Pairwise comparison based failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA)

The proposed method supports the determination of severity (S), occurrence (O), and detection (D) indices of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). Previously evaluated and previously not studied risks are compared in pairwise comparison. The analysis of the resulted pairwise comparison matrix provides information about the consistency of the risk evaluations and allows the estimation of the indices of the previously not evaluated risks. The advantages of the method include: • The pairwise comparison facilities the identification of risks that are otherwise difficult to evaluate; • The inconsistency of existing FMEA studies can be highlighted and systematically reduced; • The method can be generalized about a wide range of grading problems.