Application of FMEA to an automotive leaf spring manufacturing organization

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to report the application of failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) to an automotive leaf spring manufacturing organization. Design/methodology/approach – FMEA has been used as a decision‐making tool to prioritize the corrective actions so as to enhance product/system performance by reducing the failure rate. Both design and process FMEA documents have been developed by the systematic formation of team. Findings – The study results indicated the actions that lead to improvement in design. There has been improvement in key decision factors apart from conventional factors. In addition, the quality of leaf springs produced also has been improved. Research limitations/implications – Conventional design and process FMEA approaches have been developed. In future, fuzzified FMEA can be used. Practical implications – FMEA has been systematically deployed in a typical industrial scenario. The real improvements have been gained as a result of implementation. Originality/value – The article presents the results of the case study conducted in an industrial scenario. The contributions of the study are original and valuable.