Base120 · Decomposition

Failure Mode Analysis (FMEA)

DE · Decomposition

Enumerate potential failure points with severity, likelihood, and detectability ratings

Model code
DE13
Transformation
DE (Decomposition) — Break problems into factors, layers, and independent subproblems.
Priority
13 of 20
Framework
HUMMBL Base120 — 120 mental models across 6 transformations

When to use

"Use when designing a system that must not fail. Enumerate every potential failure mode, rate each by severity, likelihood, and detectability. Prioritize mitigations by risk priority number (severity x likelihood x detectability)."

Example

"An FMEA for a surgical robot includes — motor failure (severity 10, likelihood 2, detectability 3 = RPN 60), software bug (severity 8, likelihood 5, detectability 4 = RPN 160), operator error (severity 9, likelihood 4, detectability 7 = RPN 252). The highest RPN (operator error) gets mitigation first."

Common misuse

"Rating severity, likelihood, and detectability without calibration. If different team members rate the same failure mode differently, the RPN rankings are noise, not signal."

Also known as

FMEAFailure Mode and Effects Analysis

Related models

IN12IN7DE18