IEC 60812, BS EN 60812, FMEA, and SAE-J1739 — Four important FMEA Standards (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis)

IEC 60812 Edition 2.0, BS EN 60812:2006, AIAG’s FMEA Standard, and SAE-J-1739 all provide standards users with information on how to identify the potential for system elements to fail.  Failure is the loss of the ability of an item to provide its required function. By using a FMEA standard, the designer may be able to eliminate the causes, or mitigate the failure effects to avoid undesirable consequences on the system.

Failure mode and effect analysis is a logical process aimed at identifying the potential failure modes of the elements of a system; the respective causes of failures; and the failure effects, initially on that element and then on its particular part of the larger system. A failure effect at a lower level may then be a failure cause for an item in the next higher level, hence the end effect on the system as a whole may be identified.

IEC 60812 Edition 2.0 from 2006, “Analysis techniques for system reliability – Procedure for failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA),” describes failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) and failure mode, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA), and gives guidance as to how these techniques may be applied to achieve various reliability programme objectives, by:

  • outlining the basic principles
  • identifying appropriate terms, assumptions, failure modes, and criticality measures
  • providing the procedural steps necessary to perform an analysis
  • providing examples of the typical forms used.

BS EN 60812:2006, “Analysis techniques for system reliability. Procedure for failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA),” is the European adoption of the IEC 60812 2006 Edition.

SAE J1739, “Potential Failure Mode and Effects Analysis in Design (Design FMEA), Potential Failure Mode and Effects Analysis in Manufacturing and Assembly Processes (Process FMEA),” describes Potential Failure Mode and Effects Analysis in Design (DFMEA) and Potential Failure Mode and Effects Analysis in Manufacturing and Assembly Processes (PFMEA). It is geared for the ground vehicle community and assists users in the identification and mitigation of risk by providing appropriate terms, requirements, ranking charts, and worksheets. As a Standard, this document contains requirements (must) and recommendations (should) to guide the user through the FMEA process.

AIAG’s FMEA 4th Edition, “Potential Failure Mode & Effects Analysis,” is a reference manual to be used by suppliers to Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors Corporation as a guide to assist them in the development of both Design and Process FMEAs. The manual does not define requirements; it is intended to clarify questions concerning the technical development of FMEAs.

These standards, and all IEC, BS, SAE and AIAG standards, are available from Document Center Inc.  Purchase them at our webstore, www.document-center.com.  Or call us (650-591-7600), fax us (650-591-7617) or send us an email (info@document-center.com).  We’re here to assist you with your standards requirements and questions.