Prioritization of Improvement Actions in Industrial Production: Application of the Fitradeoff Method to Order Improvement Actions Identified Through the Failures Modes and Effects Analysis (Fmea)

Abstract

The Failures Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) method is applied to different activities in order to improve production processes. Its operation allows to analyze failure modes, describe their effects, identify causes and design control systems. In addition to assessing these factors, it contributes to the formulation of various improvement actions; however, it has an intrinsic weakness when it comes to prioritizing these actions. Although recent versions acknowledge that it is convenient to regulate the beginning of the proposed actions, the method does not provide indisputable tools to establish priorities and organize action plans due to the fact that the Risk Priority Level traditional indicator has been questioned. In face of this need, this contribution proposes to complement the application of the FMEA with an individual multi-criteria compensatory method that allows actions to be programmed in a participatory manner to improve their management. This proposal provides an example of a real world application. The results and limitations of this work are presented in the conclusion.