Preventive Action - Does generating an FMEA help future containment?

[Raffy]

1. Does generating a FMEA would help the containment of the discrepancy in the future?
2. How about auditing the corrective actions?
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Raffy

[Claes Gefvenberg]

Um... Let's see if I understood that right?

1. I consider FMEA to be a brilliant tool for preventive work. It provides you with a list of preventive actions, sorted so you can attack the worst potential problems first and then work your way through it. The aim of the game is of course to find solutions that removes the potential problem, or failing that, minimizes the risks for occurence and/or the effects if they occur.

It also fits right in with the process orientation in ISO9001:2000: If you have mapped your processes you have already done a fair part of the job. All you have to do is to transfer the process steps to the FMEA and start looking for potential problems in each step.

2. Auditing corrective actions... or rather preventive ones. In the FMEA you should have someone responsible for each action, and a deadline for completion. That way it's becomes a breeze to check the status of different actions, whether they were effective and so on...

I hope I answered your questions?

/Claes

[gpainter]

Some examples of preventive action:
contract review, calibration, preventive maintenance, new supplier evaluations and training for new hires.