FMEA Pitfalls and Limitations

Pitfall 1:  Prioritizes, Doesn’t Correct

Pitfall 2 Only as Good as the Team

Pitfall 3 Time Consuming

Pitfall 4 Unknown Unknowns

Pitfall 5 Not Customizing Rating Scales

Pitfall 6 Not Starting in the Design Stage

Pitfall 7 Taking on Too Large a Scope

Pitfall 8 Not Including Operators

Pitfall 9 Not Including Customers

Pitfall 10 Not Including Suppliers

Pitfall 11 Becoming a Full-Time Job

Pitfall 12 Not Using Concept of a Process

Pitfall 13 Not Getting into the Details

Pitfall 14 Forgetting there are Internal- and External-Related Failure Modes

Pitfall 15 Confusing Root Cause and Failure Mode

Pitfall 16 Not Looking at Each Product

Pitfall 17 Assuming Detection Controls Are Better Than They Are

Pitfall 18 Assuming Detection Controls Apply When They Don’t

Pitfall 19 Not Linking with Mistake-Proofing

Pitfall 20 Not Tying into Control Plans

Pitfall 21 Failing to Update the FMEA