FMEA stands for “Failure Modes and Effects Analysis”. It begins with a thorough functional analysis. FMEA is the core process of RCM. However, the FMEA article in Wikipedia is misleading. It uses outdated terminology that renders the subject of FMEA vague, confusing, and even mystical. FMEA depends on clarity. Maintenance depends on clear and simple terms of reference.
The problem with the Wikipedia article begins in the basic terminology section, with this definition:
Failure mode: The manner by which a failure is observed; it generally describes the way the failure occurs.
The above definition is so vague that it impedes any attempt to apply FMEA seriously to maintenance. Compare it to the SAE JA1011 definition or to the MSG-3 definition:
“A failure mode is an event that causes a loss of a required function.”
One can point out numerous additional confusing aspects of this unhelpful article based on MIL-STD-1629A. Military organizations (DoD, MOD, and others), where maintenance is concerned, are abandoning the FMEA described by Wikipedia (in favor of the FMEA process of RCM). Most military maintenance organizations now base their strategies and systems on new standards derived from SAE JA1011[1], which provides a clear set of terminology and concepts.
© 2011 – 2015, Murray Wiseman. All rights reserved.
- [1]for example NAVAIR 00-25-403[1]↩
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