Risk Priority Number vs Action Priority in Electrical Systems

FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) is an important tool in evaluating a product or service either before it is made or prior to its market placing. Its purpose is to reduce any subsequent expenses due to defects. The principle of this tool says that it is cheaper to prevent than to repair. In the automotive industry, FMEA is widely implemented, but there is a clearer trend in recent years to move from Risk Priority Number (RPN) analysis to Action Priority (AP) one. The aim of this paper is to present a comparative analysis between FMEA using RPN and AP, respectively. Consequently, we started from an FMEA made for Electronic Stability Control (ESC) which is more and more present on today's cars. The obtained results clearly indicate the lack of an integrative approach to the two evaluation modalities starting from the RPN determination, but the action plan being correlated with the AP.