Severity Rankings for PFMEA -- A = Appearance F = Function

Rank

Delphi Operating Definitions

AIAG Guideline

Delphi Guideline

AIAG Guideline

Impact on Process or Operation

(Manufacturing / Assembly Effect)

Impact on Product

(Customer Effect)

10

Hazardous- without- warning:

Potential for injury or harm to operating personnel.
Hazardous-without-warning: Very high severity ranking when a
May endanger operator (machine or assembly) without
Non-compliance with governmental regulations (spill of
(F) May involve safety, and/or noncompliance potential failure mode affects safe vehicle operation and/or involves
warning.
hazardous material, etc).
noncompliance with government regulation without warning.
with regulatory issues.

Missed shipment shutting down customers production

line. Equipment/machines severely damaged.

Equipment/machines down for a significant period of 100% of product may have to be scrapped, or vehicle /
time. Major financial impact. Internal production down
item repaired in the repair department with a repair
which may lead to delay or short shipment.
time greater than one hour.

Serious disruption to downstream operation, or major

Product may have to be sorted and a portion (less
operational impact, e.g. extensive rework, major scrap,
than 100%) scrapped, or vehicle / item repaired in the
significantly increased in inventory.
repair department with a repair time between a halfDefect caught in customer plant, Dealer repair/rework,
hour and a hour.
Product returned, major disruption spill occurs.

May endanger operator (machine or assembly) with

warning.

Hazardous -with- warning:

Hazardous-with-warning: Very high severity ranking when a
(F) May involve safety, and/or noncompliance potential failure mode affects safe vehicle operation and/or involves
noncompliance with government regulation with warning.
with regulatory issues.
Extreme/Very High: System function lost
(F) Cant use the system, but no safety or
noncompliance with regulatory issues.
Customer walk home.

Very High: Vehicle/item inoperable, with loss of primary function.

Significant/High: Customer Dissatisfaction

(A&F) The failure causes high degree of

customer dissatisfaction on the part user.

High: Vehicle/item operable, but at reduced level of performance.

Customer dissatisfied.

A portion (less than 100%) of the product may have to

be scrapped with no sorting, or vehicle / item repaired Moderate: (F) Partial system function is lost, Moderate: Vehicle/item operable, but comfort/convenience item(s)
in the repair department with a repair time less than a
but still can use it without safety concern.
inoperable. Customer experiences discomfort.
half-hour.
Moderately Significant: Customer
Low: Vehicle/item operable, but comfort/convenience item(s)
Minor disruption to production. Defect caught at Final 100% of product may have to be reworked, or vehicle /
Dissatisfaction
Assembly Line. Light rework or scrap. May cause
item repaired off-line but does not go to repair
(A&F) the user will notice a negative impact operable at reduced level of performance. Customer experiences
minor damages to tooling.
department.
some dissatisfaction.
as failure occurs; i.e. difficult to apply,
difficult to use, discomfort, etc.
Very Low: (F) Parts of the system operable
Failure may cause inconvenience to subsequent
Very Low: Fit & finish; squeak & rattle item does not conform.
The product may have to be sorted, with no scrap, and
operations, minor rework required. Defect passed to
at reduced performance, and/or gradual
a portion (less than 100%) reworked.
Defect noticed by most customers.
next process.
performance degradation.
Failure detected at subsequent operation. May cause
Minor: Nuisance, noticeable
Minor: Fit & finish; squeak & rattle item does not conform. Defect
A portion (less than 100%) of the product may have to
slight inconvenience to subsequent operation, minor
be reworked, with no scrap, on-line but out-of-station.
noticed by average customer.
(F) Nuisance but likely negligible.
rework required.

Major disruption to production line. Defect caught at

Final Assembly / Test. Major rework required or scrap.

Failure detected at local operation, may cause slight

inconvenience to operation, minor rework.

No effect detected.

A portion (less than 100%) of the product may have to Minor: (A) The user will probably notice only Minor: Fit & finish; squeak & rattle item does not conform. Defect
be reworked, with no scrap, on-line but in-station.
a minor negative impact on the product.
noticed by discriminating customer.
Imperceptible: Not noticeable
Slight inconvenience to operation or operator, or no
effect.

(F) The consequence will not have any

perceptible impact on the performance of the
product
(A) The user will not notice the consequence.

None: No effect.

Occurrence Rankings for PFMEA

Rank

10
9
8
7
6

Delphi Operating Definitions

Extreme: Almost inevitable

High: Situation frequently occurs
Moderate: Situation occasionally
occurs

Delphi

AIAG

Failure Rate

Ppk Rate

AIAG Failure Rate

(IPTV/items)

100.000 PPM

< 0.55

100

50.000 PPM

0.55

50

20.000 PPM

0.78

20

10.000 PPM

0.86

10

5000 PPM

0.94

2000 PPM

1.00

500 PPM

1.20

0.5

100 PPM

1.30

0.1

10 PPM

1.50

0.010

1 PPM

1.67

0.0010

2
1

Low: Situation relatively rare

Remote: Situation unlikely

AIAG Guideline

Very High: Persistent failures

High: Frequent failures

Moderate: Occasional failures

Low: Relatively few failures

Remote: Failure is unlikely.

Detection Rankings for PFMEA

Inspection Types
Detection

Criteria
A

Almost Impossible

Absolute certainty of nondetection.

Very Remote

Controls will probably not detect.

Remote
Very Low

Controls have poor chance of

detection.
Controls have poor chance of
detection.

AIAG Guidelines

Rank

Cannot detect or is not checked.

10

Control is achieved with indirect or random checks only.

Control is achieved with visual inspection only.

Control is achieved with double visual inspection only.

Control is achieved with charting methods, such as SPC (Statistical Process

Control).

Low

Controls may detect.

Moderate

Controls may detect.

Control is based on variable gauging after parts have left the station, or Go / No
Go gauging performed on 100% of the parts after parts have left the station.

Error detection in subsequent operation, OR gauging performed on setup and

first-piece check (for set-up causes only).

Error detection in-station, or error detection in subsequent operations by

multiple layers of acceptance: supply, select, install, verify. Cannot accept
discrepant part.

Error detection in-station (automatic gauging with automatic stop feature).

Cannot pass discrepant part.

Discrepant parts cannot be made because item has been error-proofed by

process / product design.

Moderately High

Controls have a good chance to

detect.

High

Controls have a good chance to

detect.

Very High

Controls almost certain to detect.

Very High

Controls certain to detect.