12.07.

2019 The Science of Forming - See the Future by Exploring the Past | MetalForming Magazine

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The Science of Forming

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SEE THE FUTURE BY EXPLORING THE PAST

By: Daniel J. Schaeffler, Ph.D.

Danny Schaeffler, with 30 years of materials and applications experience, is co-founder of 4M Partners, LLC and
founder and president of Engineering Quality Solutions (EQS). EQS provides product-applications assistance to
materials and manufacturing companies; 4M teaches fundamentals and practical details of material properties,
forming technologies, processes and troubleshooting needed to form high-quality components. Schaeffler, who also
spent 10 years at LTV Steel Co., received his Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering from
the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, and Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Materials
Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. Tel. 248/66-STEEL E-mail ds@eqsgroup.com or
Danny@learning4m.com

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Monday, January 1, 2018

Dimensional variability. Random

splits. Surface waves. Any or all
of these can cause big
production headaches.
Scrambling to fix the problems
can lead to a host of other
issues. The best time to address
problems is before they occur—
an ounce of prevention as they
say. But how do you know where
to focus your up-front efforts?
After all, we already are late with
tooling buyoff and we need to
ship the tools to the home line.

FMEA, or failure modes and

effects analysis, can help align
your efforts with the issues that can cause the most problems. FMEAs are created before production and rely on your
experience with similar parts. Rather than only highlighting the consequences of failure, following this discipline helps
prioritize the issues that represent the biggest risks to success.

Key to FMEAs is the risk priority number (RPN), which results from multiplying the numerical severity, likelihood of
occurrence and likelihood of detection ratings. Individually, these ratings can vary from 1 to 10. Failure modes with
the highest RPNs must be attacked up front. Otherwise, you most likely will deal with them during production.

First, we must identify what we

are trying to achieve. Many
MetalForming readers seek to
produce production quantities of
dimensionally accurate, split-free
stampings from the full range of
acceptable tensile properties
associated with the ordered
sheetmetal grade. Doing so
requires many process steps.
Raw-material receiving and
storage, die setup, and stamping
are just the high-level steps—
each of these can be broken
down into smaller actions that can
interfere with the end goal.

Failu r e M o d e s & Failure Effects

What can go wrong, and what happens when something goes wrong? Failures come in all degrees, with some more
important than others. Here, we will not make judgments on the levels of importance or their frequency; instead, just

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focus on what could happen. Failure in this context includes any error or defect. A failure mode describes the way in
which a failure occurs. A failure effect represents the immediate consequences of a failure on the operation, function
or functionality of some item.

Consider just one part of our overall goal: producing dimensionally accurate parts. In this step we define all of the
failure modes arising from incorrect dimensions that could block us from reaching our goal. Each failure mode can
bring several failure effects. Some failure modes and effects associated with incorrect dimensions include issues
such as those shown in Table 1. Why these failure modes occur and how to address the root causes will be the
subject of a future article.

Sever i t y – H o w B a d Is It?

Severity assesses the seriousness of the effect should failure occur. The highest severity ratings are given to those
instances where failure leads to violation of safety or regulatory requirements, with the highest rating of 10 given for a
catastrophic no-warning event. Even if the effect has relatively low values of occurrence and detection, those with
high severity ratings should be addressed due to their implications. Table 2 lists possible effects, their severity and
their ratings. The actual thresholds should be customized for your specific needs and concerns.

Poten t i a l C a u s e s or Mechanisms for Each Failure Mode

Each failure mode can have several causes. For example, using the wrong sheetmetal grade can have many causes.
These include:

Service center shipped the wrong product

Purchasing ordered the wrong material grade

Receiving placed the wrong label on the coil

Operators pulled the wrong coil from inventory

The forecast was incorrect, so the correct material was not available when production needed to make parts.

Occur r e n c e — T h e Frequency of Each Failure Mode

The assembled team should assign a ranking related to the likelihood that each of the potential causes will occur. A
design or control change of
potential causes represents the
only way to change an occurrence
rating. Table 3 lists possible
failure rates and their ratings. As
with severity ratings, the actual
thresholds should be customized
for your specific needs and
concerns.

Desig n C o n t r o l s for
Detec t i o n a n d P revention

Next, we list the controls in place

to detect and/or prevent each of
the failure modes. These can
include placing a notch into the
blank shape to ensure proper
orientation; laser etching a
barcode linked to tensile
properties on the outer lap of
every coil rather than relying on
the oil-drenched paper certs
taped to the outer lap; or
scheduling a weekly call with a
customer to gain insight on the
latest usage forecast.

Detec t i o n A s s e s ses
Effec t i v e n e s s o f Design
Contr o l s

If it occurs, are we likely to catch it

before damage is done?
Detection assesses the
effectiveness of each design
control. For example, having two
operators check the certified
metal properties helps to confirm
that the correct grade will be
processed, but this assumes that
paper being checked is correct. Barcodes are great for tracking inventory, but only if the barcode isn’t crossed out
with a marker without a corrected number written next to it (yes, this did happen).

Table 4 lists possible detection criteria and their ratings. The actual criteria and ratings should be appropriate for your
specific needs and concerns.

Prior i t i z i n g R i s k

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The risk-prioritization number
(RPN) is generated by
multiplying the ratings for severity
(S), occurrence (O) and detection
(D):

RPN = S * O * D

RPNs vary between 1 and 1000.

The highest RPNs help to define
action areas. These efforts might
take the form of testing,
documenting, tracking, changing
design, changing process or
changing material—or
undertaking many other
corrective actions.

Who’s o n t h e F M EA
Team?

Maybe you’re a process engineer

who has worked in several roles
over the years and is pretty
familiar with the steps involved in
making a good part. Although
your instinct may be to build the
FMEA yourself…don’t. Consider
a general contractor who knows
how to build a house, but still
brings in specialists to handle the
plumbing, electrical and drywall.
Remember, you aren’t trying to
lay out all the steps to be
successful—you and your team
are trying to document all of the
ways that you may be
unsuccessful. Get as many
disciplines as possible involved:
receiving, design, tooling,
manufacturing, assembly,
reliability, quality and shipping all
can have an impact.

Helpf u l R e s o u r c es for
FMEA D e v e l o p m ent

SAE International
(standards.sae.org/
j1739_200901/) and the
Automotive Industry Action
Group

(www.aiag.org/store/publications/details?ProductCode=FMEA-4) offer documents to guide metalformers through the

development of FMEAs. Even though both organizations are automotive-focused, FMEA and other quality tools
should be applied at companies of all sizes and industries as an effective way to improve first-pass quality and
reduce costs.

Preparing to work on your first FMEA may appear to be a daunting task. Many things can go wrong, including some
that you had not even considered beforehand. But that’s the point. Understanding the risk up front means not having
to deal with it during production when you are more likely to apply Band-Aids and temporary fixes. After creating a
few FMEAs, the process becomes much easier, and FMEAs will fit right into your standard part-development process.
MF

See also: 4M Partners, LLC, Engineering Quality Solutions, Inc.

Related Enterprise Zones: Materials/Coatings, Training

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