Diagnostic Logic Assistant (DLA)

The product knowledge recorded in an FMEA can be a valuable resource for many other activities in the product life cycle. One practical application for this data is to assist in the development of diagnostic/repair/troubleshooting documentation that may be provided in repair manuals and used by customer care agents.

The Diagnostic Logic Assistant window makes it easy to extract relevant data from the FMEA into Microsoft Excel, where you can organize and filter it as needed when preparing supporting documentation. To access the utility, choose System Hierarchy > Tools > Diagnostic Logic Assistant.

The table displays all of the effects from all of the FMEAs in the current project. The Component column indicates which item’s FMEA the effect appears in, while the Failure and Cause columns identify the possible failure modes that might result in this outcome.

You can use the check boxes at the top of the window to determine whether the table will also display the occurrence and detection ratings that were assigned to these potential failure modes in the FMEA (if any).

For example, the following picture in XFMEA shows fictional data from the FMEAs performed on the components of a chandelier, and the partial troubleshooting guide that might be developed based on the data for the "No light" effect.

Note that this report is not saved within the database. It is automatically generated based on current data each time you open the window. Click Send to Excel to save the current report to an Excel spreadsheet.