This whitepaper tackles a major challenge in safety product design: the task of performing a detailed Failure Modes, Effects, and Diagnostic Analysis (FMEDA) on products with a vast number of components. It demonstrates a practical solution by applying the Pareto principle (the 80/20 rule), which allows designers to identify and focus on a small number of "heavy hitter" components that contribute most significantly to the overall failure rate.
The paper provides real-world examples using a microcontroller and a pressure transmitter to show how this targeted approach, combined with the FMEDAx tool, can efficiently estimate product failure rates early in the design phase. It also highlights how specific mitigation techniques, such as using Error-Correcting Code (ECC) on SRAM, can dramatically reduce dangerous undetected failures. By focusing on these critical components, designers can effectively prioritize their efforts, streamline the FMEDA process, and directly enhance a device's safety and reliability.