Failure Mode and Effect Analysis is a method that examines potential product or process failures, evaluates risk priorities, and helps determine remedial actions to avoid identified problems. It is an integral part of any ISO 9000 compliant quality system.

The FMEA process was originally developed by the US military in 1949 to classify failures "according to their impact on mission success and personnel/equipment safety". FMEA has since been used on the 1960s Apollo space missions. In the 1980s it was used by the Ford Motor Company to reduce risks after one model of car, the Pinto, suffered a fault in several vehicles causing the fuel tank to rupture and it to subsequently burst into flames after crashes.

External Links

http://www.fmeainfocentre.com/