Chad,
Severity may be the leading contributor to the RPN value. Severity measures the impact or outcome of an event. I have heard that Severity of 9 and 10 require corrective action, but nothing in regard a 7 rating. Either way, the difference may be meaningless as the outcome of an event may not be avoidable. It could be me, but I think someone is playing a numbers game. Perhaps only to see if you are prepared to defend your position.
In the interest of producing better products for consumers, organizations need to practice good "business ethics". A severity rating that is a 9 or 10 should challenge an organization to determine if their are ways they can reduce impact. For example, building secondary or tertiary safety features into a design or process (provided they exist) to prevent injury or death may be required. These additions would be perceived as "value added" as they protect the customer. In the nature of Continuous Improvement, I suppose an organization should explore reducing the severity of an event, even for lower ratings (8>). But where does an organization draw the line? Resources may be limited and reacting to every 7 rating may not be possible. Nor is it always necessary. Reducing Severity should be weighed against the value that is gained. Is the customer willing to pay the additional costs of secondary and tertiary safety/convenience features? Probably not. Often these additional items create waste in a product or process. The Customer does not want to pay for waste! Explore the lower cost improvements, those that can increase 'delight' within the customer base and are value added.
So what does the Customer consider waste? Ask them. Otherwise you run the risk of introducing waste to the system. Everyone loses under that premise.
Regards,
Kevin
Severity may be the leading contributor to the RPN value. Severity measures the impact or outcome of an event. I have heard that Severity of 9 and 10 require corrective action, but nothing in regard a 7 rating. Either way, the difference may be meaningless as the outcome of an event may not be avoidable. It could be me, but I think someone is playing a numbers game. Perhaps only to see if you are prepared to defend your position.
In the interest of producing better products for consumers, organizations need to practice good "business ethics". A severity rating that is a 9 or 10 should challenge an organization to determine if their are ways they can reduce impact. For example, building secondary or tertiary safety features into a design or process (provided they exist) to prevent injury or death may be required. These additions would be perceived as "value added" as they protect the customer. In the nature of Continuous Improvement, I suppose an organization should explore reducing the severity of an event, even for lower ratings (8>). But where does an organization draw the line? Resources may be limited and reacting to every 7 rating may not be possible. Nor is it always necessary. Reducing Severity should be weighed against the value that is gained. Is the customer willing to pay the additional costs of secondary and tertiary safety/convenience features? Probably not. Often these additional items create waste in a product or process. The Customer does not want to pay for waste! Explore the lower cost improvements, those that can increase 'delight' within the customer base and are value added.
So what does the Customer consider waste? Ask them. Otherwise you run the risk of introducing waste to the system. Everyone loses under that premise.
Regards,
Kevin