Case: Can TRIZ Functional Analysis Improve FMEA?

Spreafico and Russo propose a new approach to Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) in order to speed up its application and increase efficiency. Behind this method, a detailed survey covering more than 150 journal papers and 109 patents between 1978 and 2017 was conducted in order to identify the main open problems. To overcome these limits, the authors (1) reverse the order of execution of the FMEA phases to focus on the most critical areas of intervention, (2) introduce a more rigorous FMEA ontology to reduce user’s subjectivity, and finally (3) integrate several TRIZ tools to improve problem-solving tasks. In particular, an unedited version of TRIZ functional analysis, called “Perturbed functional analysis,” and an evolution of TRIZ Multiscreen tool, called “Film maker,” have been proposed in order to improve Failure Modes, Causes and Effects investigation. An exemplary industrial application of vacuum cleaner along with a test are reported.