FMEA analysis and metrology: a beneficial synergy

Abstract—Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a procedure that is often skipped or not completed generally because of time of financial constraints, despite its proper use during the different steps of the product life cycle (design, development, manufacturing and maintenance) makes it possible to identify and possibly solve potentially critical problems. The most often skipped part of the FMEA procedure is that related to the sensing and measuring equipment, when present. Even when they are considered, the analysis is confined to the possible effects of failures that make them unavailable, while also the deviation from the expected metrological performance (larger uncertainty, as well as unexpected bias) may cause severe malfunctions in the whole system. This paper proposes a possible way to consider also the metrological performance of the sensing elements in the FMEA analysis and shows, also with a practical example, how they can be taken into account.