Mistake # 1: Putting Ritual Ahead of Result

There are times where individuals go out with a really good plan but at the end of the day what the audit actually produced was no result. There was a lot of paperwork that was done there was a lot of time that was wasted, but, there were no results and it was more focused on ritual.

Mistake # 2: Not Having an Objective (Applies to Design and Process)

Imagine that you go to the grocery store, and you have an objective. You plan out what you are going to purchase so that you know what you are going to buy there so that you are not just showing up and wandering around hoping to stumble upon what you need.

If you are from a six-sigma background the question to ask is “What is the needle we are trying to move?”  

Mistake # 3: Not Having the Correct Team

When you place an auditor in the position of an audit you are entrusting them to deliver the result from  Mistake # 1 to meet the objective from Mistake # 2 and get the job done.

Mistake # 4: Identifying Irrelevant Items

The fourth major mistake that people engage in when doing an FMEA they write up things, that do not actually matter.

Think of it this way:

You spend two hours and the line sees an impact because you’re out there on the line, or you’re in there with the designers and at the end of the day. They are paying you for information. Now if you come with information that is either just busy work or information that they already know. They are going to look at you and ask why would I pay you to do that again, when in reality you didn’t tell me anything that was useful, and anything that I didn’t already know?

So, this is the fourth major mistake that we see because if you put the wrong person in from Mistake # 3, and they are writing up things that, don’t drive performance Mistake # 4 you will never get support for your auditing program.

Mistake # 5: Making the Scope too Large

Process parts are very complex. One of the things that we want to keep in mind is how do we work through and keep the scope myopic, you have a better than average chance of succeeding in your objective, because you are able to go deeper into the material while not dealing with too much information.

5 Common Mistakes Made in your FMEA Auditing Process:

Mistake # 1: Putting Ritual Ahead of Result

Mistake # 2: Not Having an Objective (Applies to Design and Process)

Mistake # 3: Not Having the Correct Team

Mistake # 4: Identifying Irrelevant Items

Mistake # 5: Making the Scope too Large