Why Potential failure mode effects analysis (PFMEA) required?
ATE are designed to validate the product and to detect the manufacturing defects. ATE are used in mass manufacturing factories where downtime is very critical since downtime can directly impact on the company’s revenue. Any false pass will impact the quality matrix of the company and revenue loss due to field failures and recall the field products.
OEE – Overall Equipment Effectiveness and FPY- First Pass Yield are the commonly used metrics to measure the equipment performance and product quality Through a proper PFMEA process we can incorporate all the failure modes in the ATE design to ensure maximum up time (OEE – MTTR, MTBF) and produce maximum First Pass Yield.
When we should do PFMEA and at what stage?
PFMEA is used during design to identify the potential failures and its effects so that respective preventive actions can be considered in the design to avoid the occurrence of the failure. This can also be used after deployment to control the ongoing operations of the ATE. Ideally, PFMEA begins during the earliest conceptual stages of design and continues throughout the life of the ATE system.
- ATE of 4.0 compliant, can connect each of the ATE’s systems together and move the test data to the centralized center location.
- No need of collecting data and generating the report/manufacturing matrix manually, simple analytical software can run on the centralized data to generate any kinds of report/ matrix automatically which avoid human errors.
- All the data can be made available in real time.
- ATE of 4.0 compliant enable to set the automatic triggers based on company’s quality matrix.
- ATE of 4.0 compliant enable to connect the factory’s geographically (enterprise level connectivity)
- It helps to maintain the product quality (FPY) and high OEE.
- Product traceability during warranty or field failures.