In-service equipment failures are bound to happen, despite your best maintenance efforts. Failure analysis aids manufacturers in identifying the root causes of current issues and averting dangers, and CMMS software can help.

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What This Article Covers:

• What Is Failure Analysis?
• Strategies and Techniques
• Failure Analysis Plan
• How Can CMMS Software Help?
• Next Steps

What Is Failure Analysis?

Failure analysis is a process where you evaluate a failed product to ascertain what went wrong. Failure analysts employ various techniques, such as fault-tree analysis, failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), and Ishikawa “fishbone” diagrams.

Different methods use different approaches, but they all aim to identify the fundamental reason for failure by examining the traits and hints left behind.

Reasons To Perform Failure Analysis

So, let’s say one of your products fails. Why take the time and effort to undertake a failure analysis? Here are three advantages:

1. Identify the Root Cause of the Failure

Understanding why your product failed is helpful. It could have had a design defect that prevented it from serving its purpose. Maybe it was mishandled or misused, or it broke down since it had reached the end of its useful life span.

An expert failure analyst can gather the data and observations required to conclude the root cause(s) of failure by carefully inspecting the product, any fracture surfaces and its environment.

2. Prevent Future Product Failures

You can create a corrective action plan to stop the same failure mode from occurring again once you identify the product’s primary cause of failure. The following are some typical underlying causes and the appropriate corrective actions:

• Poor Design: Review in-service loads and environmental effects and make the necessary design modifications.
• Manufacturing Flaw: To ensure that the design specifications are met, review the manufacturing processes (such as casting, forging, machining, heat treating, coating and assembly).
• Material Flaw: Implement a quality control plan for raw materials.
• Misuse or Abuse: Teach users how to properly install, operate, maintain and care for the product.
• Exceeded Life Span: Inform users about appropriate overhaul/replacement cycles.

3. Improve Upcoming Products

Improve the next generation of products by knowing what went wrong with past iterations. When you conduct a failure analysis on a single product, you’ll frequently discover new information regarding your design, production, material or actual service procedures. Thanks to this insightful information, you can anticipate and steer clear of any future issues.

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Strategies and Techniques

There are several widely used failure analysis techniques. Some are more suitable for application based on specific sectors, unique conditions or the background of the engineers conducting the analysis.

Here are five failure analysis strategies:

1. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis

This manufacturing failure analysis technique forecasts the possibility of failure and quantifies its effects. A failure mode is a physical process that fails, while “effects analysis” refers to the failures’ potentially harmful effects. FMEA examines materials, manufacturing processes, types of equipment used, and any environmental elements that could influence or result in a failure.

A what-if analysis is another name for it. Manufacturers ought to undertake an FMEA before starting a new process or production. It helps detect any risks before production and lowers the risks associated with any new product or process. FMEA, however, takes a lot of time.

2. Fishbone Diagram

A fishbone diagram graphically represents the potential root causes. The diagram consists of two essential components: the head, which stands for the result or failure, and each “bone,” representing a class of possible causes. They include:

• Machines
• Methods
• Materials
• Manpower
• Metrics
• Minutes (time)

Each of these categories will represent one bone for the diagram. Once completed, the diagram identifies recurring causes or the frequency at which they occur to pinpoint the root cause.

3. Logic Fault Tree

A logic fault tree uses a top-down tree structure where the base roots indicate the problem’s underlying cause and the defined fault is located at the top of the structure. It can find organizational, human and physical root causes of failures.

Logical operators describe the relationships between the nodes on the tree, but a well-defined fault identifies all potential sources of failure. Analyzing insignificant causes, a probability on the tree identifies each cause. You can examine the possibility of the fault tree failing with these probabilities and the predetermined connections between the various causes.

4. The Five Whys

This manufacturing failure analysis method is an easy way to identify the root cause. When a failure occurs, a “why” inquiry is posed each time a root cause is identified. The number five is merely a suggestion and not a strict upper limit.

Depending on the issue’s complexity, it may take 2–10 whys to identify the root cause. The causes are frequently easier to determine when the failure is reframed from several angles. Although the Five Whys method is less exacting than the others, it can occasionally be just as successful and eliminate pointless administration.

5. Data Analytics

Modern manufacturing facilities have more access to rich data sets thanks to Industry 4.0.

You can use data from low-cost IoT sensors to monitor process-defining characteristics like machine temperature or vibration. Historical data analysis can find the fundamental cause of a production line. You can also apply statistical approaches to these datasets to predict future equipment faults before they result in expensive breakdowns.

This approach to manufacturing failure analysis is becoming increasingly common with affordable sensors and powerful software tools. You can concentrate on failure prevention through preventative maintenance by using affordable and practical failure analysis tools with tried-and-true statistical process modeling approaches.

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Failure Analysis Plan

A failure analysis plan should include the following steps:

Organize Key Stakeholders

The number of participants in a failure analysis will vary depending on the type of occurrence and your organization’s size and structure. The study is frequently done by plant and maintenance engineers, but you may use reliability engineers or even specialized failure analysis engineers for the job.

If the necessary skill set isn’t present internally, you can outsource. The specific reporting structure will depend on the incident investigation type and how your analysis team will report to management.

Define Problem Scope(s)

An explicit knowledge of what went wrong and what the investigating engineers need to report is necessary for any failure analysis to be effective. The engineer must mention this in a problem statement along with the failure analysis methods the team will implement.

Identify Failure Modes & Mechanisms

Understanding the outcome or consequence (the failure mode) is crucial for failure analysis. Examples include a machine failing or the manufacturing of inferior goods. The next step is to identify the mechanisms that caused the failure, such as inadequate construction, human error, mechanical failure or something else.

Collect & Analyze Data

It’s necessary to gather and examine all pertinent quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data consists of maintenance and CMMS records and information collected from visual inspection and mechanical troubleshooting.

The qualitative data will likely include information obtained by speaking with pertinent staff members (e.g., machine operators and maintenance technicians).

Determine Corrective Actions

The inquiry results in a failure analysis report outlining the findings and including recommendations for fixing the issue.

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How Can CMMS Software Help?

Although root cause analysis is an integral part of the global total quality management (TQM) concept, there’s yet to be a standard methodology or approach to problem-solving.

CMMS offers a structure for standardizing maintenance procedures.

You can conduct root cause analysis using various procedures, tools and philosophies on an equal number of problems. Professionals can adapt failure analysis methods to the unique requirements of their equipment and facility by using CMMS software.

If you’re a field technician, then a mobile CMMS can work the same. Accessing and recording data into your system directly at the equipment’s location is one particularly crucial benefit of mobile CMMS. You can also track current maintenance activities, revisions or prior incidents.

Next Steps

In manufacturing, you need a solid grasp of failure analysis and a ready plan to act when something goes wrong. By doing this, you’ll go a step closer to figuring out the source of your issue and a step closer to recovering from it.

Thinking about implementing CMMS software to support your failure analysis processes? You can build a checklist of your must-have features using our requirements template and start evaluating top vendors with our free comparison report.

Which method(s) have you applied for failure analysis in your facility? Let us know in the comments.