FMEA Knowledge Graph
Every important FMEA concept on Qhubio — connected. 67 entities across 11 categories, with an average of 4.33 connections per entity.
Concepts
Foundational FMEA building blocks — failure modes, effects, causes, controls.
FMEA
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis — a structured risk-assessment method used to identify potential failures, their effects and causes, and to prioritize preventive and detective controls.
PFMEA
Process FMEA — applies the FMEA method to a manufacturing or assembly process, focused on process steps, process functions, and the controls that prevent or detect process failures.
DFMEA
Design FMEA — applies the FMEA method to a product or system design, focused on functions, interfaces, and design controls that prevent or detect design-related failures.
Failure Mode
The manner in which a process step or design element can fail to meet its intended function.
Failure Effect
Consequence of a failure mode on the customer, the next process, the end user, or regulatory compliance.
Failure Cause
Specific reason a failure mode occurs — typically a process-input variation, a design weakness, or a control gap.
Current Controls
Prevention and detection controls already in place for a given failure cause / failure mode at the time of the FMEA review.
Prevention Controls
Controls that reduce the likelihood (Occurrence) of a failure cause — mistake-proofing, design standards, equipment maintenance.
Detection Controls
Controls that increase the chance of detecting a failure cause or failure mode before it reaches the customer.
Recommended Action
Action(s) assigned to reduce risk by lowering Severity, Occurrence or Detection — required when Action Priority is High or Medium.
Special Characteristics
Product or process characteristics that require additional controls due to safety, regulatory or critical-to-quality impact (e.g. CC, SC, KPC, KCC).
FMEA Guides Hub
Directory of every FMEA methodology guide on Qhubio.
Knowledge Center
Top-level Qhubio Knowledge Center — entry point into all quality-engineering guides.
FMEA Knowledge Graph
Visual map of every FMEA concept, standard, rating, example and software entity and how they relate.
Standards
AIAG-VDA, IEC 60812, IATF 16949 and related quality-system frameworks.
FMEA Standard
Which standard applies to your FMEA: AIAG-VDA, IEC 60812 or IATF 16949.
AIAG-VDA FMEA Handbook
The 2019 harmonized FMEA reference manual issued jointly by AIAG (North America) and VDA (Germany).
AIAG-VDA
Short reference to the AIAG-VDA FMEA Handbook (2019).
AIAG
Automotive Industry Action Group — North American automotive standards body, co-author of the AIAG-VDA FMEA Handbook.
VDA
Verband der Automobilindustrie — German automotive industry association, co-author of the AIAG-VDA FMEA Handbook.
IATF 16949
International automotive quality-management-system standard that mandates FMEA, Control Plan and PPAP for the automotive supply chain.
IEC 60812
International standard from IEC describing FMEA and FMECA procedures — common reference outside automotive (medical, aerospace, energy).
APQP
Advanced Product Quality Planning — automotive phase-gate framework where DFMEA, PFMEA and Control Plan are core deliverables.
PPAP
Production Part Approval Process — formal submission process that includes the PFMEA and Control Plan as required elements.
Methods
The 7-step method, design reviews, validation and verification practices.
AIAG-VDA 7-Step Method
The seven-step FMEA workflow defined in the 2019 AIAG-VDA FMEA Handbook: Planning, Structure, Function, Failure, Risk, Optimization, Documentation.
Design Review
Cross-functional review of a design and its DFMEA outputs against requirements, risks and lessons learned.
Validation
Confirmation that a product or process meets the user's needs and intended use (right thing).
Verification
Confirmation that a product or process meets specified requirements (thing right).
Lessons Learned
Documented historical failures, recalls, warranty findings and audit observations used as inputs into new FMEAs.
Risk Analysis
Action Priority, RPN and the way Severity / Occurrence / Detection combine.
Risk Assessment
Quantification of risk for each failure cause using Severity, Occurrence and Detection ratings — combined to produce Action Priority.
Action Priority
Deterministic AIAG-VDA prioritization method (High / Medium / Low) replacing RPN, combining Severity, Occurrence and Detection through a fixed lookup.
RPN
Risk Priority Number — legacy multiplicative score (S × O × D) deprecated by the 2019 AIAG-VDA Handbook in favor of Action Priority.
Ratings
Severity, Occurrence and Detection rating scales and how to anchor them.
Severity
1–10 rating of the consequence of a failure effect on the end user, next process, regulatory compliance or safety.
Occurrence
1–10 rating of how often a failure cause is expected to occur, anchored to prevention-control effectiveness.
Detection
1–10 rating of the ability of current detection controls to find a failure cause or failure mode before release.
Ranking Tables
The AIAG-VDA Severity, Occurrence and Detection scales (1–10) presented side by side with anchored examples.
Severity, Occurrence & Detection
How the three FMEA ratings interact and combine into Action Priority.
FMEA Rating Guides Hub
Directory of Severity, Occurrence and Detection rating guides.
Software
Qhubio's FMEA software, AI assistance and generator.
FMEA Software
Qhubio FMEA software — AIAG-VDA compliant tool with deterministic Action Priority and Control Plan linkage.
AI FMEA Software
AI-assisted drafting layer that produces PFMEA / DFMEA structure from process inputs, with deterministic AP logic preserved in the backend.
Process FMEA Software
PFMEA-focused software for manufacturing and assembly processes, with PFD and Control Plan handoff.
Design FMEA Software
DFMEA-focused software covering function trees, design controls and PFMEA handoff.
FMEA Generator
Generates a structured PFMEA from process inputs (PFD, drawings, process notes) in minutes.
AIAG-VDA FMEA Software
FMEA software aligned to the 2019 AIAG-VDA Handbook — 7-step structure, Action Priority logic, Control Plan linkage.
FMEA Software Guides Hub
Directory of FMEA software comparison and selection guides.
Examples
Worked PFMEA references across machining, molding, assembly, welding and electronics.
FMEA Example
Worked PFMEA and DFMEA examples with anchored Severity / Occurrence / Detection ratings and Action Priority.
PFMEA — CNC Machining
Multi-row PFMEA reference for a CNC machining process.
PFMEA — Injection Molding
Molding-specific failure modes and controls.
PFMEA — PCB Assembly
Electronics assembly worked PFMEA.
PFMEA — Welding
Welding-process PFMEA reference.
PFMEA — Stamping
Stamping / press PFMEA reference.
PFMEA — Assembly Process
Generic assembly-process worked PFMEA example.
FMEA Examples Hub
All worked PFMEA / DFMEA examples grouped by process.
Audits
Audit checklists, common mistakes and best-practice references.
FMEA Audit Checklist
Pre-submission and pre-audit verification list for PFMEA and DFMEA artefacts.
FMEA Best Practices
Field-tested habits that keep FMEAs maintainable, audit-ready and useful to engineering teams.
Common FMEA Mistakes
Recurring weaknesses auditors find in PFMEA / DFMEA submissions and how to prevent them.
Templates
FMEA templates, Excel guides and the Control Plan handoff.
Control Plan
Document that defines how each special characteristic and process step is controlled — direct downstream consumer of the PFMEA.
Process Flow Diagram
Visual representation of a manufacturing or assembly process — required input for a PFMEA.
Process Flow
Alias entry for Process Flow Diagram (PFD).
FMEA Template
Field-by-field structure of a PFMEA / DFMEA worksheet — Structure, Function, Failure, Risk and Optimization columns.
FMEA Template Comparison
Side-by-side comparison of Excel, desktop and web-based FMEA templates.
PFMEA Excel Template Guide
Where Excel PFMEA templates break — versioning, formulas, AP lookup, traceability.
Industries
FMEA application in automotive, manufacturing, medical and aerospace.
FMEA for Manufacturing
Application of PFMEA across machining, molding, assembly, welding and electronics manufacturing.
FMEA for Automotive
FMEA application aligned with IATF 16949, APQP, PPAP and OEM customer-specific requirements (Ford, GM, Stellantis, VW, BMW, Daimler).
Medical Device FMEA
FMEA / FMECA usage in medical-device development, typically aligned to ISO 14971 and IEC 60812.
Aerospace FMEA
FMEA / FMECA usage in aerospace and defense, often aligned to SAE ARP5580 and IEC 60812.
Roles
FMEA team composition and the facilitator's responsibilities.
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