How is the RPN calculated?

Severity x occurrence x detection, each rated 1 to 10, so RPN runs from 1 to 1000. A failure mode with severity 6, occurrence 4 and detection 3 has an RPN of 72, the same answer as the Risk Register Item Priority calculator. After an action, the new ratings give a new RPN, and once the action has a completed date the new RPN becomes the current one.

What RPN limit should I use?

Your own or your customer's. No standard sets an RPN threshold, and many customers no longer accept one on its own. The example uses 100 to show how the workbook works. Whatever the limit, read severity too: a row with severity 9, occurrence 2 and detection 3 has an RPN of only 54 but still needs its controls confirmed, which is why rows at or above the severity limit read Check.

Does the template calculate AIAG-VDA Action Priority?

No. The Action Priority tables in the AIAG-VDA FMEA Handbook (2019) are copyrighted, so they are not reproduced or computed. If your customer requires Action Priority, your team reads H, M or L from the handbook for each row and types it in the AP column, next to the RPN.

When should a row be re-rated?

When the recommended action is complete and its effect has been confirmed. Type the completed date and the new severity, occurrence and detection; the Check column asks for the new ratings if a completed date has none. Severity usually only drops with a design change, so the Check column also flags a new severity above the original.

How are the top 10 risks ranked?

By current RPN, highest first. Each row's rank is the number of rows with a higher current RPN plus one, and ties keep the order of the rows on the PFMEA sheet, so the ranking works without sorting or Excel 365 functions. The dashboard then looks up rows 1 to 10 with INDEX and MATCH.

How does the PFMEA connect to the control plan?

The detection and prevention controls of each row, and every special characteristic, should appear in the control plan with their sample size, frequency and reaction plan. Use the Control Plan template on this site for that; keep the process step names the same in both so they can be read side by side.

Quality Systems and Compliance

Process FMEA (PFMEA) Excel Template

Rate every process failure mode for severity, occurrence and detection, rank the risks, and follow each recommended action until the re-rated risk is under your limit.

Overview

This process FMEA template is a working Excel workbook for quality and process engineers and cross-functional FMEA teams. It ships with an example PFMEA for a fictional die-cast aluminium pump housing, eight operations from melting to packing and twenty failure-mode rows, so the dashboard is populated the moment you open it; replace the example rows with your own and everything recalculates.

Each row holds one failure mode and cause at a process step, with its effect, its prevention and detection controls and the team's severity, occurrence and detection ratings. The workbook multiplies them into the risk priority number (RPN = S x O x D), the same product the Risk Register Item Priority calculator on this site computes, and compares the current RPN, the re-rated one once an action is complete, with an RPN limit you set. Because RPN can hide a severe failure mode behind low occurrence and detection, rows at or above your severity limit read Check whatever their RPN. If your customer requires the AIAG-VDA Action Priority, your team reads it from the handbook and types it in the AP column; the copyrighted table is not reproduced here.

In practice, the team fills the rows in an FMEA meeting, assigns actions to the rows over the limits, and updates them as actions close. The dashboard ranks the top 10 risks with their RPN before and after actions and shows the highest RPN at each process step, so the review starts where the risk is. In the example, completed actions on degassing, trimming and fixturing cut their RPN by about half, while two high-severity actions on porosity and blast media are overdue.

What this template includes

PFMEA table in the usual column order: process step, function or requirement, failure mode, effect, severity, special characteristic class, cause, prevention controls, occurrence, detection controls, detection, recommended action, owner, due date, action taken, completed date and new ratings
RPN (severity x occurrence x detection) before actions, new RPN after re-rating, and the current RPN that counts against your limit
Risk word against your own RPN and severity limits (Out of limits, Check, Within limits) and an action status (Overdue, Due soon, In progress, Complete) against a typed status date
An optional AP column for teams whose customer requires the AIAG-VDA Action Priority (typed by the team; the copyrighted table is not reproduced)
Check column that names problems in words: step not on the list, a row over the limit with no action, an action without an owner, a completed action without new ratings
Dashboard with KPI tiles, a top 10 risks table and chart (RPN now and before actions), and the highest RPN at each process step against your limit
Method sheet with every formula and its limitations, and a Verify sheet that re-checks the formulas against an independent reference (Self-check: PASS)

Suggested use case

Use it to build or maintain the PFMEA for a part or process family during APQP, to prioritise actions in an FMEA review, and to show a customer or auditor that high risks have actions and that completed actions were re-rated.

How to use it

On Setup, type the FMEA header (part, number, team and dates), set your RPN limit, severity limit and status date, and replace the example process steps, owners and special characteristic classes.
On PFMEA, add one row per failure mode and cause at each process step with its effect, controls and ratings from 1 to 10.
For each row that reads Out of limits or Check, type a recommended action, an owner and a due date.
When an action is complete, type what was done, the completed date and the new severity, occurrence and detection; the current RPN and risk update.
Open the Dashboard before each FMEA review to see the top 10 risks, the highest RPN by step and the overdue actions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the RPN calculated?: Severity x occurrence x detection, each rated 1 to 10, so RPN runs from 1 to 1000. A failure mode with severity 6, occurrence 4 and detection 3 has an RPN of 72, the same answer as the Risk Register Item Priority calculator. After an action, the new ratings give a new RPN, and once the action has a completed date the new RPN becomes the current one.
What RPN limit should I use?: Your own or your customer's. No standard sets an RPN threshold, and many customers no longer accept one on its own. The example uses 100 to show how the workbook works. Whatever the limit, read severity too: a row with severity 9, occurrence 2 and detection 3 has an RPN of only 54 but still needs its controls confirmed, which is why rows at or above the severity limit read Check.
Does the template calculate AIAG-VDA Action Priority?: No. The Action Priority tables in the AIAG-VDA FMEA Handbook (2019) are copyrighted, so they are not reproduced or computed. If your customer requires Action Priority, your team reads H, M or L from the handbook for each row and types it in the AP column, next to the RPN.
When should a row be re-rated?: When the recommended action is complete and its effect has been confirmed. Type the completed date and the new severity, occurrence and detection; the Check column asks for the new ratings if a completed date has none. Severity usually only drops with a design change, so the Check column also flags a new severity above the original.
How are the top 10 risks ranked?: By current RPN, highest first. Each row's rank is the number of rows with a higher current RPN plus one, and ties keep the order of the rows on the PFMEA sheet, so the ranking works without sorting or Excel 365 functions. The dashboard then looks up rows 1 to 10 with INDEX and MATCH.
How does the PFMEA connect to the control plan?: The detection and prevention controls of each row, and every special characteristic, should appear in the control plan with their sample size, frequency and reaction plan. Use the Control Plan template on this site for that; keep the process step names the same in both so they can be read side by side.