Title: Failure mode and effects analysis: a decision-making risk prioritisation approach

Authors: Maryam Sedighi Shamami; Soroush Avakh Darestani; Niloufar Hojat Shemami; Iniobong Enang

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Industrial and Mechanical Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin Branch, Qazvin, Iran ' Guidhall School of Business and Law, London Metropolitan University, London, UK ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Industrial and Mechanical Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin Branch, Qazvin, Iran ' Coventry University Business School, Coventry University, Coventry, UK

Abstract: Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) is a method of risk assessment that is broadly utilised to identify, predict as well as mitigate possible defects in products, operations, and systems prior to the occurrence of a negative incident. However, inaccurate results may be generated due to the uncertain conditions under which risk assessment using the FMEA. Therefore, there is need to mitigate the uncertainty, particularly randomness and fuzziness in the assessment process. This can be achieved by using grey numbers to develop the FMEA and VIKOR methods to fix several hindrances related to the risk priority number (RPN) of the traditional FMEA. This paper aims to compare the Grey VIKOR with the traditional FMEA to present more accurate ranking. In the first step, grey system was used to rank failure modes and select risk elements to join vulnerability into subjective judgments. Thereafter, VIKOR method was applied for prioritising and evaluating failure modes. The results of comparative analysis indicate the adequacy and versatility of the proposed method in dealing with real-world issues.

Keywords: potential failure modes and effects analysis; risk assessment; grey numbers; method VIKOR.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2024.140600

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2024 Vol.42 No.4, pp.422 - 444

Received: 03 Jun 2022
Accepted: 13 Jun 2022
Published online: 28 Aug 2024 *

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