Managing risk using SBS software
Managing risk using SBS software
Sunday Business Systems offers risk management solutions via the Risk Management Module in the SBS Quality Database and as a standalone product in the SBS FMEA Database. This module includes 2 widely accepted techniques to assess risk at different levels in the organization. SWOT analysis is ideal for managing risk at the business level while Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) is ideal at the product design and manufacturing levels.
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a common risk management technique used in many service and manufacturing industries. It was one of the first systematic techniques developed to quantify risk associated with any design or manufacturing process, part, or system. It was originally developed by reliability engineers in the 1950s and has evolved over the years to be one of the most effective techniques available. It has been adopted and developed primarily by the aerospace and automotive industries, however, it is applicable to virtually any industry. Today it is a standard technique used to minimize risk and drive continual improvement.
An FMEA is often the first step of a system reliability study. It involves reviewing key components, assemblies, and subsystems to identify failure modes and their causes and effects. FMEA begins during the early stages of design and continues through the life of the product or service. You can use the FMEA process with several objectives in mind:
- reduce the risk of unintended events adversely affecting the environment, health and safety of workers, profitability, and/or customer satisfaction
- analyze current processes and evaluate the potential impact of changes under consideration
- track improvement over time
With the roll-out of new quality management standards (such as ISO 9001:2015) and an emphasis on risk-based thinking, FMEA is now more important than ever.
The FMEA is a simple business process:
- Anticipate: what can go wrong?
- Prioritize actions to reduce the severity or impact of an adverse event, decrease the frequency of an adverse event, and / or increase the detectability of an adverse event
- Complete the actions in a timely fashion
- Re-evaluate the process / product / service
Figure 1. FMEA process overview
Managing several FMEA’s can be challenging. Traditionally, paper documents and Excel spreadsheets are used to track FMEA details and related actions. Both techniques are difficult to manage and break down when trying to manage a diverse, cross functional group with actions of various priorities and due dates. From a management perspective, these techniques do not provide concise reports for actions due and have poor visibility to FMEA effectiveness.
Sunday Business Systems provides simple and effective software to manage a multitude of FMEA’s across several different groups. The software is simple, easy to use, and matches standard FMEA formats. A rich set of informative reports are easy to generate and publish via email and/or PDF archive. Using the software, management can track the status of an FMEA as well as the status of actions associated with addressing risk.
Quality management standards also require risk based thinking to be applied more globally. SBS risk management strategy includes SWOT analysis for “big picture” risk management.
Figure 2. SBS Risk Management strategy
SWOT Analysis is a very effective means of analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks. This technique is more adapted to higher level business functions such as marketing strategies, competitive advantage analysis, and corporate vision. The tick technique can be used to analyze strengthened and weaknesses and develop a set of actions required to reduce the threats and weaknesses in organization.
SBS believes that these two risk analysis methods, used in conjunction, will demonstrate strong commitment to risk-based analysis. More importantly, completing the actions designed to reduce risk will make for a stronger, more competitive company. A stronger more competitive company is the true value added.
For more information:
Download a free, full featured demo of the SBS Quality Database from our website: Quality Database
Download a free, full-featured demo of the SBS FMEA Database from our website: Fmea Database
Download a PowerPoint presentation showing features and benefits, set-up and use
Or contact us at Sales@SundayBizSys.com