What is FMEA?
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a logical, proactive technique that is used to identify and eliminate potential causes of failures. The technique was first used in the aerospace industry to find problems with an aircraft before it ever left the ground. Today, FMEA is in widespread use by a multitude of industries, many of which have begun imposing FMEA standards. In the services industry, FMEA is critical because once a service encounter has occurred (and resulting customer dissatisfaction has ensued), any corrective actions taken by the service provider will likely be futile. With FMEA, potential failure modes in the process are identified in anticipation of the service encounter. In this way, the potential for errors is reduced or eliminated, allowing for only the smallest probability of customer dissatisfaction.
