For Design FMEAs, the cause is the design deficiency that results in the failure mode. For Process FMEAs, the cause is the manufacturing or assembly deficiency (or source of variation) that results in the failure mode.

What are the 3 attributes of a failure that FMEA scores?

All these three attributes (Severity, Priority, and Likelihood) are individually measured in scale and then multiplied to get a Risk Priority Number (RPN).

What are some disadvantages of using FMEA?

Pitfalls and Limitations of FMEA

It is, for example, only as good as the team behind it. Issues beyond team members' knowledge aren't likely to be detected or resolved – constituting unknown unknowns. Moreover, if the team forgets to list failure modes, they'll be ignored.