A PFMEA is a team review of a manufacturing or assembly process, step by step, asking how each step could go wrong, what that failure would do to the part or the customer, what could cause it, and what currently prevents or detects it. Each risk is ranked, either with severity, occurrence and detection scores or with action priority, and the highest risks get actions with owners and dates. It is a living document that is updated when the process changes or a new failure turns up.
Example: For a press-fit step, the team lists "bearing not fully seated" as a failure mode. The effect is noise and early wear, a cause is a worn fixture, and the current detection is a visual check. The action is to add a force-and-position monitor to the press.
The PFMEA is where a plant decides which process steps need error-proofing, which need inspection, and how often. Those decisions flow straight into the control plan and work instructions, so a weak PFMEA usually shows up later as escapes that nobody planned a check for.
COPLAIN AI PLATFORM
Upload your existing procedures and Coplain AI drafts audit-ready work instructions, job aids and forms from them.
Generate yours automatically with Coplain →Related Tools & Templates