What type of analysis should a company use to identify high-risk parameters in a manufacturing process?

A failure mode effects analysis (FMEA) is specifically designed to identify and evaluate potential failure modes within a manufacturing process, assessing their consequences and identifying high-risk parameters. By systematically examining each component or step in the process, FMEA allows a company to pinpoint where failures are most likely to occur, what their impacts might be, and ultimately, how to mitigate these risks.

In contrast, a fault tree analysis is a deductive approach that focuses on identifying the causes of system failures by analyzing the logical relationships between basic events. While useful, it is less proactive than FMEA and often applied after potential risks have already been acknowledged.

Preliminary hazard analysis is a more general risk assessment tool that identifies potential hazards but does not delve as deeply into the specific failure modes or prioritize them based on their risk potential, making it less suited for detailed manufacturing processes.

Process capability analysis evaluates how well a process can produce output within specified limits but does not directly assess risk parameters associated with the manufacturing process itself. It focuses more on the performance and variability of the process rather than on identifying potential high-risk areas.

Thus, FMEA is the most effective method among these options for identifying and addressing high-risk parameters during the manufacturing process.