METHOD OF DESIGNING PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES
A method for use in a system for prioritizing risks associated with the design and manufacture of products involves performing a failure mode detection analysis. Functions of the product and/or of the process and the effects of undesirable events related to malfunctions are characterized, and potential failure modes and causes for the effects are identified. The features of the product/process that are responsible for the undesirable effects are determined. Severity, occurrence and detectability of the undesirable events are evaluated using specific measures designed to encourage score keeping, and risk factor numbers are computed. The resultant numbers are ranked and prioritized for a set of selected functions. Risk reduction may then be performed through engineering activities directed to remedy causes associated with the malfunctioning features. Failure mode detection analysis may be updated to continue incremental and focused improvements to the product and/or process. The method permits the capture of potential failures before they reach the field and the customer.
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This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/198,915, filed Jul. 19, 2002, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/306,989, filed Jul. 20, 2001, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods for designing and manufacturing products. In particular, the invention is related to methods for identifying potential risks associated with design and manufacturing of products.
2. Description of the Related Art
Product failure in the field, or in the customer's office, is usually one of the costliest events that a manufacturer has to manage. Conventional methods rely on various quality control techniques in an attempt to minimize the occurrence of such undesirable events. One common approach is to identify all parts that comprise a product and enumerate all possible failure modes that can be ascribed to those parts. This approach leads to extensive evaluation of myriad parts that may minimally be related to the actual undesirable event. As a result, a disproportionately high level of resources are directed towards a seemingly limited number of causes that are responsible for the failure of a few part(s), and hence that of the product. A need exists, therefore, for a method that adequately directs, or focuses, engineering or management resources on those parts that have a high risk of failing, and for prioritizing the risks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThere has been a long felt need to be able to identify potential failures of a product, preferably in the conceptual stages of the product's design, when corrective action can be taken with the least cost. The present invention meets this need by providing a method for identifying potential risks in the early development stages of a product, including the design phase and the manufacturing, or, processing phase of the product. The method employs a failure mode detection analysis (FMDA) approach, which is applicable to both the product and the process of making the product. Furthermore, FMDA approach can be performed on a product or a process as well as across a range of products or processes.
In one aspect of the invention, the method involves identifying a set of functions for the product. These functions are then prioritized in terms of the risks associated with an improper behavior, or malfunction of a respective function. A malfunction results in an undesirable effect. The effect may be economically characterized in two words: an active verb that describes the undesirable effect, and a noun that describes the part or feature of the product that could potentially malfunction. The feature that can lead to a potentially undesirable event in the field, therefore, is discovered in the early stages of the product development, preferably before being released for manufacturing. The disclosed method leads naturally to the discovery of those features of the product that are likely to have a high risk of failing, and not necessarily to all features that may fail. Then the risks are prioritized.
In another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, potential failure modes, and the causes for the failure modes are identified in order to perform risk prioritization. After having listed all the potential causes for the failure modes, a set of measures is constructed to rate the severity of the malfunction (i.e., the effect of the failure on the customer), the occurrence of failure modes (the amount of engineering activities expanded to reduce the potential of occurrence), and the effectiveness of procedures employed for detection of the causes responsible for the malfunction of the feature(s).
An aspect of an embodiment of the present invention involves a method for addressing risks associated with a product or process. A plurality of risks is identified. A risk factor is assigned to each of the risks, the risk factors capable of being numerically ranked. The risk factors are ranked. A subset of risks based on the ranking is selected, and the risks are addressed in the order of ranking.
An embodiment of another aspect of the invention involves a method for assigning a risk factor associated with one or more aspects of a product or process. A function associated with the product or process is identified. The function is capable of malfunctioning, the malfunction having at least one associated effect. One of the associated effects is selected. At least one potential failure mode is identified with the associated effect and selected. At least one potential cause associated with the failure mode is identified and selected. For the selected cause, an aspect associated with the function responsible for the malfunction is identified. A risk factor is then assigned to at least one of the groups consisting of the potential cause and the potential effect.
In an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, a method for representing a risk assessment framework is disclosed. The risk assessment is associated with a product or a process having a plurality of aspects. A plurality of elements is assigned for representing the risk assessment. Elements are assigned attribute, phenomenon, measure, and activity categories based on the aspects of the product. The elements are arranged to form the representation of the risk assessment.
An embodiment of still another aspect of the present invention involves a method, in the design of the product, for assigning levels of risk to aspects of a product to facilitate reduction of such risks. An aspect of the product is identified with a potential failure effect, which in turn is associated with a plurality of potential failure modes. A plurality of causes is identified corresponding to each potential failure mode. Measures for rating severity, occurrence and detection of each one of the pluralities of causes are defined. Measures are used to compute a set of numerical risk factors corresponding to each one of the pluralities of potential causes. A highest risk factor of the set of risk factors is assigned to the corresponding one of plurality of potential failure modes. Highest risk factor of the set of risk factors is assigned to the corresponding one of the plurality of potential failure modes. The highest risk factor numerically exceeding other highest risk factors is selected to represent a first representative risk factor for the plurality of the failure modes. Risk factors corresponding to potential causes are then summed. The potential causes have comparably defined characteristics to represent a second representative risk factor for the defined potential cause. The first and second representative risk factors are compared on a bar graph to yield a comparison useful in reducing risk in a prioritized manner.
An embodiment of yet another aspect of the present invention involves a method for analyzing risk associated with a plurality of dissimilar aspects of a product or process. Whether to analyze risk associated with a particular aspect or to compare risk across the plurality of aspects is determined. At least one descriptor of a particular aspect is defined if that particular aspect is to be analyzed. In comparing risk across the plurality of aspects, a plurality of descriptors common to aspects is defined. Depending on whether risk is being analyzed for the particular aspect or across the plurality of aspects, a risk analysis is performed, based on the descriptors, for the particular aspect or for the plurality of aspects to yield a risk assessment of aspects with common attributes.
Still another embodiment of an aspect of the present invention involves assessing risks across a plurality of dissimilar products or functions, or both products and functions, the risks being associated with a set of effects common to the products and functions. A plurality of descriptors for the common effects is specified. An FMDA is performed with respect to the descriptors to yield risk assessment across a set of products and functions.
An embodiment of an aspect of the present invention is a computer-implemented user-interactive method for identifying particular risks associated with at least one of a product and process. The computer is in communication with a display. A failure effect for at least one of the product and process is selected. The display displays a term describing the failure effect. A scale of severity ratings corresponding to failure events for one or both of the product or process is identified. The selected failure effect described in the display is compared to the severity ratings scale. A severity rating for the failure effect is selected. A priority rating is assigned to the failure effect, a failure mode leading to the failure effect, and a cause of the failure mode, wherein the assignment of the priority rating is at least partly a function of a selected severity rating.
Still another computer-implemented user-interactive method affects prioritizing risks of at least one of a product and process. A description of a user-identified failure effect associated with one or both of the products and process is displayed. A severity rating for the failure effect, an occurrence rating for one of a cause, a failure mode leading to the failure effect, and a detection rating for one of the cause and the failure mode leading to the failure effect, are received. A risk factor that is at least partly a function of at least one of the severity rating, occurrence rating, and detection rating is calculated. The calculated risk factor can be combined with a previously calculated risk factor, retrieved from a database, to generate a new risk factor. The new risk factor is compared with previously stored risk factors. At least the risk factor corresponding to a highest risk is selected with no more five functions for one analysis cycle. A description of at least one of a function, failure effect, failure mode, and cause, upon which the selected risk factor is at least partly based, is displayed.
In an embodiment of yet another aspect of the present invention, computer-readable medium is provided containing a program for instructing a computer to execute a user-interactive method for prioritizing risks in order to address priority risks associated with at least one of a product and process. A failure effect for at least one of the product and process is selected. A term describing the failure effect is displayed. The selected failure effect is compared to a scale of severity ratings corresponding to real failure events, each of the real failure events differing from the others. A severity rating for the failure effect is selected. At least one of the failure effects is prioritized. The prioritization is at least partly a function of a selected severity rating.
In an embodiment of yet another aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable medium containing a program for instructing a computer is provided to execute a user-interactive method for prioritizing risks of at least one of a product and process. A description of a user-identified failure effect(s) associated with one or both of the product and process is displayed. A severity rating for the failure effect, an occurrence rating for one of a cause and a detection rating for one of a cause, failure effect, and failure are received. A risk factor that is at least partly a function of at least one of the severity rating, occurrence rating, and detection rating is calculated. The calculated risk factor is combined with a previously calculated risk factor, stored in a database, to generate a new risk factor. The new risk factor is compared with previously stored risk factors. At least the risk factor corresponding to a highest risk is selected. A description of at least one of a function, failure effect, failure mode, and cause, upon which the selected risk factor is at least partly based, is displayed.
In an embodiment of yet another aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable medium containing a program is provided for instructing a computer to perform a user-interactive method for prioritizing risks in order to address priority risks of one of a product and a process. A user-entered failure effect term, describing a failure effect of one of the product and process is received. The failure effect term in an FMDA representation is displayed. A user-entered failure mode term, describing a failure mode leading to the failure effect is received. The failure mode term in the FMDA representation on the display is aligned horizontally with the failure effect term and to the right of the failure effect term. A user-entered cause term describing a cause leading to the failure mode is received. The cause term in the FMDA representation is aligned horizontally with the failure mode term and to the right of the failure mode term on the display. A scale, wherein specific engineering activities, for one of reducing occurrence of failure modes and increasing probability of detection of causes, are described and assigned quantitative scores on the display. A user-selected score in the same metric as the scale is received. A risk factor is calculated based on the user-selected score. The score is compared with other previously calculated risk factors, and a priority risk is identified based on the comparison of risk factors.
The present invention is directed to methods of identifying and prioritizing potential risks involving design and operation of processes, in order to remedy quickly and efficiently the primary causes for existing or potential failure modes. The methods involve a systematic approach available to all levels of an organization responsible for design and implementation of the product or process, from top management to personnel on the manufacturing floor.
According to the present invention, FMDA is directed to functional aspects of a product, and/or to functional aspects of the process that creates the product. A product is a physical item that is created by a manufacturing process. It is an aspect of the present invention that a product and the process that creates the physical item, each has a set of characteristic aspects of their own. A product can be an assembly of parts comprising sub-assemblies, components, sub-components, and features such as the dimensions or material properties of the parts, each physical item being an aspect of the product. Similarly, a process that creates the parts can be an assembly of operations comprising process steps, process parameters, process controls, each being an aspect of the process. At least one of a set of product aspects is created by at least one of a set of process aspects. It is an aspect of the present invention that FMDA is conducted by identifying the functions of a product/process, and then arriving at the aspects that cause malfunctioning of the product/process.
If, on the other hand, the level of risks are not known yet, then, as shown in another aspect of the present embodiment in
Thus, in branch 25 of
In branch 105 of
It is common practice in the industry to break down a product or a process into its components, or, aspects, and even to the feature level (e.g., dimension or property of an aspect) first, and then ascribe all possible failure modes or causes for failure to each one and every part and feature. Then, various statistical and other analyses are typically performed. According to the present invention, FMDA is used to first characterize the function that is being performed by the P/P 213, and the consequence or effect of a malfunction in the P/P 215. Identifying a potential failure mode 223, and a potential cause for the failure mode 225, enables the identification of the feature (e.g., dimension or property) 227 of an aspect that is responsible for the undesirable event. In general, there can be a plurality of causes for a potential failure mode, a plurality of failure modes for a potential effect, and the order in which these are identified can also be varied without limitation.
In order to assess the level of risk associated with any one of the potential undesirable effects, failure modes, and causes (collectively referred to here as “elements” of an FMDA), it is necessary to evaluate the severity 233 and frequency 235 of occurrence and the ability to detect 237 these elements. A severity scale, an occurrence scale and a detection scale are used to perform the evaluations, as described below. Each scale has rating values, and the ratings are used to calculate a risk factor number (RFN) IV, 240. The RFNs are then used to prioritize risks associated with corresponding undesirable events.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the elements of the FMDA of the present invention can be represented in various forms, including tables, charts, spreadsheets, or in any data structure format. For illustrative purposes, a tabular representation is shown in
An example of a failure mode detection analysis and the use of an embodiment of an FMDA representation according to the present invention are illustrated in
Knowing the function of the brake, and having characterized the failure effect, namely, “leaking brake”, the next step, according to the present invention, is to identify the failure modes that can occur in the brake assembly system shown in
Leaking (“bad”) and non-leaking (“good”) brake assemblies were retrieved from the field. Load 397, weighing not more than 125 pounds was suspended from actuator shaft 380, while chamber 395 was pressurized to a design pressure. (If load 397 was above 125 pounds, the shaft would bend). It was found that the actuator of the leaky “bad” assemblies failed at seal 385 with a load of not more than 17 pounds, while the good ones did not fail up to about 50 pounds of force.
Next, the packing cups were swapped between the good and bad assemblies. It was discovered that, with swapped packing cups, the bad actuator performed as a good actuator, while the good actuator performed as a bad actuator. It was found that the outer diameter of the bad cups had shrunk over time, thus reducing the amount of seal compression, which permitted fluid to leak. Further analysis showed that the plasticizer used in the cup material had to be reengineered to remedy the cause for the failure mode.
The results of this portion of the failure mode detection analysis is shown in the embodiment of the FMDA representation of
Similarly, a combination of an active verb and a “measurable” noun is used to enter the failure modes in column 315. A measurable noun is the name of an aspect that is measurable. In this example, contribution to the failure effects is one failure mode. An expression for the failure mode is “air leaking between cylinder and packing cup.” On the other hand, there is more than one cause for the failure mode, namely: “excess clearance,” and “packing cup outside diameter (O.D.) shrinking over time.” These characterizations of causes are entered in column 320.
Before entering rating values for the next columns for “severity” 325, “occurrence” 330 and “detection,” a separate rating analysis is performed, according to another aspect of the present invention. However, it is an aspect of the present invention that once the failure modes and causes are identified with the aid of the “truncated” FMDA of
In another aspect of the present invention, the severity, occurrence and detection are rankings and ratings are accomplished in a manner that is action-oriented. Before the rating can be accomplished, a ranking procedure is followed. Still another aspect of the present invention involves a scale for the ranking and rating. A preferred scale comprises a range from 1.0 to 6.0. The range is further partitioned into regions defined by “half-points” and “full-points.” Full points are whole number digits, while “half-points” are fractional numbers as given by 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5 and 6.0. Severity, occurrence and detection measures are first ranked using a “half-point” portions of the scale ranging from 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 to 5.5. After the ranking has been accomplished, a further rating is performed in a “full-point” scale ranging from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 to 6. It will be understood that scales with other numerical values can be also be constructed.
A ranking scale for measures Severity, Occurrence and Detection are shown in
Columns 400 and 410 in
The range of rating values between 1.0 and 6.0, according to an aspect of the present invention, permits an opportunity to identify criteria for ranking the severity, occurrence and detection of undesirable events. Furthermore, only half-points are used in rankings based on the criteria, so that there is an additional opportunity to re-evaluate the risks, depending upon the actions taken during the interim period. If a subsequent assessment of an undesirable criterion (i.e., effect) indicates a higher risk, then the evaluation is incremented to the next higher full-point, or whole number. If, on the other hand, the assessment indicates a lower risk, then the evaluation is decremented to the next lower whole number. Another aspect of the present invention is that the whole numbers are reserved to be entered as ratings into columns 325, 330 and 335 of the FMDA representation of
Scales can be initially set up by gauging the relative impact of the undesirable event(s) on the customer in the field. A set of failure effect criteria that are listed under column 410 of
The range of scale used under AIAG in
In
Occurrence rankings have traditionally been based only on engineering judgment.
As shown in column 410 and row 401 of
In another aspect of the present invention, design verification is performed. Design verification involves product assurance. In other words, the product features are measured to assure that they perform according to the design. This can also involve statistically designed experiments at chosen confidence levels to establish realistic tolerance levels for the product features. This approach has the effect of reducing the potential for the recurrence of the failure effect.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, validation, in addition to verification, of a specific failure mode provides another diminution in the half point ranking to 2.5, as shown in row 409, column 410 of
The AIAG scale in
A summary of the FMDA scales is shown in
Having performed the half-point rankings, and the subsequent assessment of the latest failure effect severity, occurrence and detection, the full-point ratings, or scores, are then entered into the respective columns in the FMDA representation of
The RFN is used to assess overall risk. The lowest possible RFN is 1. A score of 1 should be unlikely as the design team should be focused on high-risk effects before the FMDA work is performed. A starting value closer to 216 is more typical. That is, according to the present invention, high-risk effects are first identified before initiating the FMDA. Any number of techniques can be used to choose the effect with the highest level of risk. These include, but not limited to, the existing knowledge base within the organization, the severity and occurrence of the effect, and other focused engineering activities to identify the risks (e.g., ranking and comparing the severity of effects across a range of functions). However, once initial high-risk effects are chosen, FMDA may be used to continually update the focus. The highest possible RFN for a single effect, failure mode and cause is 6.times.6.times.6=216.
Continuing with
With RFNs, risks are rank ordered and prioritized as shown in step 40 of
An example for how RFNs can be misused is illustrated in
Pareto Charts can be used effectively to establish priorities. Recognizing that the failure of a critical feature of an aspect of a product or process can create a chain effect, namely, that the failure of the feature can lead to the failure of a component, which in turn can lead to the failure at the system level, and hence leading to the replacement of the product, a preventive measure at the feature level can result in considerable cost savings. Use of the RFNs can point to such “leveraging” features in a system for proper action. That is, according to the present invention, RFNs for related events can be summed together, or, stacked. As an example, if a failure mode has several causes, then the RFN for that failure mode is the sum of the RFNs for all the causes as first shown in
Summing RFNs can be expanded to aspects of assemblies, subassemblies, components and features according to another aspect of the present invention. Illustration of this approach is shown in
The specific example of
At the subassembly component level, the failure mode at the assembly level now becomes the effect. Similarly, the causes are shifted left and downwards, as shown by the arrows emanating from column 320 and terminating under column 315. At the component level, a new set of potential causes are identified, and the severity for the effect at the subassembly level, and the occurrence of the cause, and the detection of the cause, severity and the effect are rated as before.
At the next level of analysis, namely, at the feature level of the subassembly, the failure modes of the subassemblies become the effect at the feature level. The causes also shift left and downward and become the failure modes at the features level. The RFN's of individual causes calculated and entered into column 340. Then, the RFNs for the Failure modes are identified. For a failure mode having more than one cause, the RFN with the larger value is selected for that failure mode. (The larger RFN will bring benefit to the customer, because more engineering resources will be directed to minimize risks with larger RFNs). Then the sum of the RFNs for the failure modes is entered under column 341. The sum of the individual RFNs is entered under column 343. These RFN values also shift left, and downwards as shown with the set of arrows under columns 341 and 343, similar to the shifting of the phenomena elements on the left as presented above.
The deeper the analysis, the more detailed is the information obtained, which is valuable for identifying high-risk features. Conversely, the broader the analysis, the less is the information. This can be generalized to exploring risks across products and processes versus within a product/process. By recognizing this shifting described above, one can keep the analysis of assemblies and components (seemingly having dissimilar characteristics) at a common level, and hence, on the same Pareto chart for risk analysis. For example, assembly failure modes and causes can be compared on the same Pareto chart with component effects and failure modes. Thus, RFNs can be kept at the same hierarchical level for comparison across all common levels. However, FMDA is not performed below the failure mode level unless the failure mechanism is understood. For each level, FMDA representation serves as a scorecard for recording the RFNs before and after corrective actions are taken to reduce the occurrence and increase detection of the risks. Also, for each level in another aspect of the present invention, the pattern can be generalized as shown in
According to the present invention, the process FMDA, or, PFMDA, is performed in a similar manner as for the design FMDA, or, DFMDA. It is preferred that Design DFMDAs and PFMDAs are performed concurrently. If the design is not risk reduced, then it cannot be assumed that the design is correct.
The steps for conducting an embodiment of Process FMDA are shown in
An illustrative application of a Process FMDA is shown in
A Process FMDA representation as applied in this example is shown in
The second column, 515, shows the functions of the process expressed in active verb/measurable noun combination. These functions are: attach cam-lobes, position cam-lobes and resist fracture.
The third column, 520, shows the effect that the customer will experience if the function is not performed properly. The customer can be internal and external. The final customer is known as the end user. For example, the cam-lobes would be free to rotate if the attach cam-lobe function was not preformed correctly.
The fourth column, 525, describes the failure mode. The failure mode is expressed as a combination of an active verb/measurable noun. Physical and technical language should be used when describing failure modes.
The cause column, 530, contains an active verb/measurable noun description of the cause of the failure. The cause column contains the cause or causes for the failure mode. For example, the causes of an inadequate interference fit can be the ball size is too small (possibly due to wear), the shaft inside diameter is too large, the shaft outer diameter is too small or the cam-lobe inner diameter is too large.
The three columns that follow the cause column in a Process FMDA in
For Process FMDAs there are two scales, an end-user scale 570 and a subsequent operation scale 580. It is an aspect of the present invention that the worst of the two scores is used.
Engineering judgment is given the highest half point rating of 5.5. If process FMDAs are developed for the process functions, a credit is given and the half point rating is lowered to 4.5. If verification has been performed, then that takes full credit, lowering it to 3.5. If the specific failure mode, which was conceptualized in the FMDA, is validated and the process proves robust, a credit is given and the half point rating reduces to 2.5. Finally if the process is stressed and run at rate to probe for failure modes that can't be conceived, an additional credit is given and the half point rating reduces to 1.5. A score of 1 could be obtained with a stable and capable process that is monitored and has a process control plan. Monitoring ensures the supplier finds a problem before it effects subsequent operations.
A summary of the FMDA scales is shown in
According to the present invention, stacking RFNs is to be managed properly for Process FMDA just as for Design FMDA. The computation of a stacking number can be accomplished by performing mathematical manipulations of different algorithms, in addition to the preferred summing method. Many failure modes and many causes for that failure mode will result in high RFNs. The greater the number of causes, the higher is the sum. In a preferred embodiment when verification knowledge is lacking, the FMDA is not to be layered past the failure modes. Preferably, the initial scorecard is used for the leading five effects and the corresponding failure modes. If every “what-if-what-about,” approach is used, this will result in unreasonable amount of verification and process control activities as a result of a high RFNs. Also, false and overly inflated RFNs would yield misleading Pareto charts, and hence erroneous conclusions. Verification and process control activities will reduce the number of causes to a manageable list of critical few. However, this should not be excessive as not every cause is critical. The focus should be directed to finding the critical few causes that matter early on and putting detection systems in place to protect against new ones that may arise.
Design and process RFNs may be combined in a sum to provide an even stronger Pareto chart. Then design and process engineers together can work together to reduce risk.
The last two columns, 555 and 560, on the Process FMDA,
Similar to a Product Design FMDA, a Process FMDA serves as a scorecard recording the RFN numbers before and after activities directed toward reducing occurrence and increasing detection. They both reduce RFN. Examples of such activities are shown in
As shown in
According to the present invention, the product/process FMDA provides the following benefits: it
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- 1) is an integral part of the review process for risk assessment and commands process characterization to determine critical process parameters that need to be controlled; specifications for the process parameters; and a control plan for monitoring the processes
- 2) is focused and addresses specific failure modes on specific operations;
- 3) provides a relative scale that allows for addressing the five highest ranked priorities;
- 4) is a dynamic document that is continually updated using lessons learned for new products and processes;
- 5) is an integral part of the change management process wherein when processes or products are changed, the continually updated FMDA can be consulted to determine or provide focus and understanding of any high-risk impacts. Also, using FMDA, risk is analyzed prior to allowing concessions; and
- 6) can be used as a scorecard.
The embodiments of the present invention can be implemented through the use of a computer system.
One embodiment of the present invention comprises a computer-readable medium, 650 or 630, that contains instructions, or a program, for directing the computer 600 to carry out a computer implemented process or design FMDA, in accord with at least one of the embodiments provided above, or variations thereof. In one embodiment, the computer implemented FMDA includes displaying the appropriate FMDA representation for a process or design, shown in
Some embodiments of the program involve calculation of RFNs and prioritization by rank order. The program can calculate and display values or bar charts or Paretos for various combinations of stacked RFNs, based on related effects, failure modes, or causes. In such an embodiment, the leading five stacked RFNs can be identified and can be continually updated by the program.
One aspect of the computer-implemented embodiment comprises displaying a representation wherein a user selected description of effect of failure, function, failure mode, cause, and part name are entered and displayed similar to the FMDA representations of
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a computer readable medium contains a program for instructing a computer to perform a user-interactive FMDA. The program instructs the computer to receive descriptive terms, and display them in a representation. At the same time, the representation displays descriptions of the term types, such as function, part name, failure effect, failure mode, and cause, to be entered in specific fields by the user. In this way, the user is instructed to arrange term types on the display in a way corresponding to the FMDA representation. That is, the order of the representation is arranged such that terms that describe effects come before terms that describe causes.
In another aspect of the embodiments, the program also instructs the computer to retrieve associated part names, failure modes, causes, effects, or functions, from databases developed for similar products or processes, and the user can select whether they are appropriate for describing the system being designed. The computer readable medium also contains instruction to display specific severity, occurrence, and detection scales, and provide fields for the user to enter scores for the failure modes, effects, and causes being analyzed. The computer readable medium also provides instruction to allow the computer to compare user-entered descriptions for functions, parts, failure effects, failure modes, and causes, to previously entered descriptions of the same that are stored in a database. The user can specify criteria, or criteria can be pre-programmed for selecting similar failure modes and causes and combining RFNs for the selected similar failure modes and causes. The criteria may be based on character comparisons for strings of various length and patterns. Stored RFNs associated with the similar causes and failure modes are stacked or combined. Combined RFNs are then compared and the highest priority risks are identified and displayed (RFNs do not have to be combined if there are no like effects or failure modes, but may still be compared against stacked RFNs). One embodiment of a computer-implemented method that can be stored on a computer readable medium is shown in
Various embodiments of the present invention can be implemented through use of a computer system, in various forms, such as on stand-alone computer systems, networks, control systems, or combinations thereof.
Although specific embodiments of the invention are described here for illustrative purposes, modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The various aspects of the present invention can be applied to virtually any product or process. Also, the teachings themselves, without direct application an actual product or process, encourage the application of the invention and thus the focus of engineering efforts on high priority risks. The various embodiments described can be combined to provide further embodiments. The described methods can omit some acts, can add other acts, and can execute the acts in a different order than that illustrated, to achieve various advantages of the invention.
These and other changes can be made to the invention in light of the above detailed description. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification. Accordingly, the invention is not limited by the disclosure, but instead its scope is determined entirely by the following claims.
Claims
1. A method for addressing risk associated with a product or process, comprising the steps of:
- identifying a plurality of risks associated with the product or process;
- assigning a risk factor to each of the plurality of risks, the risk factors capable of being ranked;
- ranking the risk factors;
- selecting a subset of the risks based on the ranking; and
- addressing only those risks that have been selected.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the risk factor corresponds to a function of the product or process, and wherein the addressing the risk involves attending to the function for risk reduction.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the risk factor comprises a risk priority number.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ranking comprises a Pareto ranking.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the subset of risks correspond to five functions.
6. A method for assigning a risk factor associated with one or more aspects of a product or process, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) identifying a function associated with the product or process, the function capable of malfunction, the malfunction having at least one associated effect;
- (b) selecting one of the associated effects;
- (c) for the selected associated effect, identifying at least one potential failure mode;
- (d) selecting one of the at least one potential failure mode;
- (e) for the selected failure mode, identifying at least one potential cause;
- (f) selecting one of the at least one potential cause;
- (g) for the selected cause, identifying a aspect associated with the function responsible for the malfunction; and
- (h) assigning a risk factor to least one of the groups consisting of the potential cause, the potential failure mode and the potential effect.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of assigning a risk factor comprises determining a rating selected from the group consisting of a severity rating, an occurrence rating and a detection rating.
8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of assigning a risk factor comprises the further steps of determining a severity rating, an occurrence rating and a detection rating, and computing the risk factor on the basis of the determined ratings.
9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the risk factor is computed according to an algorithm.
10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the algorithm comprises a product of the severity rating, the occurrence rating and the detection rating.
11. A method for representing a risk assessment framework associated with a product or a process having plurality of aspects, the method comprising the steps of:
- identifying a plurality of elements for representing the risk assessment;
- defining attribute, phenomenon, measure, and activity categories for the elements;
- assigning the elements to the categories;
- ascribing value to the elements based on the aspects of the product; and
- arranging the elements to form the representation of the risk assessment framework.
12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of elements comprise fields in a data structure.
13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the attribute category comprises a function of an aspect of the product or of the process.
14. The method according to claim 11, wherein the attribute category comprises the name of the aspect of the product or the process.
15. The method according to claim 11, wherein the phenomenon category comprises a potential effect of the risk of an aspect of the product or the process.
16. The method according to claim 11, wherein the phenomenon category comprises a potential failure mode of an aspect of the product or the process.
17. The method according to claim 11, wherein the phenomenon category comprises a potential cause for the failure mode of an aspect of the product or the process.
18. The method according to claim 11, wherein the measure category comprises severity, occurrence and detection rating scales.
19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the rating scale comprises a range of rating values from 1 to
20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the range of rating values comprise full-points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 14, 2008
Publication Date: Apr 16, 2009
Applicant: RED X HOLDINGS, LLC (Henderson, NV)
Inventor: Michael Timothy NELSON (Livonia, MI)
Application Number: 12/192,073
International Classification: G06Q 90/00 (20060101);