FMEA — Failure Mode and Effects Analysis

FMEA is a systematic method for identifying all the ways a product or process could fail, assessing the risk of each failure, and prioritising actions to eliminate or mitigate the highest-risk issues. It produces a Risk Priority Number (RPN) for each failure mode.

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Why companies use it

·Reduces warranty costs and field failures by catching design weaknesses before production
·Required by automotive (IATF 16949, AIAG-VDA) and aerospace (AS9100) quality standards
·Supports design reviews and gate approvals in stage-gate development processes
·Creates a documented risk register that satisfies customer and regulatory audits

What hiring managers look for

·It reveals whether a candidate thinks proactively about failure — a key trait in high-reliability environments
·They want engineers who can lead cross-functional FMEA workshops, not just fill in templates
·Knowledge of AIAG-VDA 2019 (DFMEA/PFMEA separation) shows current practice awareness
·Being able to calculate and justify RPN values shows structured risk thinking
·Experience closing FMEA action items demonstrates follow-through

Typical interview questions

Walk me through how you would run a DFMEA for a new PCB assembly.

What is the difference between a DFMEA and a PFMEA? Give me a concrete example of each.

How do you prioritise which failure modes to address first when you have limited resources?

Have you ever had a field failure that should have been caught in an FMEA? What did you learn?

How has the AIAG-VDA 2019 FMEA handbook changed your approach compared to the older method?

Common mistakes

·Treating FMEA as a paperwork exercise rather than a living risk management tool
·Assigning RPN scores without cross-functional agreement, leading to inconsistent severity ratings
·Confusing Design FMEA (product function failures) with Process FMEA (manufacturing process failures)
·Failing to update the FMEA after design changes or field failures
·Listing failure modes at too high a level — "product fails" is not a useful failure mode

Real engineering example

A semiconductor equipment supplier used a DFMEA during the design of a wafer-handling robot arm. The team identified that a solenoid valve failure could cause the arm to drop a wafer, with a severity of 9 (catastrophic yield loss). They added a redundant valve and interlocked sensor, reducing the RPN from 252 to 18. This prevented an estimated €400k in annual yield loss.

Topics covered

FMEARPNriskDFMEAPFMEAAIAG-VDAqualityISO 9001