Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) Over the WWW

Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) is one of the formal techniques for effective product development. Its main purpose is to avoid as many potential failures as possible by identifying them and taking appropriate actions in the early stages of design and development. Stand-alone FMEA software packages are commercially available in the market. They offer limited support for teamwork. This paper proposes to employ the World Wide Web (WWW, web) technology to provide FMEA services on the internet/intranets. Resulting web-based FMEA systems require no installation or maintenance but offer remote and simultaneous access and therefore better teamwork.