FMEAs for Monitoring and System Response, or FMEA-MSRs, supplement DFMEAs and consider how systems can fail while being used by the customer. FMEA-MSRs have been introduced in the new 2019 AIAG-VDA FMEA Handbook. Here is a short Q&A about what an FMEA-MSR is.
What is an FMEA-MSR?
- An FMEA-MSR is intended to help maintain a safe state (i.e. safety) or state of regulatory (i.e. environmental) compliance during customer operation.
- FMEA-MSRs analyze potential failures that may occur under normal operating conditions and their corresponding effect on the system.
- A significant focus of the analysis is to determine if the system or the end user will detect a failure if one does occur.
Why is an FMEA-MSR needed?
- FMEA-MSRs have been introduced to ensure safety goals (as required by ISO 26262) have been fully considered and are meet.
- ISO 26262 defines functional safety for (automotive) equipment that applies to the lifecycle of electronic and electrical safety-related systems.
- An FMEA-MSR basically incorporates Functional Safety Concepts and ASILs (Automotive Safety Integrity Levels, an automotive-specific risk-based classification of safety goals) to the analysis of the design.
- While ISO 26262 is an automotive industry standard, introducing functional safety concepts to an FMEA study is a good idea for any industry segment.
When is an FMEA-MSR used?
- An FMEA-MSR is most often used a supplement to a DFMEA.
- It is often useful to define the scope to be studied in conjunction with the customer.
How is an FMEA-MSR conducted?
- The study uses the same seven-step process presented in the 2019 AIAG-VDA Handbook defining the methodology for conducting DFMEAs and PFMEAs.
