Byteworx FMEA Software - Any advice appreciated

[kurisuoriari]

Hello,

I stumbled on the forum thru some link looking for a FMEA software package.

After a lot of digging I have found Byteworx.
Anyone got a opinion on it ?

I am using er....Excel at the moment and it has a lot of drawbacks.
I also looked at XFmea but my MD wont be happy with the price.

Byteworx seems to offer a more reasonalbe cost solution.

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers

Chris

 

[Bill Ryan - 2007]

Welcome to the Cove

I have not used this software but it looks like it's a fairly decent package on the surface. Have you tried, or are you going to try, the 14-day demo? If so, please let us know how it works.

Some concerns I have (and, trust me, I'm very spoiled by our software):
* It is "stand alone". There is no tie to the Flow Diagram or Control Plan. This will allow for many discrepancies between the three documents;
* It doesn't appear to have the capability to write "Work Instructions";
* I can't really tell if the Failure Modes (for example) already in the database are available if you begin with a new product;
* I also can't tell if the Recommended Actions can be "blown across" all products or if they stay product specific.

Please don't let me scare you away from this product. I suggest trying it out and maybe coming back here with questions someone may be able to help with.

Good Luck

 

[jmp4429]

Try the 14 day trial and let us know!

All I've ever used was MPACT. https://www.integralsolutions.com/products/qpandc_products.htm There's a free 30 day trial of that as well, but it's probably expensive.

It was a very powerful tool, but we did not use it to its full capability, and some people did not do things the “right way”. If not used correctly by everyone who has access to it, sometimes a powerful tool can be TOO powerful. I found this a little frustrating.

Also, you might check out this link to an old Elsmar thread about FMEA packages.

 

[kurisuoriari]

Cheers

Thanks for the advice,
We have a rather difficult IS department so trial downloads at work are a nightmare. Hence I run them at home.

Because of specific customer documentation (Excel Based) most of our APQP documents are formatted in a workbook. Two enhanchements I am seeking to achieve are:

1) Quick summary and Analysis of RPN and action status, this is a bit difficult with multiple excel workbooks.
2) Ability to paste or hyperling pictures in my FMEA. I have found that on Non Conformance, root cause and corrective action a photo is invaluable and more appealing to the users.

Fundamentaly I am trying to secure a solid APQP process with a good FMEA which is of use and not heavily admin and text based.

I will let you know how I get on.

By the way the cove is a excellent source of info and discussion. I will be happy to share my thoughts and workings in this area. I built a QMS compliant to TS, but more importantly of good use to our organisation so have a lot of working documents and am continuously improving.

Until now I have kept clear of canned packages and might just have another go in excel...? If I could just figure out a good way to track RPNs and actions ?

Cheers

Chris

 

[bgwiehle]

...Two enhanchements I am seeking to achieve are:
1) Quick summary and Analysis of RPN and action status, this is a bit difficult with multiple excel workbooks.
2) Ability to paste or hyperlink pictures in my FMEA. I have found that on Non Conformance, root cause and corrective action a photo is invaluable and more appealing to the users.
...Until now I have kept clear of canned packages and might just have another go in excel...? If I could just figure out a good way to track RPNs and actions ?

Some background:
Like you, our PFMEA system is in Excel. Each family of parts has an excel file consisting of 3 main parts: 1) a log page to summarize FMEA header info and change history, 2) individual process FMEAs are on separate worksheets, 3) an operations page that references the various process FMEAs beside a process flow that is supplemented with pictures. (Processes that span many programs are "generics" and are electronically stored in separate files and only referenced by the specific program files).

To the right of the normal FMEA columns, we have additional columns that provide the data for our FMEA data program, an Access-based program developed in-house. This program then generates reports for open recommended actions, high RPN values, detection = 10, severity > 7, "high risk" (Chrysler criteria). The data is collected from any combination of customer or program desired. This program was developed just a few months ago; prior to that I was manually generating the reports for the Risk Reduction reporting that GM is asking for.

The pictures used on the operations page come from several sources: solid images generated by our CAD Department, images developed from the blueprints, digital photos of actual parts (used in our Final Audit program). I don't hyperlink for images but I have used hyperlinks (an function available in excel) to link to blueprints.

I hope to try some of the software packages someday but am afraid they won't be flexible enough or that the transfer process will be very time-consuming.

B.G. Wiehle
PFMEA Co-ordinator

 

[kurisuoriari]

Excel..then

Hello Thanks for comments,

I have a Excel workbook that contains:-
Front Page
Document History
Control Plan Key Features (Product Image with characteristics)
Inspection Report
Process Flow Chart
Control Plan
Operator Instructions (Inspection - Based on Control Plan plus Photo's)
FMEA
Gauge Spec Approval

All documents are linked from the front page so part numbers,design level and other generic info is linked to the front page.

For the FMEA I have just listed a number of Failure Modes, Effects, Controls etc in the excel sheet and hidden these cells. Then I use pick from list to build the FMEA.

I will develop 1) A overall summary Excel document 2) A new sheet in the work book with Photo's which I will hyperlink to the FMEA, some of these Failure Photos will be from our Non Conformance Database.

I used Access before for my Non Conformance Database but it crashed once the data got so big and I got 20 users logged on at once !

Anyhow thanks for the advice.

I am going to have a go with my Excel FMEA I will let you know how I get on.

Cheers

Chris