The Seven Failure Modes

An interview with John Lindland, CTO and Founder of QualSAT International.

by C. Dunne

Recently I had a chance to sit down with the CTO and Founder of QualSAT International, John Lindland. An ever busy man, John took some time to highlight his latest venture in the quality industry, his book 7FM – The Seven Failure Modes.

C.D.

“John, you’ve been working with and teaching quality based procedures and fundamentals for almost 20 years, I’d say it is long overdue for you to put your knowledge down in a book format. You’ve saved companies money and inspired many, give us some insight on what 7FM – The Seven Failure Modes covers?”

J.L.

“Well, first I have to say, it has been a long time coming and the book was a real labor of love. 7FM – The Seven Failure Modes was written because I felt that there was something missing in the basic FMEA process.

In the early years, I found that teams could spend hours talking about a single failure mode and then argue whether the failure mode was actually a cause or an effect. There was a total lack of structure. Looking for answers I found the origins of FMEA is Failure Mode and Criticality Effects Analysis (FMCEA). FMCEA was created in the late 1940s to reduce the risk associated with rocket failures. The tool offered a few thoughts on failure modes which helped but was not precise enough. The cleanest thought that I can provide is that a failure mode describes the poor quality of the function. Through the use of simple logic and an application of engineering and physics, I found that the poor quality of the function can only be described in seven ways, which are covered in the book The Seven Failure Modes. The book also clearly describes the failure sequence so participants of FMEA will always be able to determine causes from failure modes from effects.

The Seven Failure Modes can be applied to all designs and processes, both technical and transactional. The tool clearly explains the hierarchy of system design, product design, and the process of performing work (office, manufacturing, assembly). Each application has its own list of potential root causes. In design the hierarchy is important as system causes come from the product designs and the system design process. Product design causes relate to flaws of energy, dimension, and the product design process. Process causes fall into seven very precise categories. The power of the cause categories is that the team must explain the causes so precisely that they can apply a solution if one is required. All of these are explained in detail, with examples in The Seven Failure Modes.

Performing an FMEA has three distinct phases which are defining the scope, performing the risk analysis, and ending with risk reduction. The Seven Failure Modes reduces the time required to perform the analysis by over 80 percent and the analysis will be very complete. FMEA is best performed over a short duration with longer meetings. For example, a twenty-four hour analysis should take between three and six days. The team should have at least three participants who have the greatest amount of knowledge of the topic under study. FMEA is a knowledge based process. The team will be able to document their experience and expertise into both the risk and risk reduction. Synergy will allow the team to explore some risks that are beyond the team’s knowledge.  However, missing knowledge means that some risks will not be documented. Risk is reduced by working on severity first, occurrence second, and lastly detection. The best quality in the world is the one with the lowest occurrence for the cause (lowest failure rate).

The Seven Failure Modes represents a new approach and new technology in performing Failure Modes and Effects Analysis.”

C.D.

“Wow, John that is great information, when will the book be available? How can we get it?”

J.L.

“The book will be available in late summer of this year. It will be offered on our web site, www.qualsat.com and eventually at major book stores like Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon.com, etc.”

C.D.

“Thanks for your time John!”

J.L.

“It was my pleasure.”