Assessment of Potential Risk by the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis in an Air Conditioning Equipment Manufacturing Company

Failure is inevitable in the daily activities and machinery in industrial operations, the causes of which should be properly evaluated and analyzed. Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a potent and effective method for identifying and eliminating potential failure, as well as the difficulties and failures in systems, design, processes, and services. The present study aimed to assess the potential risk in an air conditioning equipment manufacturing company using the FMEA.
In this descriptive cross-sectional study, all activities and machinery in different units of the air conditioning equipment manufacturing company were analyzed by census evaluation and FMEA risk assessment. Cutoff point was determined at 70%, and the risks were categorized into three levels of acceptable (L), medium (M), and unacceptable (H); based on the classification of the organization and control ability. Data analysis was performed in Microsoft Excel 2010.
Among 1,453 identified risks, 237 risks (16.3%) were in the H category with the ratio of 1/6, 473 risks (32.6%) were in the L category with the ratio of 1/3 , and 743 risks (51.1%) were in the M category with the ratio of 1/2 . Moreover, 44 unacceptable risks (H) (3%) were in the Likert classification developed by the researcher in accordance with the organization, which were considered acceptable in the FMEA classification. These risks could be considered the margins of control measures.
According to the FMEA classification, the ratio of H risks to the total risks is 1/10 , while it was obtained at 1/6 in the present study. On the other hand, high number of the identified risks does not necessarily indicate the manufacturing units to be of high risk.