1. Understanding the process

Asking the question "What could go wrong?", imagining undesirable events, thinking about the consequences, seeking to eliminate the causes or minimize the effects is a natural approach. The FMEA –, which stands for Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis –, is not a new concept.

But asking the question at the right time, exploring a sufficiently wide field of possibilities, taking the right measures and evaluating their effectiveness a priori, all require a method. FMEA is one such method.