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Report Purpose

The System PFMEA Report serves as a quality-focused companion to the System DFMEA Report. While Design FMEA analyzes failures in product design, PFMEA analyzes failures in manufacturing processes that could compromise product quality or safety. The report aggregates all processFailureMode work items across the project, groups them by parent PFMEA document, and measures mitigation effectiveness using the three-factor Risk Priority Number (RPN) methodology. Key Stakeholders:
  • Manufacturing Engineers — identify high-risk process steps requiring additional controls
  • Quality Managers — track residual process risks and mitigation completion
  • Program Managers — monitor manufacturing readiness across all process failure modes
  • Configuration Managers — ensure control plan alignment with identified process risks

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RPN Classification System

The System PFMEA Report implements a three-tier RPN classification aligned with AIAG-VDA FMEA 2019 and ISO 9001 manufacturing standards:
RPN RangeClassificationRisk LevelAction Required
1–40Low ✅AcceptableContinue current controls
41–100MediumAcceptable with MonitoringMonitor effectiveness, consider improvements
>100High ❌UnacceptableImplement additional controls immediately
N/AUnclassifiedIncompleteComplete Severity, Occurrence, Detection ratings
RPN = Severity × Occurrence × Detection
  • Severity (1-10): Impact of failure on manufacturing process (product quality, safety, delivery)
  • Occurrence (0-10): Probability failure mode will occur during production
  • Detection (0-10): Likelihood current controls will detect failure before shipment

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Dashboard Layout

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Summary Statistics

The report displays aggregate RPN metrics at the project level:
MetricPre-ActionPost-Action
Average RPNCalculated from initial S/O/DCalculated after controls
Max RPNHighest initial risk itemHighest residual risk item
Items Above ThresholdCount > RPN limitCount > RPN limit
Action Priority HighCount of AP=H itemsCount of AP=H items
Improvement Rate—(Pre - Post) / Pre x 100%
Key Cards Displayed:
  • Total Processes: Count of all processStep work items (parent entities in PFMEA hierarchy)
  • Failure Modes Analyzed: Count of all processFailureMode work items
  • Pre-Mitigation High: Number of modes with RPN >100 before controls (inherent risk)
  • Post-Mitigation High: Number of modes with RPN >100 after controls (residual risk) — goal: zero

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Alert System

The report implements a three-tier status indicator: ❌ Danger — Post-mitigation High RPN count > 0
  • At least one process failure mode remains unacceptable after mitigation
  • Action: Review high-RPN items table, implement additional process controls, update RPN post-mitigation values
** Warning** — Post-mitigation Medium RPN count > 0, but High = 0
  • All high-risk modes mitigated, but medium-risk modes exist
  • Action: Monitor control effectiveness in production, consider preventive improvements
✅ Success — Post-mitigation High and Medium counts both zero
  • All process failure modes mitigated to acceptable (Low) risk levels
  • Action: Continue controls per control plan, track ongoing effectiveness

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PFMEA Document Organization

PFMEA documents are organized by manufacturing process and stored in the Risks space. Each document groups related process failure modes under a parent riskSpecification (PFMEA module):
DocumentProcessFailure ModesPre-HighPost-High
PFMEA - AEB Sensor UnitManufacturing Assembly1620
PFMEA - ECU Housing SubassemblySubassembly410
Total2030
Document Discovery: PFMEA documents are auto-identified by naming convention — documents with titles containing “PFMEA” or “pfmea” are included in the report. Ensure all process FMEA documents follow this naming pattern to appear in coverage metrics.

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Pre-Mitigation vs Post-Mitigation RPN Tracking

Each processFailureMode work item tracks two RPN values:
FieldNameUsageTiming
pfmRPNPre-Mitigation RPNInherent risk of failure modeSet during initial risk assessment
pfmRPNPostPost-Mitigation RPNResidual risk after control planUpdated after control design and validation
Workflow:
  1. Initial Assessment — Process FMEA team assesses Severity, Occurrence, Detection → system calculates pfmRPN
  2. Control Design — Define process controls (inspection, automation, training, etc.)
  3. Control Update — After validation, re-assess Occurrence and Detection → update pfmRPNPost
  4. Tracking — Report compares pre/post values to measure mitigation effectiveness
All three RPN factors (Severity, Occurrence, Detection) must be populated for classification. Modes with missing values appear as Unclassified and require completion before mitigation tracking is meaningful.

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High-RPN Process Failure Mode Critical Items Table

When post-mitigation high-RPN modes exist, the report displays a critical items table with red highlighting:
Process Failure ModeDescriptionParent PFMEASeverityOccurrenceDetectionPost-RPNStatus
PFM-007Solder joint fracture in CAN connectorPFMEA - AEB Sensor Unit827112 ❌Requires Controls
PFM-014Water ingress during potting processPFMEA - AEB Sensor Unit735105 ❌Requires Controls
Table Actions:
  • Click any mode ID to drill into work item detail view
  • Review failure mode description and cause analysis
  • Access linked process controls and detection methods
  • Update RPN post-mitigation values after control improvements

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PFMEA Data Model Integration

The System PFMEA Report queries the project’s RTM domain model using the following relationships:
LevelEntityKey Fields
RootProcess StepStep ID, Name, Responsible
Level 1Process CharacteristicClassification (SC/CC), Spec Limits
Level 2Failure ModeEffect, S Rating, Cause, O Rating
Level 3Detection ControlMethod, D Rating, Frequency
CalculatedRPN / Action PriorityS x O x D, AP matrix result
Key Field Constraints:
  • processFailureMode.module — Must reference parent riskSpecification
  • pfmRPN, pfmRPNPost — Numeric fields, auto-calculated from Severity × Occurrence × Detection
  • processStep.parent — Must reference containing riskSpecification (document scope)

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Macro Library Integration

The System PFMEA Report uses the Nextedy Solutions Velocity macro library for standardized report components and RPN calculations:

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nxDocHeaderGray Macro

Renders the gray report header with title, document metadata, and project context: 
#nxDocHeaderGray("System PFMEA Report", "Manufacturing Process Risk Analysis")

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nxRpnBuckets Macro

Classifies a collection of failure modes into RPN buckets (Low/Medium/High/Unclassified): 
#set($results = {})
#nxRpnBuckets($allFailureModes, "pfmRPN", 40, 100, $results)
Low: $results.low | Medium: $results.medium | High: $results.high
Parameters:
  • Collection of processFailureMode items
  • Field name (pfmRPN or pfmRPNPost)
  • Low threshold (40)
  • Medium threshold (100)

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nxSummaryCards Macro

Renders KPI cards with live counts: 
#nxSummaryCards([
  { "title": "Total Process Steps", "count": $processStepCount },
  { "title": "Failure Modes Analyzed", "count": $allFailureModesCount },
  { "title": "High RPN (Pre-Mitigation)", "count": $preHighCount },
  { "title": "High RPN (Post-Mitigation)", "count": $postHighCount }
])

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Lucene Query for Process Failure Mode Discovery

The report uses a project-wide Lucene query to retrieve all process failure modes: 
project.id:"$projectId" AND type:processFailureMode
Query Properties:
  • Returns all processFailureMode work items regardless of status, assignee, or phase
  • Sorted by work item ID for consistent ordering
  • Results grouped by parent PFMEA document via module field
  • RPN classification performed in-memory for performance

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Configuration Properties

PropertyTypeDefaultDescription
PFMEA_LOW_THRESHOLDInteger40Maximum RPN for Low classification
PFMEA_MEDIUM_THRESHOLDInteger100Maximum RPN for Medium classification; >100 = High
PFMEA_DOCUMENT_PATTERNString”PFMEA|pfmea”Regex pattern for identifying PFMEA documents by name
PFMEA_SPACEString”Risks”Polarion space containing PFMEA documents
SHOW_CRITICAL_ITEMSBooleantrueDisplay high-RPN items table when post-High > 0
SHOW_DOCUMENT_TABLEBooleantrueDisplay per-document RPN distribution table
The System PFMEA Report integrates with the broader TestAuto2 documentation ecosystem:

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Report Generation Workflow

Step 1: Extract All Process Failure Modes
  • Execute Lucene query across project
  • Filter by type = processFailureMode
  • Group by parent PFMEA document
Step 2: Calculate RPN Statistics
  • For each failure mode, retrieve pfmRPN and pfmRPNPost values
  • Apply thresholds (40, 100) to classify into buckets
  • Aggregate counts by PFMEA document
Step 3: Determine Alert Status 
IF postHighCount > 0:
  Alert = DANGER (unacceptable risks remain)
ELSE IF postMediumCount > 0:
  Alert = WARNING (monitor effectiveness)
ELSE:
  Alert = SUCCESS (all risks mitigated)
Step 4: Render Report Components
  • Header with document metadata
  • Summary KPI cards
  • Pre-mitigation vs post-mitigation comparison
  • Alert message with recommended actions
  • Per-document RPN table
  • Critical items table (if high-RPN modes exist)

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Best Practices

💡 Set Realistic Thresholds The 40/100 RPN thresholds reflect automotive manufacturing standards. For other industries (medical devices, aerospace), adjust thresholds per your quality plan. 💡 Link Controls to Failure Modes Every high-RPN process failure mode must link to a controlPlanItem describing the detection/prevention method. Use this link in the control plan Risksheet to define inspection frequency and reaction plans. 💡 Track Post-Mitigation Ratings Update pfmRPNPost values after implementing controls and validating effectiveness. This provides measurable evidence of risk reduction for ISO 9001 / IATF 16949 audits. 💡 Schedule Reviews Periodic PFMEA reviews (quarterly during production ramp) ensure controls remain effective as processes evolve. Update RPN values and re-run this report to track trending.