Avoid Design and Process Risks With a Comprehensive Quality Approach

Without a comprehensive quality approach, it is difficult but critical to effectively identify design and process risks in today’s automobile sector.

What role would a comprehensive quality approach play in lowering design and process risks? Stricter homologation and environmental laws, as well as increasing product complexity, have increased the likelihood of warranty issues and recalls for car manufacturers more than ever before. Making certain that quality is addressed before the finished product rolls off the manufacturing line assists developers and manufacturers in avoiding adjustments in later phases of production, saving money and ensuring high-quality products.

FMEA (failure mode and effects analysis) is a critical preventive tool for identifying design and process hazards. A closed-loop quality solution that includes a thorough FMEA assists developers and manufacturers in lowering risks and costs. As part of a comprehensive smart manufacturing approach, quality management system (QMS) software mitigates these risks by integrating product design, manufacturing, quality, and the supply chain to assure compliance and product integrity .In addition to its risk mitigation capabilities, implementing FMEA and QMS software offers numerous benefits to organizations.

We invited one of our experts to share his perspective on FMEA and the value of a digital quality approach that augments FMEA with direct access to engineering data. Axel Eicker, Siemens senior product manager for Teamcenter Quality FMEA, has spent his whole career in quality management roles in three separate organizations’ development divisions. Throughout his career, he has concentrated on the modernization of FMEAs as well as the accompanying process and method optimizations. Today, Axel brings his expertise to Siemens with the goal of creating the greatest FMEA solution on the market as part of PLM and quality.

To remain competitive in the market, automakers must reduce product and operating costs while improving product quality. This necessitates a trade-off between cost and time while satisfying consumer expectations on a constant basis. Because a new product begins its lifespan as a requirement, it is critical to evaluate all consumer expectations and then incorporate quality into both the product and the process. Before the completed product leaves the production line, all quality requirements must be met. It aids in the prevention of deviations in later product phases, which can result in more costly remedial actions and a reduced ability to offer high-quality results. This approach is crucial since making the wrong or late judgments can have serious consequences for your organization.

Risk must be measured and considered for all critical activities and decisions, according to the quality standards and norms that govern the automobile sector. The ISO 9001:2015 standard does not prescribe a technique but underlines the significance of risk management. The IATF 16949:2016 standard recommends a specific procedure that employs FMEA as the principal identifying tool. As manufacturers apply FMEA to each unique situation, it’s critical to understand how risk should be addressed in accordance with standards and guidelines. There is no obligation to eliminate all design and process risks, but there is an expectation that they be identified, documented, and managed.

It should also be highlighted that auditors look into FMEA as one of the methods for determining how a company handles quality and failure. Furthermore, they are critical in reducing probable flaws prior to manufacturing in order to attain advanced product quality as well as lower warranty claims and expenses.

A forward-thinking approach to quality first allows you to understand the needs of the client and then incorporates quality into the design of both the product and the process. FMEA can be used to identify potential failures early in the development process. Automotive firms must manage multiple design and process risks in their everyday business activities as a basic element of the quality planning process in order to avoid recalls or adverse events.

An integrated FMEA solution is one of the most effective tools a firm can utilize to avoid product and process flaws. FMEA provides a toolkit for identifying and mitigating design and process risks in virtual product and process structures.

FMEA is a cross-functional methodology that encompasses the full product development process, including both design FMEA (D-FMEA) and process FMEA (P-FMEA). When creating a new product, D-FMEA employs an analytical method to identify possible failure points. P-FMEA is used to identify hazards in new manufacturing processes and aids in the development of more resilient goods and processes.

FMEA has been performed in the past using a variety of manual and homegrown ways, but the state of the art now is FMEA software that supports failure assessment efforts within a QMS system. FMEA becomes an essential tool in an end-to-end quality program as a result of this strategy.

Within a QMS and PLM digital environment, FMEA replaces manual tracking of a fragmented collection of quality activities across the organization using decentralized tools with a centralized database storing all quality-relevant data. Our customers can support a closed-loop quality strategy from design to manufacture with our digital quality approach.

Teamcenter Quality, which is part of the Siemens Xcelerator business platform of software, hardware, and services, assists you in supporting all quality-related processes throughout the product lifecycle. Teamcenter Quality, built on the Teamcenter PLM foundation, enables quality engineers to access product and process information, as well as share cross-departmental workflows, to streamline fundamental quality management operations.

A robust knowledge database, accessible to all relevant specialists, complements the benefits of FMEA and a digital quality strategy. Extensive prior experience can be applied to new projects to shorten the development process cycle and reduce or eliminate faults at the start of the production cycle.

The ability to instantly access all engineering data, such as bills of materials (BOMs), bills of the process (BOPs), drawings, and 3D models, increases the value of analysis with the Teamcenter collaboration platform. FMEA can be managed throughout the product lifetime, and Teamcenter Quality FMEA can help with FMEA planning. People and duties in a project can be structured utilizing the capabilities of quality project management solutions, which include an activity tracking and alarm mechanism. The control plan can be used to manage residual risks, and the loop can be closed via problem-solving and change management methods.

With native PLM integration, the Siemens digital quality strategy enables manufacturers to access all available engineering. Siemens’ smart manufacturing portfolio offers significant potential for digital revolution in quality management. When OEMs and suppliers deploy a comprehensive quality management solution, they reap huge benefits, frequently exceeding expectations with dependable, high-quality products.