DRBFM (Design Review Based on Failure Mode) is a review method that focuses on a change made to a design and the effects of that change.
Its starting point is a simple observation: most problems arise not from entirely new designs but from changes made to existing designs.
Difference from FMEA
FMEA analyses the whole system. DRBFM concentrates attention on the change itself: what changed, why it changed, what it might affect, which interaction may have been overlooked?
The two are not alternatives but complements.
When is it applied?
- When a change is made to an existing design
- When a product is carried over to a new application
- When the material, supplier or process changes
Where is the value created?
Not in the document, but in the discussion. The strength of the method comes from a team from different disciplines questioning the change. Single-discipline or single-person reviews stay on the surface.
The outputs are transferred to the FMEA and the control plan; they are addressed together with change management in the APQP process.
Applying the method and running the review meeting are practised on your own design change in the CQI-24 DRBFM training. For the general framework of risk analysis, see the FMEA training.