Which statement best describes FMECA in relation to FMEA?

• A. root cause analysis only
• B. criticality assessment and prioritization
• C. measurement system evaluation
• D. design optimization

Answer: (B)

FMECA adds a formal criticality analysis to FMEA, turning identified failure modes into prioritized risks. In FMEA you list possible failures and their effects and typically evaluate severity, occurrence, and detectability to gauge risk. FMECA goes further by assessing how critical each failure mode is within the system and ranking them so that resources are focused on the most impactful issues. This prioritization is what distinguishes FMECA from a plain FMEA. It’s not merely about root-cause analysis, measurement system evaluation, or design optimization—the emphasis is on evaluating and ordering risk so actions target the areas of greatest potential impact.