reliability Podcast
    • Reliability Hero
    • Reliability Matters
    • Reliability it Matters
    • Maintenance Mavericks Podcast
    • Women in Maintenance
    • Accendo Reliability Webinar Series
  • Articles
    • CRE Preparation Notes
    • NoMTBF
    • on Leadership & Career
      • Advanced Engineering Culture
      • ASQR&R
      • Engineering Leadership
      • Managing in the 2000s
      • Product Development and Process Improvement
    • on Maintenance Reliability
      • Aasan Asset Management
      • AI & Predictive Maintenance
      • Asset Management in the Mining Industry
      • CMMS and Maintenance Management
      • CMMS and Reliability
      • Conscious Asset
      • EAM & CMMS
      • Everyday RCM
      • History of Maintenance Management
      • Life Cycle Asset Management
      • Maintenance and Reliability
      • Maintenance Management
      • Plant Maintenance
      • Process Plant Reliability Engineering
      • RCM Blitz®
      • ReliabilityXperience
      • Rob’s Reliability Project
      • The Intelligent Transformer Blog
      • The People Side of Maintenance
      • The Reliability Mindset
    • on Product Reliability
      • Accelerated Reliability
      • Achieving the Benefits of Reliability
      • Apex Ridge
      • Field Reliability Data Analysis
      • Metals Engineering and Product Reliability
      • Musings on Reliability and Maintenance Topics
      • Product Validation
      • Reliability by Design
      • Reliability Competence
      • Reliability Engineering Insights
      • Reliability in Emerging Technology
      • Reliability Knowledge
    • on Risk & Safety
      • CERM® Risk Insights
      • Equipment Risk and Reliability in Downhole Applications
      • Operational Risk Process Safety
    • on Systems Thinking
      • The RCA
      • Communicating with FINESSE
    • on Tools & Techniques
      • Big Data & Analytics
      • Experimental Design for NPD
      • Innovative Thinking in Reliability and Durability
      • Inside and Beyond HALT
      • Inside FMEA
      • Institute of Quality & Reliability
      • Integral Concepts
      • Learning from Failures
      • Progress in Field Reliability?
      • R for Engineering
      • Reliability Engineering Using Python
      • Reliability Reflections
      • Statistical Methods for Failure-Time Data
      • Testing 1 2 3
      • The Hardware Product Develoment Lifecycle
      • The Manufacturing Academy
  • eBooks
  • Resources
    • Accendo Authors
    • FMEA Resources
    • Glossary
    • Feed Forward Publications
    • Openings
    • Books
    • Webinar Sources
    • Journals
    • Higher Education
    • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • Your Courses
    • 14 Ways to Acquire Reliability Engineering Knowledge
    • Live Courses
      • Introduction to Reliability Engineering & Accelerated Testings Course Landing Page
      • Advanced Accelerated Testing Course Landing Page
    • Integral Concepts Courses
      • Reliability Analysis Methods Course Landing Page
      • Applied Reliability Analysis Course Landing Page
      • Statistics, Hypothesis Testing, & Regression Modeling Course Landing Page
      • Measurement System Assessment Course Landing Page
      • SPC & Process Capability Course Landing Page
      • Design of Experiments Course Landing Page
    • The Manufacturing Academy Courses
      • An Introduction to Reliability Engineering
      • Reliability Engineering Statistics
      • An Introduction to Quality Engineering
      • Quality Engineering Statistics
      • FMEA in Practice
      • Process Capability Analysis course
      • Root Cause Analysis and the 8D Corrective Action Process course
      • Return on Investment online course
    • Industrial Metallurgist Courses
    • FMEA courses Powered by The Luminous Group
      • FMEA Introduction
      • AIAG & VDA FMEA Methodology
    • Barringer Process Reliability Introduction
      • Barringer Process Reliability Introduction Course Landing Page
    • Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)
    • Foundations of RCM online course
    • Reliability Engineering for Heavy Industry
    • How to be an Online Student
    • Quondam Courses
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Live Events
    • Accendo Reliability Webinar Series
  • Calendar
    • Call for Papers Listing
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Calendar
  • Login
    • Member Home
Home » Articles » on Tools & Techniques » Inside FMEA » Page 2

Inside FMEA

With the Inside FMEA series of articles, my intention is to bring to life the subject of FMEA, and provide value to readers from all levels of experience.

Whether you are new to FMEA, or an FMEA expert, it is my sincere desire that each and every person who reads Inside FMEA articles will discover new insights about FMEA, and experience improved success in FMEA applications.

The first article, called “Welcome to Inside FMEA”, will introduce the series, and provide a glimpse of what is to come.

Readers are encouraged to contact me with any questions about FMEA, or feedback on Inside FMEA articles. Questions, feedback, and ideas for future articles can be sent to carl.carlson@effectivefmeas.com. I will personally respond to all questions and feedback.

I’m excited to bring this new series to Accendo, and hope you enjoy reading the articles, as much as I enjoy writing them. As I say to readers of my book, "best wishes for effective FMEAs."


Carl S. Carlson

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

Key Teaching Principle #6: Stories

As covered in the first article in this series, Principles of Effective Teaching, reliability engineers, FMEA team leaders, and other quality and reliability professionals are often called upon to teach the principles of reliability or FMEA. Whether you are a student who wants to enhance your learning experience, an instructor who wants to improve teaching results, or an engineer who wishes to convey knowledge to another person, this series will offer practical knowledge and advice.

Strengthen Your Message with Stories

The shortest distance between truth and a human being is a story.  Anthony de Mello

Key Teaching Principle #6 is the instructor uses stories and personal experiences to deepen learning.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA Tagged With: teaching

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

Key Teaching Principle #5 Convey Interest and Passion

As covered in the first article in this series, Principles of Effective Teaching, reliability engineers, FMEA team leaders, and other quality and reliability professionals are often called upon to teach the principles of reliability or FMEA. Whether you are a student who wants to enhance your learning experience, an instructor who wants to improve teaching results, or an engineer who wishes to convey knowledge to another person, this series will offer practical knowledge and advice.

Conveying Interest and Passion When Teaching

“A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.” Horace Mann

What is Interest and how does it enhance learning?

The definition of interest is “a feeling that accompanies or causes special attention to something or someone.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA Tagged With: teaching

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

Key Teaching Principle # 4: Questioning

As covered in the first article in this series, Principles of Effective Teaching, reliability engineers, FMEA team leaders, and other quality and reliability professionals are often called upon to teach the principles of reliability or FMEA. Whether you are a student who wants to enhance your learning experience, an instructor who wants to improve teaching results, or an engineer who wishes to convey knowledge to another person, this series will offer practical knowledge and advice.

The Importance of Questioning

“No one can teach, if by teaching we mean the transmission of knowledge, in any mechanical fashion, from one person to another. The most that can be done is that one person who is more knowledgeable than another can, by asking a series of questions, stimulate the other to think, and so cause him to learn for himself.”   Socrates

Questioning is important for transferring knowledge and building relationships. It is an essential part of effective teaching. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA Tagged With: teaching

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

Key Teaching Principle #3: Managing Attention

As covered in the first article in this series, Principles of Effective Teaching, reliability engineers, FMEA team leaders, and other quality and reliability professionals are often called upon to teach the principles of reliability or FMEA. Whether you are a student who wants to enhance your learning experience, an instructor who wants to improve teaching results, or an engineer who wishes to convey knowledge to another person, this series will offer practical knowledge and advice.

The Importance of Managing Attention

“Attention is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought.”  William James

Whether you are conveying knowledge to one person or teaching a class, there is no more important factor than getting and maintaining the attention of the other person. Managing attention is a skill that can be learned.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

Key Teaching Principle #2: Connection

  As covered in the first article in this series, Principles of Effective Teaching, reliability engineers, FMEA team leaders, and other quality and reliability professionals are often called upon to teach the principles of reliability or FMEA. Whether you are a student who wants to enhance your learning experience, an instructor who wants to improve teaching results, or an engineer who wishes to convey knowledge to another person, this series will offer practical knowledge and advice.

The Role of Personal Connection When Teaching

Invisible threads are the strongest ties   Friedrich Nietzsche

Key Teaching Principle # 2 is the instructor maintains a genuine connection with each of the students.

Our scientific knowledge has accelerated so rapidly that we sometimes forget the importance of human connection to our well being.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

Key Teaching Principle #1: Understanding

As covered in the first article in this series, Principles of Effective Teaching, reliability engineers, FMEA team leaders, and other quality and reliability professionals are often called upon to teach the principles of reliability or FMEA. Whether you are a student who wants to enhance your learning experience, an instructor who wants to improve teaching results, or an engineer who wishes to convey knowledge to another person, this series will offer practical knowledge and advice.

Understand What You Teach

Key Teaching Principle # 1 is the instructor demonstrates a solid understanding of fundamentals, speaking directly to students, and not reading slides.

“Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.” Plato

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

When is FMEA complete?

“Life calls not for perfection, but for completeness.”  Carl Jung

One of the common FMEA questions that comes up is: When is an FMEA complete? You’d think it would be simple, but many organizations and practitioners get it wrong.

In this article, I’ll begin with the purpose of Design and Process FMEAs, and from there, we’ll examine two very different approaches to completing an FMEA.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA Tagged With: FMEA Complete

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

New Series: Principles of Effective Teaching

Principles of Effective Teaching

“I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” Albert Einstein

Reliability engineers, FMEA team leaders, and other quality and reliability professionals are often called upon to teach the principles of reliability or FMEA. This article is the beginning of a new series called “The principles of effective teaching.”

If you want to convey knowledge to another person, you are teaching. If you want to learn from another person who is teaching, you will benefit from learning these principles.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

FMEA Effect – Mitigated or Unmitigated?

FMEA Effect – Mitigated or Unmitigated?

“The important thing is not to stop questioning.”  Albert Einstein

I always encourage readers to ask questions, and include a link in my article to make it easy. Asking questions is a great way to learn.

A reader recently asked, “When performing an FMEA, should the effect consider the mitigated case or unmitigated case? In this article we will look at different aspects that can be considered in order to answer the question.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA Tagged With: Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

Operator Error?

An “Inside FMEA” reader recently asked a question on the subject of Process FMEAs, specifically whether assigning the cause as “operator error” is useful. This article will share insights into the nature of a cause in Process FMEA, and whether describing cause as “operator error” adds value.

Fred and I podcasted on this topic. Link to the podcast is here.

I’ve seen literally hundreds of Process FMEAs that list “operator error” as the cause of a process related failure mode. Let me be as clear as I can. Assigning “operator error” as the cause in a Process FMEA does not add value. I’ll explain. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA, on Tools & Techniques Tagged With: Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

Generic Lists of Failure Information – Good Idea or Not?

Generic Lists of Failure Information – Good Idea or Not?

Are generic lists of failure information useful to FMEA teams? Are they a good idea or not?

There is a lot of discussion amongst FMEA practitioners on automating and standardizing FMEAs. In this article, I will discuss the pros and cons of using generic lists of failure modes, effects and causes.

The Oxford English dictionary defines “generic” as “characteristic of or relating to a class or group of things; not specific.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

Common FMEA Confusion

Common FMEA Confusion

[Last month I mentioned that the next article would be on the subject of the application of models in the FMEA process. I am postponing that important topic, in order to do more research. Stay tuned . . .]

This month, I want to discuss one of the most common problems that FMEA teams face: getting confused about the difference between failure modes, effects and causes.

“Things are not always as they seem; the first appearance deceives many.” Phaedrus

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA Tagged With: Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

FMEA vs FMECA: What’s the Difference?

FMEA vs FMECA: What’s the Difference?

What is the difference between FMEA and FMECA? Are they the same or different? The answer may surprise you. Let’s explore this topic.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA Tagged With: Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

Application of Quantitative Criticality Analysis in FMEA

Some defense-related applications require a special type of criticality analysis, called Quantitative Criticality Analysis to supplement FMEA applications. This is the “C” in what is called FMECA: Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis. I’ll shorten Criticality Analysis to CA in this article.

What is Quantitative CA? When and why it is used? Can Quantitative Criticality Analysis be used in commercial applications?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA, on Tools & Techniques Tagged With: Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

FMEA Recommended Actions – Insights and Advices

FMEA Recommended Actions – Insights and Advices

Did you know that early FMEA standards did not include recommendations to reduce risk? They limited the analysis to the technical risk, without making specific recommendations. The first time I am aware of that an FMEA standard added a column called “Recommended Actions” was in 1993. Thankfully, it is common practice today to include Recommended Actions in FMEAs.

But what makes for excellent Recommended Actions and what is their role in an FMEA? We’ll begin with the fundamentals.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Inside FMEA, on Tools & Techniques Tagged With: Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 9
  • Next Page »
Articles by Carl Carlson
in the Inside FMEA series

Logo Info

Information about FMEA Icon

Inside FMEA can be visually represented by a large tree, with roots, a solid trunk, branches, and leaves.

- The roots of the tree represent the philosophy and guiding principles for effective FMEAs.
- The solid trunk of the tree represents the fundamentals for all FMEAs.
- The branches represent the various FMEA applications.
- The leaves represent the valuable outcomes of FMEAs.
- This is intended to convey that each of the various FMEA applications have the same fundamentals and philosophical roots.

 

For example, the roots of the tree can represent following philosophy and guiding principles for effective FMEAs, such as:

1. Correct procedure         2. Lessons learned
3. Trained team                 4. Focus on prevention
5. Integrated with DFR    6. Skilled facilitation
7. Management support

The tree trunk represents the fundamentals of FMEA. All types of FMEA share common fundamentals, and these are essential to successful FMEA applications.

The tree branches can include the different types of FMEAs, including:

1. System FMEA         2. Design FMEA
3. Process FMEA        4. DRBFM
5. Hazard Analysis     6. RCM or Maintenance FMEA
7. Software FMEA      8. Other types of FMEA

The leaves of the tree branches represent individual FMEA projects, with a wide variety of FMEA scopes and results.

Join Accendo

Receive information and updates about articles and many other resources offered by Accendo Reliability by becoming a member.

It’s free and only takes a minute.

Join Today

Recent Posts

  • Quality Objective 7: HIGH-RISK FAILURES IDENTIFIED
  • Robust Design Introduction
  • KPIs and Maintenance Planning
  • 7 Proven Strategies to Protect Your Supply Chain
  • Progress in USAF Engine Logistics?

© 2025 FMS Reliability · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service · Cookies Policy

Book the Course with John
  Ask a question or send along a comment. Please login to view and use the contact form.
This site uses cookies to give you a better experience, analyze site traffic, and gain insight to products or offers that may interest you. By continuing, you consent to the use of cookies. Learn how we use cookies, how they work, and how to set your browser preferences by reading our Cookies Policy.