Failure Mode and Effects Analysis - FMEA
A method to prospective error analysis to predict \"error modes\" in which the likelihood of a particular process failure is combined with an estimate of the relative impact of that error to produce a \"criticality index\" to allow for the prioritization of specific processes as quality improvement targets. Each step in a process is assigned a probability of failure and an impact score, so that all steps could be ranked according to the product of these two numbers. Steps ranked at the top (i.e., those with the highest \"criticality indices\") should be prioritized for error proofing.
