Define the scope, boundaries and functional block diagram for an FMEA or FMECA study.
Engineering & Maintenance
Applying FMEA and FMECA Techniques to Prioritise Maintenance Criticality
Learn to run FMEA and FMECA studies that identify failure modes, score severity and criticality, and turn the results into a defensible maintenance task and spares priority list.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
Maintenance programmes that treat every asset the same way spend equal effort on a critical compressor and a spare pump that has no process impact, leaving genuinely high-risk failure modes under-protected while low-risk ones are over-maintained. FMEA and FMECA techniques give a structured way to prioritise maintenance effort where the risk is actually highest. This course teaches participants to define study boundaries and functional block diagrams, identify failure modes from design data and equipment history, and trace their effects at local, system and plant level. Sessions cover the scoring conventions in IEC 60812, SAE J1739 and MIL-STD-1629A, including severity, occurrence and detection ratings, risk priority number calculation and criticality matrices. Teaching uses real equipment examples worked in small groups, moving from a blank functional diagram to a scored and ranked failure mode register. Participants also learn to keep an FMECA register current as designs, operating conditions and failure history change, and to translate criticality rankings directly into RCM task selection, spares holding decisions and inspection frequency, so the analysis drives real maintenance decisions rather than sitting in a file.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Identify failure modes, causes and effects for equipment items using design data and maintenance history.
Score severity, occurrence and detection ratings consistently using a documented rating scale.
Calculate risk priority numbers and build a criticality matrix to rank failure modes.
Apply IEC 60812, SAE J1739 and MIL-STD-1629A conventions correctly when structuring an analysis.
Convert FMECA criticality rankings into RCM task selection and inspection frequency decisions.
Maintain and update an FMECA register as equipment, operating conditions or failure history change.
Who Should Attend
Reliability engineers running FMEA or FMECA studies on new or existing equipment.
Maintenance planners who set task frequency and spares holding based on criticality.
RCM facilitators needing a structured failure mode input for their analysis.
Design and process engineers reviewing failure modes before equipment is commissioned.
Asset integrity specialists maintaining criticality registers across an equipment population.
Quality and risk engineers applying failure mode analysis to safety or compliance requirements.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01FMEA and FMECA Foundations and Standards
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Scope, Boundaries and Functional Block Diagrams
- Define the physical and functional boundary of the system before starting a failure mode analysis.
- Build a functional block diagram that shows inputs, outputs and interfaces for each system element.
- Select the right analysis level, from component up to system, for the decision the study must support.
- Assemble a cross-functional team with the design, operating and maintenance knowledge the study needs.
Session 2Standards and Formats: IEC 60812, SAE J1739 and MIL-STD-1629A
- Compare the structure and terminology used in IEC 60812, SAE J1739 and MIL-STD-1629A.
- Choose a worksheet format and rating scale appropriate to the industry and purpose of the study.
- Distinguish design FMEA, process FMEA and maintenance-focused FMECA applications.
- Align internal FMECA templates with the referenced standard so results remain auditable.
02Identifying Failure Modes, Causes and Effects
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Failure Mode Identification from Equipment History and Design Data
- Mine CMMS failure history and technical documentation to identify realistic failure modes.
- Distinguish a failure mode from its cause and from its effect within the analysis worksheet.
- Use guide words and function-based prompts to surface failure modes not yet seen in service.
- Capture multiple credible causes for each failure mode rather than recording only the most obvious one.
Session 2Effects Analysis at Local, System and Plant Level
- Trace the local effect of a failure mode on the immediate component or assembly.
- Follow the failure mode's consequence through to system-level and plant-level impact.
- Identify safety, environmental and production consequences separately within the effects analysis.
- Record existing detection or protection methods already in place for each failure mode.
03Scoring Severity, Occurrence and Detection
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Rating Scales and Risk Priority Number Calculation
- Apply a documented severity scale consistently across safety, environmental and production consequences.
- Estimate occurrence ratings from failure history, test data or engineering judgement where history is absent.
- Score detection ratings based on the actual controls in place, not on theoretical best practice.
- Calculate the risk priority number and check it against team consensus before recording a final score.
Session 2Criticality Matrices and Risk-Based Ranking
- Build a criticality matrix that plots severity against probability of occurrence for each failure mode.
- Rank failure modes into criticality bands that map to different maintenance response levels.
- Resolve scoring disagreements between team members using structured facilitation rather than averaging blindly.
- Flag failure modes with high severity but low occurrence for separate risk-based review.
04Turning FMECA Outputs into Maintenance Decisions
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Linking Criticality Rankings to RCM Task Selection
- Feed criticality rankings directly into RCM decision logic for maintenance task selection.
- Set inspection and preventive task frequency in proportion to the calculated risk priority number.
- Decide which low-criticality failure modes are best left to run to failure rather than maintained proactively.
- Justify spares holding levels for critical items using the FMECA criticality ranking.
Session 2Updating FMECA Registers Through the Asset Lifecycle
- Schedule periodic FMECA reviews triggered by modifications, incidents or new failure history.
- Revise severity, occurrence or detection scores when operating conditions or controls change.
- Archive superseded FMECA versions so the rationale behind past maintenance decisions stays traceable.
- Use FMECA outputs as a live input to management of change and engineering change processes.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
Complete your registration
We will contact you within one business day to confirm.
Ready to start?
Reserve your seat and start building the skill.