Process Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (PFMEA) is a systematic approach for identifying quality risks inside a manufacturing or transactional process.  During a PFMEA session, a team of process and product experts evaluates each step in the process and assigns values to three risk factors (outlined below)  – Severity, Occurrence, and Detection.  These three values, typically ranked on a scale of one to ten, are multiplied to obtain a Risk Priority Number (RPN) for each process step.

Process steps and their associated risks are typically completed on an PFMEA spreadsheet and then sorted in descending order of RPN, at which point the team begins brainstorming countermeasures for the top process risks.

Severity, Occurrence, and Detection Definitions

The above three factors, when multiplied together, make up the RPN value for each process step.   All factors are rated on a 1-10 scale, with 10 being the worst-case scenario.

Severity is the effect that a given defect has on the customer.

Occurrence is the likelihood that the defect will happen in the first place.

Detection is the likelihood that the defect will be detected by the process or system before it actually reaches the customer.

Three Important Factors in Creating a PFMEA

1. Ensure that a process flow diagram (PFD) exists and is up to date.  The process steps in the PFMEA should match those in the PFD for easy cross-reference.
2. Recommendation:  build the PFMEA in a series of four-hour sessions – the team’s productivity will tend to drop off in longer sessions, and it’s important to keep a positive level of energy through the meeting so the attendees will be motivated for the next session.
3. The PFMEA team should consist of both process and product experts.  The process experts will help mostly with the Occurrence and Detection scores, and the product experts will help with the Severity scores, which are based on each potential failure’s affect on the customer.

Countermeasures and Follow-Up

The right-hand portion of the PFMEA form is dedicated to countermeasures that are planned to offset high RPN values.  Most organizations will select a “cutoff” RPN value in the 100 to 200 range, where any RPN values above those levels must be addressed with countermeasures.

Lastly, the PFMEA should be maintained over time, as more information becomes available and the Severity, Occurrence, and Detection can be fine-tuned based on real experience.

PFMEA and Six Sigma

PFMEA is also used in the Analyze phase of Six Sigma.  Countermeasures frequently include error proofing steps that make the creation of a defect impossible. These countermeasures are then monitored in the Control phase to ensure that they remain in place over the long run.

If you are interested in developing a prevention mindset in your company, then start applying PFMEA’s to your processes – this is a proven tool that is well worth the investment.

What next?

Subscribe to the RSS Feed

This is one type of a notebook that is powerful but a lightweight one in the Intel series of ultra thin notebook series. At a first glance, you would brush it away as just another type of a small notebook from a certain company, due to the fact that it features its slim and eye catching aluminum design from it. However, while weighing approximately 1.1 kilograms, this ultra thin notebook is sturdier than the other fragile looking types of notebooks from the competition out there.

Features
- Come with an Intel Core i3 processor
- Display size: 11.6” 1366×768 screen
- Comes with a Super Hybrid Engine
- 4GB RAM
- 128GB Hard disk
- Fast 2 USB ports
- Up to 5 hours of battery life after a single charge.
- One year return to base global warranty
- Quite quiet and cool under normal load
- Its touchpad is large and doe not have separate buttons to click
- Weighs approximately 1.1Kgs

Merits of ASUS UX21E KX007V notebook
- Due to its 4GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD, the laptop boots up quite quickly and – resumes speedily from sleep.
- Charges USB devices a bit faster than normal.
- Five hours of ordinary use after a single charge.
- Good audio – Bang & Olufsen with speakers sitting between the keyboard and the screen and producing a sound that is astonishingly rich and loud for a notebook computer.
- Lots of multi-touch gestures

Demerits of ASUS UX21E KX007V notebook
- A little costly
- Inadequate storage space for an advanced user
- Keyboard might seem a little cramped for users with huge hands

All in all, irrespective of the little disadvantages, the weight and attention to detail justifies its high price. It is a pretty decent notebook, regardless of some minor complaints and this is a notebook which is a pleasure to own!

What next?

Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Web design is an integral part of every online business. In fact, it is your business. As the establishment of the offline company is the most important aspect for drawing in customers, the website serves a great purpose in attracting customers and generating profit. It’s everything when it comes to an online business. There are websites that are subpar compared to others, not only in terms of features but also design. The problem with these websites is that they lack in web design efforts.

Web design is tightly intertwined with web development. In the beginning, as a developer codes a website from scratch, an idea about the design helps a lot in building and structuring the foundation for the website. The website isn’t something that is magically created. Some of the most important features of the site need to be planned well and painstakingly. That in mind, web design is crucial to the success of your website. However, these all sound vague to a beginner’s perspective. If this is your first time to enter an online business, you should first understand the relevance of each and every aspect of the Internet.

You need a strong design for your website for many reasons. First of which is that the visitors who happen to find your website will want to be pleased. A design that hurts their eye is a definite turn off, so they will just walk away. To achieve the complete opposite, which is to make a sale or get a lead, you need to captivate your visitors using everything your website has, the design being one of the most important. If you keep things in mind, it would be easy to understand why you need to consider designing a good website before anything else. That’s especially true if your company works in a relevant field, such as 3D rendering and architecture. However, a strong design works just as well for companies of any kind.

What next?

Subscribe to the RSS Feed

During the time that desktops were at their prime, who would have thought that something better in appearance and features would come along? Certainly, no one at that time imagined that a laptop would be developed. Now, the laptop has become the better choice of people who need a computer to be with them wherever they are. The same can also be said with printers. Who would have thought that the bulky printers we used when we were younger would be replaced with a portable one. And now, printers at http://www.smallportableprinter.com/how-to-find-portable-laptop-printers/ already exist.

Some printers only work as printers, while others have additional functionalities. If you are also looking for a good way to save your money and you need a new printer and a new scanner, why don’t you just buy them combined? There are already portable printer scanners being sold in the market for your convenience.

For those who don’t need the scanner, there are laptop printers to choose from. Don’t be scared to take some time in buying—these products are not going anywhere. But don’t take too long because new models might be released before you have made a decision. It would set you back since a new option has just been released. Better make it in time before you have to think all over again. The great part about laptop printers is that since almost every already has laptops, the laptop printers can easily be connected without difficulties.

The printer can be connected wirelessly through Bluetooth or through a USB port. The printer is also powered by rechargeable batteries, making it great for outdoor and travel use. Just like the laptop, you can also plug it in if the batteries are already discharged. To know more about laptop printers, check out links such as the http://www.smallportableprinter.com/how-to-find-portable-laptop-printers/.

What next?

Subscribe to the RSS Feed

If you jailbreak iOS, it’s a great way to open your iPhone up to get access to all sorts of features and software that Apple would rather you didn’t.  With a bit of technical jiggery-pokery you get access to Cydia, founded by 27-year-old Jay Freeman in 2009.

Cydia is an Aladdin’s Cave of forbidden apps that for one reason or another didn’t make it through Apple’s screening process. It charges about the same commission as Apple does to developers using its app store, for a much wider range of software. This allows you to add all sorts of mods and tweaks to customise your phone, unlocking the full potential of the hardware.

These apps include everything from ways to create new, customised gestures for your touch screen, to ways to emulate old console games to your phone. A popular app, Winterboard, allows you to customise your iPhones display in ways normally impossible in iOS.

A sad side effect of this entirely legal but slightly frowned-upon (by Apple) practice is that when you update the firmware on your iOS all those apps you’ve lovingly installed disappear in a puff of smoke, along with any jailbreaking you’ve done.

Now however, Cydia has added a new feature that allows you to re-download those apps as easily as anything. The new feature, called “Manage Account” allows you to keep tabs on the apps and packages you download using your Facebook or Google account. This means not only that you don’t have to buy all your apps a second time, but also that you don’t have to go hunting through Cydia to find them whenever your phone gets updated.

This is a great new update that finally makes your iPhone entirely customisable, even if it’s not strictly within the terms of Apple’s warranty. It will be greeted with glee by iPhone users with jailbroken phones.

What next?

Subscribe to the RSS Feed