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How Maintenance Will Revolutionize the World (Chapter 4, Part 2)

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a helpful tool to recognize and evaluate failures and prevent the potential failure from occurring.

Duration: 2 minutes

Ryan Chan

Published on August 23, 2019

Over the next few weeks, UpKeep will be releasing chapters from our upcoming publication, How Maintenance Will Revolutionize the World*. Chapter 4.1 can be found here.

PHASE 2 - MAINTENANCE VS RELIABILITY

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STEP 1 - Understand failure modes

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a helpful tool to: (a) recognize and evaluate the potential failure(s) of an item or process and the effects of that failure, and (b) identify actions that could eliminate or reduce the likelihood of the potential failure occurring (probability of occurrence).

The performance of an asset relates to its current ability to meet current and future demands. Assets can fail in four major ways, known as primary failure modes, which can be used to determine the most appropriate investment strategies relevant to the asset.

The four Primary Failure Modes are: Physical Mortality, Level of Service, Capacity, and Financial Efficiency.

We have included a step-by-step process below to begin assigning failure modes to your assets and make a prioritized plan as an organization. With each example, a template has been provided at the end of that step for you to follow along.

STEP 2 - Organize your assets and brainstorm failure modes in the template provided.

Think of anything that can go wrong and use the chart below of examples to help you.

EXAMPLE:

Failure Mode	Description and Drivers	Assessment Technique	Management Strategy
Physical Mortality	Asset deterioration reduces performance below an acceptable level Age, Usage, Operational Stresses, Acts of Nature	Condition Level 1 – Staff Knowledge – Desktop ‘Delphi’ Level 2 – Intermediate level Physical Inspection (See Appendix A) Level 3 – Advanced Physical Testing and inspection	Renewal, O&M Optimization
Capacity	Demand exceeds design capacity Growth and System Expansion	Capacity Level 1 – Staff Knowledge – Desktop ‘Delphi’ Level 2 – Desktop Capacity Modeling Level 3 – Capacity Modeling with Field Data	Redesign
Level of Service	Functional and Reliability requirements exceed design capability	Regulations, Quality, Safety, Service, Noise, Odor Function Level 1 – Staff Knowledge – Desktop ‘Delphi’ Level 2 – Process Assessment Level 3 – Strategic Planning Reliability Level 1 – Staff Knowledge – Desktop ‘Delphi’ Level 2 – Desktop Analysis Level 3 – Work Order History (MTBF)	Redesign, O&M Optimization
Financial Efficiency	Cost of Operation exceeds feasible alternatives New Technology, Wear, Spare Parts	Efficiency Level 1 – Staff Knowledge – Desktop ‘Delphi’ Level 2 – Desktop LCCA (Estimated Data) Level 3 – LCCA with Field Data	Replace

TEMPLATE:

Asset Name	Possible Failure Modes

STEP 3 - Rate the likelihood of occurrence of each failure mode based on the below rubric.

Add your rating to your template.

EXAMPLE:

Likelihood of Occurrence	Criteria: Possible Failure Rates/Probability of Failure	Rating
Extremely High	Failure rate of less than 5 FPMH/Probability of Failure During Mission <0.2	10
Very High	Failure rate of less than 2 FPMH/Probability of Failure During	9
High	Failure rate of less than 1 FPMH/Probability of Failure During Mission <0.05	8
Moderately High	Failure rate of less than 200 FIT/Probability of Failure During Mission <0.01	7
Moderate	Failure rate of less than 100 FIT/Probability of Failure During Mission <0.005	6
Moderately Low	Failure rate of less than 20 FIT/Probability of Failure During Mission <0.001	5
Low	Failure rate of less than 10 FIT/Probability of Failure During Mission <0.0005	4
Very Low	Failure rate of less than 2 FIT/Probability of Failure During Mission <0.0001	3
Extremely Low	Failure rate of less than 1 FIT/Probability of Failure During Mission <0.00005	2
Remote	Failure rate of less than 0.2 FIT/Probability of Failure During Mission <0.00001	1

TEMPLATE:

Asset Name	Possible Failure Modes	Likelihood

STEP 4 - Rate the severity of each failure mode for your assets using the below rubric as a guide.

Add your severity rating to your template.

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EXAMPLE:

Severity	Criteria	Rating
Extremely High	Catastrophic: Serious injury or loss of life.	10
Very High		9
High		8
Moderately High		7
Moderate		6
Moderately Low		5
Low		4
Very Low		3
Extremely Low		2
Remote	Minor: No loss of downtime.	1

TEMPLATE:

Asset Name	Possible Failure Modes	Likelihood	Severity

STEP 5 - Assign a priority number to each asset.

To do this, multiple your severity rating x your likelihood of occurrence rating. Here, you can see how our example results in clear priority numbers. Add your priority numbers in your template.

EXAMPLE:

Asset Name	Asset Category	Primary Failure mode	Likelihood of occurrence	Severity	Risk Priority Number (Severity * Occurrence)
HVAC - Air Filtration	HVAC	Outside air filtration blockage. (normal & abnormal events)	3	6	18
HVAC - Air Filtration	HVAC		10	7	70

Template:

Asset Name	Possible Failure Modes	Likelihood	Severity	Risk Priority Number (Severity * Occurrence)

STEP 6 - Understand mitigation by risk priority.

Reorganize your template so that you are now viewing your assets from most important to least. Now, brainstorm a plan of actions or mitigations you can take to avoid failure in the first place.

EXAMPLE:

Asset Name

Asset Category

Primary Failure mode

Severity

Likelihood of occurrence

Risk Priority Number (Severity * Occurrence)

Mitigation / Action Plan

HVAC - Air Filtration

HVAC

Outside air filtration blockage. (normal & abnormal events)

6 due to bio containment

Duplicate outside air filtration

Predictive fouling rate

HVAC - Air Filtration

HVAC

Fan failure

9 due to loss of control of critical parameters.

Loss of pressure

Standby fans

Vibration monitor

TEMPLATE:

Asset Name	Possible Failure Modes	Likelihood	Severity	Risk Priority Number (Severity * Occurrence)

STEP 7 - Revisit your plan every Quarter.

4,000+ COMPANIES RELY ON ASSET OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Leading the Way to a Better Future for Maintenance and Reliability

Your asset and equipment data doesn't belong in a silo. UpKeep makes it simple to see where everything stands, all in one place. That means less guesswork and more time to focus on what matters.

How Maintenance Will Revolutionize the World (Chapter 4, Part 2)

*Over the next few weeks, UpKeep will be releasing chapters from our upcoming publication, How Maintenance Will Revolutionize the World. Chapter 4.1 can be found here.

PHASE 2 - MAINTENANCE VS RELIABILITY

STEP 1 - Understand failure modes

STEP 2 - Organize your assets and brainstorm failure modes in the template provided.

EXAMPLE:

TEMPLATE:

STEP 3 - Rate the likelihood of occurrence of each failure mode based on the below rubric.

EXAMPLE:

TEMPLATE:

STEP 4 - Rate the severity of each failure mode for your assets using the below rubric as a guide.

EXAMPLE:

TEMPLATE:

STEP 5 - Assign a priority number to each asset.

EXAMPLE:

STEP 6 - Understand mitigation by risk priority.

EXAMPLE:

TEMPLATE:

STEP 7 - Revisit your plan every Quarter.

Leading the Way to a Better Future for Maintenance and Reliability

Over the next few weeks, UpKeep will be releasing chapters from our upcoming publication, How Maintenance Will Revolutionize the World*. Chapter 4.1 can be found here.