A systematic group of activities intended to recognize and evaluate the potential failure of a product/process and the effects of that failure.

Question

Options

• ASix Sigma
• BDesign of Experiments
• CBenchmarking
• DFailure Mode and Effects Analysis

• A
  3% (1)
• C
  3% (1)
• D
  95% (38)

Explanation

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is exactly defined by the question's wording - it is a structured, systematic process for identifying potential failure modes in a product or process, analyzing their effects, and prioritizing corrective actions before failures occur.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A. Six Sigma is a data-driven methodology for reducing defects and process variation overall - it's a broader quality improvement framework, not a specific failure-identification technique.
• B. Design of Experiments (DOE) is a statistical method for testing how multiple input variables affect an output - it's about optimization and discovery, not failure identification.
• C. Benchmarking is the practice of comparing your processes/products against industry best practices or competitors - it measures performance gaps, not failure modes.

Memory tip: Break down the answer itself - Failure Mode (what could go wrong) + Effects Analysis (what happens when it does) = the exact two-step process the question describes. If the question mentions "recognize failures" and "evaluate effects," those two phrases map directly onto the name FMEA.

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