FMEA Facilitator / Moderator Guide | Why organization’s need this role?

First of all, don’t be confused with the term. FMEA Facilitator and FMEA Moderator both are same. It depends from company to company. And in this article the term FMEA means both D-FMEA & P-FMEA.

Organization’s Story

As a new AIAG-VDA FMEA standard is released. There is a huge demand in the industry for the role of FMEA Facilitator. And it’s difficult to get a good FMEA Facilitator in the industry.

Now you think why is it so?

Because the role of the Facilitator is more important while FMEA Risk Analysis. And many engineers don’t know the exact roles, skills, and process of FMEA facilitation.

But don’t worry, In this article, we will cover the complete guide on FMEA Facilitator. And after learning this you will be the one who knows how to effectively do the FMEA with a team approach.

Who is FMEA Facilitator?

Before that, you must know the meaning of the word Facilitator.

A facilitator is the person who helps to make something happen, or who makes the process easier.

Now the FMEA Facilitator makes the FMEA happen and also makes the entire FMEA process easier.

So,

What does FMEA Facilitator do?

• Facilitator plans and prepares for the session effectively and collaboratively.
• should be methodologically correct to meet FMEA standard requirements.
• Actively present, understand the content, and capture critical points in the discussion.
• Creates a productive environment where everyone interacts and focus on FMEA goal.
• Manage the activity according to FMEA timing.
• To guide the team in the conflicts situation.
• Effectively start the sessions, collect the information, and close the sessions.

Why FMEA Facilitator is required?

We do the FMEA to identify the potential failures in early stages of development. So that we can avoid or reduced those failures. Therefore this analysis is more important.

And there is also one thing that the FMEA is a qualitative method. It means the quality of FMEA is based on the team who prepared the FMEA.

Now If the FMEA quality depends on the team. Then we should have experts in the team. Such as Design Engineer, Process Engineer, Purchasing, Maintenance specialists, and other support function experts.

And the FMEA facilitator is an expert of FMEA methodology & FMEA facilitation. Who is the driver or guide of the team.

Here are 4 points due to which we need an FMEA Facilitator.

Methodology

For the creation of FMEA, there is a need for one FMEA expert. The expert who has a good understanding of FMEA methodology.
The FMEA should comply with FMEA standards (AIAG 4th Edition / AIAG-VDA 1st Edition / VDA).

Planning

It is important to start and finish the FMEA as per FMEA timing. For that, we need to plan team sessions. Also who needs to include or exclude in specific sessions.
So, the person who does the planning is essential in the team.

Execution

This is actual facilitation work. It is crucial how to conduct the FMEA sessions. Which process steps do we need to follow during the sessions?
To avoid wasting team’s valuable working time, it’s necessary to execute the FMEA as per correct steps.
The linkage between DFMEA & PFMEA is also important during the execution process.

Documentation

It is the key point that only FMEA Facilitator/moderator can do. This activity includes the verification and documentation of FMEA outputs.
FMEA should be Audit proof. It should capture all critical points such as the functional, safety, regulatory, and reliability risks.
The output of this activity is nothing but the High-risk action items, Action plan for those high-risk failures, Special characteristics, etc. So, it is important to align those outputs effectively.

Now you can say that, for perfect panning, execution on correct FMEA methodology maintaining and aligning the result documentation, there is a need of FMEA Facilitator or FMEA Moderator in an organization.

What are the duties and responsibilities of FMEA Facilitator?

Generally following duties and responsibilities are important,

So FMEA Facilitator should,

• Planning and implementation of FMEA team meetings with appropriate team members from various departments. (CFT members)
• Moderation of FMEA sessions during the creation of Design FMEA, Process FMEA, and System FMEA.
• Maintaining the FMEA level as per Industry FMEA standards.
• Update the lesson learned and organization FMEA standards.
• Train the people on FMEA methodology / any FMEA software the organization is using.
• Update the FMEA according to customer claims, warranty failures / internal rejections.
• Modify FMEA if there are any FMEA updates for any situation.

How to perform effective FMEA Facilitation?

Now here we need to think on, what is the approach we should follow for the FMEA creation as a FMEA Facilitator.

Need for FMEA Study

Starting point we must have to take the decision of FMEA creation or there is a need for FMEA study.

1. Define FMEA scope

Then define the scope of FMEA. To which product or process we will follow for FMEA. 

Also, we need to understand the boundaries of FMEA.

What are the interfaces, customer-specific requirements, legal definitions, technical specifications, design or process concepts, drawings, etc.

2. FMEA Planning

Later start planning the FMEA activity using the 5T’s method of FMEA planning.

This consists of FMEA Team, FMEA Timing, FMEA InTent, FMEA Tool, FMEA Task.

3. FMEA Execution

The next step is FMEA Facilitation, execution of FMEA.

This is very important and crucial step.

As an FMEA Facilitator, you should apply the FMEA methodology.

• Define the structure of the Design or process steps
• Identify the Functions and requirements of the product/component/process step.
• Identify failures of the respective functions and requirements.
• Do the risk analysis of those failures, using Severity X Occurrence X Detection Ratings. RPN or Action Priority (AP).
• Provide the recommended actions to reduce the higher risks of the Design or Process.

4. FMEA Completion

Once you have done the execution, your FMEA is now completed. You need to ensure that all actions are closed before the timeline.

As a FMEA Facilitator there is a need for follow-ups and to get things done from the respective team.

5. FMEA Documentation

Finally, the point where we must require the documentation.

This consists of the output of our FMEA. Take out those outputs of FMEA.

These outputs are needed to present to management to Auditors and also to communicate the risk to stakeholders.

When it comes to PFMEA, we need to plan a Reverse FMEA. so the output also presented to reverse FMEA activity and update FMEA accordingly.

In this way, the FMEA Facilitation works.

This is the broader view of the FMEA Facilitation activity. You can refer to our blogs for more detailed articles on each step and FMEA methodology.

What are the challenges in FMEA Facilitation activity?

As a facilitator, you must have one skill of conflict management.

When we do the FMEA meetings the big challenge is to align everyone on the same page. In the team, one of the person is not aligned with someone’s point.

So, our job is to understand the point and how we can explain the other in terms of FMEA language.

Another challenge is no one wants to take responsibility of any point.

To elaborate on this, let’s take an example.

If the team has identified any functions or failures. consider that this failure is in someone’s work scope.

Then if this person is involved in FMEA meetings, he/she denied this failure and not accepting as part of FMEA.

This situation is observed in many organizations.

To avoid this conflict, as an FMEA facilitator, your job is to convince the person in terms of standards and requirements.

You must provide awareness, like what happens if we don’t consider this failure or risk. What will be the consequences we will face further?

Conclusion

In summary, it is very important to have a FMEA Facilitator for the creation of an effective FMEA.

You understand the roles and how effectively you can execute the FMEA. Also, you understand the challenges as a FMEA facilitator can overcome.

Now it’s your turn…

Which thing of an FMEA Facilitator did you like most?

Either way, let me know by writing your thoughts through the contact page.