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FMEA Analytics

Visualize risk patterns and track improvements over time.

Risk Heatmap​

The Risk Heatmap shows the distribution of failure modes across Severity and Occurrence ratings.

How to Read the Heatmap​

Grid Layout: 10×10 matrix

  • X-axis: Occurrence (1-10, left to right)
  • Y-axis: Severity (1-10, bottom to top)

Color Zones:

  • 🟢 Green: Low risk (RPN < 30)
  • 🟡 Yellow: Medium risk (RPN 30-49)
  • 🟠 Orange: High risk (RPN 50-79)
  • 🔴 Red: Critical risk (RPN ≥ 80)

Cell Information:

  • Number: Count of failure modes
  • D:X.X: Average Detection rating

Example​

        Occurrence →
      1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10
S 10 [_][_][2][3][5][4][_][_][_][_]  ← High Severity
e  9 [_][1][3][2][_][_][_][_][_][_]
v  8 [1][2][4][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]
e  7 [2][3][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]
r  6 [3][1][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]
i  5 [1][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]
t  4 [_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]
y  3 [_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]
   2 [_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]
   1 [_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_][_]

Insights:

  • Most failures clustered at S=10, O=5 → Focus here first
  • High Detection ratings (D:8.5) → Hard to detect
  • No failures in low severity zones → Good initial design

Using the Heatmap​

Click any cell to see:

  • List of failure modes in that zone
  • Detailed S/O/D/AP breakdown
  • Jump to failure mode details

Export: Download as PNG for presentations/reports

Track how Risk Priority Numbers change over time as you implement actions.

View Options​

By Failure Mode: Individual trend lines

  • See which modes are improving
  • Identify worsening trends (need more action)
  • Track from initial analysis to current state

By Analysis: Overall FMEA health

  • Average RPN over time
  • Count of High Priority items
  • Completion rate of actions

Example Timeline​

Initial Analysis (Jan 2024):
  Battery Overcharge: RPN 240 (S:10, O:8, D:3) → High Priority

After Action #1 (Mar 2024):
  Added temperature monitoring
  Battery Overcharge: RPN 120 (S:10, O:4, D:3) → High Priority
  Change: -120 (50% reduction)

After Action #2 (May 2024):
  Installed redundant sensors
  Battery Overcharge: RPN 60 (S:10, O:2, D:3) → High Priority
  Change: -60 (50% reduction from March)

Current (Oct 2024):
  Verified in testing
  Battery Overcharge: RPN 30 (S:10, O:1, D:3) → Medium Priority
  Change: -30 (87.5% total reduction)

Trend Indicators:

  • 📉 Improving (green): RPN decreasing
  • 📊 Stable (gray): No change
  • 📈 Worsening (red): RPN increasing (investigate!)

Good Trends:

  • ✅ RPN decreasing after actions implemented
  • ✅ High Priority → Medium Priority → Low Priority
  • ✅ Occurrence ratings dropping (prevention working)

Warning Signs:

  • ⚠️ RPN increasing over time (new issues discovered)
  • ⚠️ Actions completed but RPN unchanged (ineffective)
  • ⚠️ Detection worsening (controls failing)

Summary Statistics​

Quick overview of your FMEA health:

Key Metrics​

Total Failure Modes: 47

  • High Priority: 8 (17%)
  • Medium Priority: 23 (49%)
  • Low Priority: 16 (34%)

Average RPN: 85

  • Max RPN: 300 (Thermal runaway)
  • Min RPN: 6 (Cosmetic defect)

Action Items:

  • Open: 12
  • In Progress: 8
  • Completed: 15
  • Completion Rate: 43%

Trend (vs. last month):

  • Average RPN: ↓ 15 (15% improvement)
  • High Priority items: ↓ 3 (from 11 to 8)

Exporting Analytics​

Excel Export: Full FMEA data with charts

  • Includes heatmap visualization
  • RPN trend graphs
  • Action item status table
  • AIAG-compliant format

PDF Report: Executive summary

  • Key statistics
  • Top 10 high-risk items
  • Improvement trends
  • Action completion status

Dashboard Widgets​

Add FMEA analytics to your Project Dashboard:

  1. Go to Dashboard tab
  2. Click "Add Widget"
  3. Select:
    • "FMEA Risk Summary" - Current high-priority count
    • "RPN Trend Chart" - 30-day trend graph
    • "Action Completion" - Progress bar

Using Analytics for Decisions​

Prioritize Resources​

Heatmap shows where most failures cluster → Allocate engineering time there

Track ROI of Actions​

RPN trending shows which actions were most effective → Repeat successful strategies

Report to Management​

Statistics show measurable improvement → Justify FMEA investment

Prepare for Audits​

Export reports demonstrate:

  • Systematic risk analysis
  • Continuous improvement
  • Action effectiveness verification

Common Questions​

Q: Why isn't my RPN improving even after actions? A: Check if you updated the failure mode ratings. RPN recalculates automatically, but you must edit O/D ratings to reflect improvements.

Q: Can I compare multiple FMEAs? A: Yes! Use the "All Analyses" view in heatmap/trending to see project-wide patterns.

Q: What's a "good" average RPN? A: No universal answer - depends on industry. Track your trend over time, not absolute numbers.

Q: How often should I review analytics? A:

  • Weekly: For active development
  • Monthly: For stable products
  • Before audits: Always

Best Practices​

Regular Reviews​

Set recurring calendar reminders to review analytics and update failure modes

Action Verification​

When marking actions complete, update O/D ratings based on test results

Document Changes​

Use "Change Reason" field when updating ratings for audit trail

Team Visibility​

Share heatmap/trending in sprint reviews or management meetings

FMEA Gap Analysis (AI-Powered)​

The FMEA Gap Analysis tool in Analytics > AI Guardrails identifies requirements that lack FMEA coverage and generates AI-suggested failure modes.

How It Works​

  1. Navigate to Analytics > AI Guardrails
  2. Click "Run Gap Analysis"
  3. The system identifies all uncovered requirements and uses AI to suggest failure modes for up to 10 of them
  4. Review each suggestion with Accept, Modify & Accept, or Reject actions

Accepting and Modifying AI Suggestions​

Each AI-generated failure mode can be:

  • Accepted as-is -- creates a Simple FMEA item with the suggested values
  • Modified then accepted -- edit any field (function, failure mode, cause, effect, S/O/D, recommendations) before accepting
  • Rejected -- the suggestion is skipped and no FMEA item is created
info

All decisions are batched. After reviewing all suggestions, click "Save All Decisions" to create the FMEA items in a single operation. No page refreshes occur during the review process.

Adding FMEA for Uncovered Requirements​

Requirements not covered by the initial AI suggestions appear in the "Other Uncovered Requirements" section. For each, you can:

  • AI Generate -- request AI to generate failure mode suggestions for that specific requirement
  • Add Manual -- fill in a failure mode form directly (function, failure mode, cause, effect, S/O/D, recommendations)

Both options feed into the same "Save All Decisions" batch save workflow.

Result Persistence​

Gap analysis results are cached for 30 minutes. When you switch away from the AI Guardrails tab and return, your previous results load automatically. Click "Re-analyze" to run a fresh analysis.

Next Steps​