FMEA — failure mode and effects analysis

What is an FMEA?

FMEA stands for failure mode and effects analysis. It is a structured method for systematically identifying, assessing and preventing potential failures in a product or process — before they occur. Originating in the aerospace industry, FMEA is today an international quality standard in many industries: in particular the automotive industry, medical technology and electric motor manufacturing.

Why is FMEA so important in electric motor production?

An electric motor consists of numerous high-precision components such as rotor, winding and bearings. Even the smallest defects — in magnetisation or in the winding process, for example — can lead to loss of performance, noise or even complete failure.

FMEA helps to identify such sources of failure early and eliminate them in a targeted way. This makes it possible to:

• increase product quality and service life
• reduce complaints and failure costs
• meet legal and customer-specific requirements

Which failures does FMEA cover?

FMEA examines every aspect of product development and production — from planning and design to the manufacturing process. Typical risk points are:

• dimensional deviations and geometry errors
• insulation problems or inter-turn short circuits
• imbalances, bearing defects or assembly problems
• fluctuations in the magnetic field or in electrical performance

International relevance: where is FMEA required?

Even though FMEA is not required by law, OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and industry standards bodies worldwide demand it:

Industry	FMEA requirement
Automotive	Mandatory for IATF 16949 certification
Medical technology	Part of the risk assessment under ISO 14971 / MDR
Aerospace	Part of AS9145 / APQP
Worldwide use	USA, Europe, China, Japan, India and many more

Koob Testsystems helps companies implement these standards efficiently, traceably and automatically.

How Koob Testsystems contributes to FMEA

With innovative test and inspection methods, Koob Testsystems strengthens your FMEA-based quality processes. Two technologies are the main focus:

Magnetic field analysis

• Detects electrical faults such as inter-turn short circuits, pole defects or magnetisation deviations
• Non-invasive and fast — ideal for inline inspection
• Reveals functional weaknesses before they lead to failures

FMEA item	Description	Testable with magnetic field analysis
Failure modes	Irregular magnetic field patterns, asymmetries, inter-turn short circuits, short circuits	Yes
Failure causes	Winding defects, assembly defects, material deviations	Partly
Failure effects	Loss of performance, vibration, overheating	Yes
Probability of detection	Increased through automated field analysis	High
Verification of actions	Check after process correction	Yes

Optical 3D scan

• Checks geometric dimensions and tolerances in real time
• Reveals mechanical sources of failure such as distortion, bearing play or dimensional deviations
• Ideal for validating process changes or series start-ups

FMEA item	Description	Testable with 3D scan
Failure modes	Dimensional deviations, distortion, form errors, assembly tolerances	Yes
Failure causes	Tool wear, faulty fixtures, insufficient process control	Yes
Failure effects	Fit errors, bearing problems, imbalance	Yes
Probability of detection	Significant improvement through automated measurement	High
Verification of actions	Validation after adjustment or tool change	Yes

These technologies improve the probability of detection within the FMEA — one of the three central factors in the risk assessment. The more likely a failure is to be detected, the lower the risk.

Conclusion: reaching your goal safely with FMEA and Koob Testsystems

FMEA is key to preventing defects and ensuring process reliability — and far from being just a German tool, it is a worldwide industry standard.

Koob Testsystems supplies not just test equipment but measurable risk reduction and quality assurance. We help you not only to document FMEA but to bring it to life — with meaningful data, automated test processes and targeted analyses.