1. Basic concepts and terminology

1.1 Preamble

In many fields (industry, organizations, services, etc.), the presence of a failure in an entity leads to the determination of its root cause(s), in order to avoid its recurrence. In the broadest sense, a failure is considered to be a malfunction with consequences deemed significant by those in charge of the entity. More formal definitions of failure will be provided later in this article. The term "entity" will be interpreted as being a simple or complex element, material or organizational.

Indeed, the occurrence of a failure can, depending on the sector of application, lead to a wide range of consequences (personal safety, loss of business, brand image, quality, environment, etc.).

Numerous methods have been developed...