A survey on information requirements analysis for failure management and analysis in production

Abstract

Failure management is essential in production environments to prevent disruptions and satisfy customers' expectations of product quality. Of central importance is not only the establishment of standardized failure management processes but also the use of modern analysis methods for the efficient correction of product and process failures. Due to the high complexity of production environments and failure management at the same time, the human factor still plays a central role in detecting, analyzing, and sustainable correcting product and process failures. However, according to a previous empirical study, around 50 % of all information collected in manufacturing companies remains unused. The study also confirms that around 70 % of the companies consulted are not aware of the information required for targeted analyses.To address the information demands of individual parties during the failure management process more effectively, this survey analyzed actual information requirements and determined which analysis methods are used in the production contexts. We conducted a target-group-specific survey on information requirements analysis in failure management, involving employees in managerial and quality management positions at four automotive OEMs.The survey results indicate the information required to initiate and successfully complete failure management processes in production environments. It became clear that the target group for failure analyses are primarily employees in managerial and quality management positions, rather than on the shop floor. The theoretical approach, which is still a state-of-the-art approach in the automotive industry, envisages a divergent procedure. At the same time, it is shown that despite the enormous developments in the field of data analytics in recent years, the initial analysis approach is still based on descriptive approaches, especially in failure management.