Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) as a risk asessment and reliability method: An application in automotive parts industry

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) as a Risk Assessment andReliability Method: An Application in Automotive Parts IndustryKorkut TAŞANDokuz Eylül UniversityInstitute of Social SciencesDepartment of Business AdministrationProduction Management and Industrial Business AdministrationToday, intense competition forces companies to develop productscheaper, better, faster and more reliable.As competition continues to increase, products are becoming increasinglycomplex and companies are finding it more difficult to stay competitive.However, design of a complex product may involve the coordination ofhundreds of engineers performing different tasks separately. Each design taskmay affect many other tasks and the information interaction between them canbecome quite complex. Such complexity can often lead to conflicting designdecisions and cause many redesigns, significant delays and finally potentialfailures. Hence, using a structured method to manage a powerful reliability andrisk assessment program is essential.Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a structured that is usedto identify, analyze and eliminate or minimize known and/or potential failuresfrom the system, product, process and service before they reach the customer.Comparing to the other methods, FMEA has several advantages such as easy touse, applicable to nearly every industries and submitting more meaningfulresults.Most of the FMEA-like methods in use are still process centered ratherthan product centered. Though some companies are aware of the use of DesignVIFMEA, it is not a common practice in Turkey, and many companies haven?tapplied FMEA to the design process as a whole.In this study, FMEA has been discussed in detail as a risk assessmentand reliability method and an application of Design FMEA with reliabilitylinkages in automotive parts industry has been performed. Finally, resultsobtained have been evaluated.Keywords: 1)Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, 2)Reliability, 3)RiskAssessment, 4) AutomotiveVII