AI Suggestions

NirmIQ provides AI-powered failure mode suggestions that appear contextually while you work, helping you identify risks you might have missed.

Overview

The AI Suggestions panel is a floating side panel that appears when you're editing failure modes in the Worksheet or analysis view. It analyzes the current context — component name, function, existing failure modes — and suggests additional failure modes, causes, or controls.

Subscription Required

AI Suggestions require an Advanced tier subscription or higher, and a configured AI provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, Grok, or DeepSeek) in your Global AI Settings.

How It Works

1. Open the Worksheet or failure mode editor in any analysis
2. Select or edit a failure mode — The AI panel activates based on the current row's context
3. Review suggestions — The panel shows AI-generated failure modes relevant to your component and function
4. Accept or dismiss — Click to add a suggestion to your analysis, or dismiss it

What the AI Considers

The AI model receives:

• The component name and function of the element you're editing
• Existing failure modes in the same analysis (to avoid duplicates)
• The FMEA type (DFMEA, PFMEA, or FMEA-MSR) for type-appropriate suggestions
• The industry context from your project settings

What It Suggests

Each suggestion includes:

• Failure Mode — A specific way the function can fail
• Effects — Expected impact
• Causes — Potential root causes
• Prevention Controls — Recommended preventive measures
• Detection Controls — Recommended detection methods
• Suggested S/O/D — Initial rating estimates

Using Suggestions Effectively

Accept and Modify

Suggestions are starting points, not final answers:

1. Accept a suggestion to add it to your analysis
2. Review the ratings — AI ratings are estimates; adjust based on your specific design and controls
3. Refine the text — Tailor failure mode descriptions to your exact component and context
4. Add your controls — Replace generic control suggestions with your actual prevention and detection measures

Dismiss with Reason

If a suggestion isn't relevant:

• Click dismiss to remove it from the panel
• The AI learns from dismissals to improve future suggestions

Trigger Manually

Besides the automatic context-based suggestions, you can explicitly request AI suggestions:

1. Click the sparkle icon in the Worksheet toolbar
2. The AI generates suggestions for all incomplete rows (rows missing failure modes, causes, or controls)
3. Review and accept relevant suggestions

AI Suggestions vs AI Gap Analysis

NirmIQ has two complementary AI features for FMEA:

Feature	AI Suggestions	AI Gap Analysis
Location	Floating panel in Worksheet	Analytics > AI Guardrails tab
Trigger	While editing failure modes	Manual "Run Gap Analysis" button
Focus	Single component/function context	Entire project requirements coverage
Output	Additional failure modes for current element	Failure modes for uncovered requirements
Best for	Deepening analysis of a specific area	Finding gaps across the whole project

Use AI Suggestions to make each failure mode entry more thorough. Use AI Gap Analysis to check that all requirements have FMEA coverage.

Best Practices

1. Use as a checklist, not a crutch — AI suggestions help ensure completeness, but your engineering judgment is the final authority
2. Always adjust ratings — AI-suggested S/O/D values are generic; calibrate them to your actual design and controls
3. Review with the team — Share AI suggestions in team FMEA sessions to spark discussion
4. Combine with Knowledge Bank — Use the Knowledge Bank for your organization's proven failure modes and AI Suggestions for identifying new risks
5. Check for duplicates — The AI tries to avoid duplicating existing failure modes, but always verify

What's Next?

• FMEA Worksheet — Where AI Suggestions appear
• FMEA Analytics — Project-wide AI Gap Analysis
• Knowledge Bank — Organization's reusable failure mode library