Examining Risk Priority Numbers in FMEA - Rel... https://www.reliasoft.com/resources/resource-c...

Examining Risk Priority Numbers in FMEA

Software Used: XFMEA (/products/reliability-management/xfmea)

[Please note that the following article — while it has been updated from our newsletter archives — m
not re�ect the latest software interface and plot graphics, but the original methodology and analysis
steps remain applicable.]

The Risk Priority Number (RPN) methodology is a technique for analyzing the risk associated with
potential problems identi�ed during a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). This article prese
a brief overview of the basic RPN method and then examines some additional and alternative ways
use RPN ratings to evaluate the risk associated with a product or process design and to prioritize
problems for corrective action. Note that this article discusses RPNs calculated at the level of the
potential causes of failure (Severity x Occurrence x Detection). However, there is a great deal of
variation among FMEA practitioners as to the speci�c analysis procedure and some analyses may
include alternative calculation methods.

Overview of Risk Priority Numbers

An FMEA can be performed to identify the potential failure modes for a product or process. The RP
method then requires the analysis team to use past experience and engineering judgment to rate
each potential problem according to three rating scales:

Severity, which rates the severity of the potential effect of the failure.
Occurrence, which rates the likelihood that the failure will occur.
Detection, which rates the likelihood that the problem will be detected before it reaches the en
user/customer.
Rating scales usually range from 1 to 5 or from 1 to 10, with the higher number representing the
higher seriousness or risk. For example, on a ten point Occurrence scale, 10 indicates that the failu
is very likely to occur and is worse than 1, which indicates that the failure is very unlikely to occur. T
speci�c rating descriptions and criteria are de�ned by the organization or the analysis team to �t th
products or processes that are being analyzed. As an example, Figure 1 shows a generic �ve point
scale for Severity [Stamatis, 445].

Cookie settings

1 of 2 06/06/19, 9:28 AM
Examining Risk Priority Numbers in FMEA - Rel... https://www.reliasoft.com/resources/resource-c...

© 2019 HBM PRENSCIA INC (HTTPS://WWW.HBMPRENSCIA.COM). ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

THIRD PARTY PRIVACY NOTICE (HTTP://WWW.HBMPRENSCIA.COM/THIRD-PARTY-PRIVACY-NOTICE) |
WEBSITE NOTICE (HTTPS://WWW.HBMPRENSCIA.COM/WEBSITE-NOTICE) |
COOKIE NOTICE (HTTPS://WWW.HBMPRENSCIA.COM/COOKIE-NOTICE)
HBM PRENSCIA (HTTPS://WWW.HBMPRENSCIA.COM) IS A STRATEGIC SEGMENT OF HBM (HTTP://WWW.HBM.COM/

Cookie settings

2 of 2 06/06/19, 9:28 AM