Single Point Lesson:

Failure Reporting, Analysis, and

Corrective Action System (FRACAS)
From Reliability Engineering Excellence Course

What is it?
It is a continuous improvement system utilizing a closed-loop feedback path in which the maintainer and operator work together to collect and record
data relating to failures of assets. This data is then reviewed and analyzed by a reliability engineer, considering such factors as Failure Rate, MTBF,
MTTR, MTBM, Availability, Cost, etc. The resulting analysis identifies corrective actions that should be implemented and verified to prevent future
failures from recurring.

Why use it?

FRACAS promotes reliability improvement throughout the life cycle of the asset. Considering a standard asset life cycle from cradle to grave, the following
phases occur:

Corrective actions and the impact to total cost of ownership are small during the conceptual design phase and then have greater impact as the asset gets
farther along in its life cycle. The earlier the failure cause is identified and positive corrective action implemented, the greater the asset utilization and the
lower the total cost of ownership.

Some of the benefits include:

• Regulatory compliance such as ISO 9000
• Access to historical performance data
• Trending asset types and failure types
• Identifying patterns of deficiencies
• Ease of statistical analysis

What factors are critical for success?

• Have formalized and documented procedure for your FRACAS
• Ensure that value and ease of reporting is emphasized to ensure active involvement of all stakeholders
• Create business process linkages to EAM systems, RCM software, PdM databases, etc to ensure consistent data
• Provide indoctrination and annual training on your FRACAS
• Generate audit and surveillance program to ensure compliance and proper use
• Design a tie to your Management of Change or Configuration Control process to ensure accuracy of asset data

How do you use it?

Failure Reporting
• Established procedure that includes collecting and
recording corrective maintenance information and times
• Data should be submitted on simple, easy-to-use format
• Consolidate all the data into a central data logging
system
• Failures should also be ranked in terms of the criticality
or severity of the error
Failure Analysis
• Review, in detail, the failure reports.
• Capture historical data from the database of any
related or similar failures.
• Do a root cause analysis (RCA).
• Obtain the failed items for analysis required beyond your
resources for external support (as needed).
Corrective Actions
• Develop corrective actions.
• Assign owners for action items.
• Track actions to completion
• Measure results

To learn more about Life Cycle Institute, contact: 800-556-9589 | education@LCE.com | www.LCE.com 6