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Why do I need software?

The answer to this is simple, it's also the response to the most frequently cited criticism of FMEA, which is, it takes too long; the software needs to save you time. The one commodity which is in short supply for all companies in all sectors in today's current climate.

Ease of use

The software needs to be easy to use, intuitive, I find that team members are technically proficient in their chosen process and hence are in the team, but it doesn't necessarily follow that they are proficient with a computer, therefore if the software is simple to use and familiar to them then the adoption of the software follows and the all important time is saved.

Compatibility

Here I don't mean with your computer systems although obviously that is essential. What I mean is the alignment of the software to the FMEA methodology. As a consultant, running application workshops, in FMEA about seven years ago I needed to source some software to assist me with the delivery of my workshops to make the task quicker and therefore cheaper for my clients. I was disappointed to find that there are many commercial pieces of software which look attractive to use because of their presentation, but actually are not compatible with the methodology. Let me explain what I mean, your personnel attend an FMEA training course or workshop at the end of which they understand the sequence of tasks they need to follow to achieve a correctly compiled FMEA. They now open up the chosen software solution the company has purchased only to find that they need a second training course to explain how to use the software as the requirements for the data entry are not compatible with the sequence of tasks defined in the methodology. The consequence is the team end up spending less time focusing on the FMEA methodology and more time on the software sequencing requirements. This will restrict the number of people who are familiar with both and therefore able to participate within the FMEA team and also conflicts with both of the above, making the software difficult to use and typically requiring more time. The ideal being to identify an easy to use piece of software which is closely aligned to the methodology hence the team members only have to learn one thing, that being the methodology, the second they get for free, understand the method and you can by default use the software.

Maintenance

The last area of consideration is how easy is it to make changes to the FMEA software once you have crafted the initial document. With some software you can create the initial document without too much trouble but when you come to change the document, such as inserting new process steps, life gets harder and it takes unnecessary time.

Summary

My advice is, make sure the software is aligned to the methodology thus making it intuitive to use, easy to use and alter and ideally in a familiar environment for most users, such as excel. If any of these are not true then you have failed to achieve the primary objective which is mandatory, to save time. Further more frequently I observe companies who have FMEA software which isn't aligned to the method or it's difficult to update the net result is that the user abandons it and in some cases also abandons FMEA as a technique as well.

Roger Thorpe has been an FMEA facilitator and consultant for 13 years, he has experience in the following sectors; automotive, motorsport, industrial, healthcare, rail support, construction and banking. He works with companies utilising his knowledge and their skill to deploy best practice. 7 years ago he developed his own excel based bespoke software, for more information on his software or how he can help you visit his website: http://www.fmea.org.uk