The AIAG & VDA FMEA Handbook is a joint automotive-industry reference for developing Design FMEA, Process FMEA, and the supplemental FMEA for Monitoring and System Response (FMEA-MSR). Its main contribution is a harmonized seven-step workflow, revised Severity, Occurrence, and Detection tables, and Action Priority (AP) in place of the older manuals’ Risk Priority Number (RPN) approach. It guides FMEA development; it does not itself establish requirements.
What the AIAG & VDA FMEA Handbook is
The handbook brings AIAG and VDA practices together in a process-oriented method for documenting and addressing technical risk. It is intended for automotive suppliers developing product-design and part-production risk analyses. AIAG says a global team of OEM and Tier 1 supplier subject-matter experts contributed to the harmonized handbook. The VDA QMC listing gives the first edition as June 2019. AIAG’s handbook listing and VDA QMC’s publications listing describe its scope and edition.
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AIAG & VDA FMEA Handbook | $219.99 | Buy on Amazon |
It covers Design FMEA (DFMEA), Process FMEA (PFMEA), and FMEA-MSR. AIAG identifies FMEA-MSR as a new supplemental chapter, alongside updated rating tables, AP tables, new forms, and software report views. The point is not merely to change a form: the handbook organizes preparation, analysis, prioritization, improvement, and communication into a defined sequence.
The seven steps, in order
The handbook structures FMEA development into seven connected steps. Teams use the sequence to define the analysis, understand the system or process, identify potential failures, assess risk, decide on improvements, and document the outcome.
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- Planning and Preparation: Define the analysis scope, purpose, team, assumptions, and relevant project or process information.
- Structure Analysis: Break down and describe the system, product, or process being analyzed and clarify how its elements relate.
- Function Analysis: State the functions and requirements of those elements and their relationships.
- Failure Analysis: Identify how functions can fail, the effects of those failures, and their causes.
- Risk Analysis: Rate Severity, Occurrence, and Detection using the handbook’s criteria, then determine Action Priority.
- Optimization: Select and track actions intended to reduce risk, and assess the resulting risk after actions are taken.
- Results Documentation: Record the analysis and its results in a form suitable for review, communication, and follow-up.
These are stages in a method, not seven independent checkboxes. For example, a failure analysis depends on the functions and requirements established earlier; risk ratings and actions should be traceable to the failure scenarios and documented results. AIAG presents the seven-step process as a consistent framework for technical-risk documentation. AIAG’s handbook listing provides the published step names and describes the related forms and reporting views.
How Action Priority differs from RPN
Earlier AIAG and VDA manuals used RPN; the harmonized handbook’s Action Priority tables replace that approach. AP is the handbook’s method for prioritizing action using the Severity, Occurrence, and Detection ratings. It is not simply another name for a single numerical RPN score, and adopting AP does not mean ignoring or collapsing those underlying ratings. AIAG also identifies revised Severity, Occurrence, and Detection tables, so teams should use the handbook’s rating definitions rather than assuming older criteria are interchangeable.
When reviewing an older FMEA or a software template, do not treat the presence or absence of an RPN field as the whole test of alignment. Check whether the workflow, rating criteria, priority method, FMEA-MSR coverage where relevant, and documentation output fit the handbook’s approach. Then confirm any customer-specific expectations before changing an established process.
Is the handbook a requirement or regulation?
No. The handbook is guidance, not a regulation or a requirements document. The VDA QMC publication listing reproduces this sentence from the handbook foreword: “The Handbook does not define requirements; it is intended to clarify the steps, activities, and tools related to the technical development of FMEAs.” The listing also says efforts were made to align the handbook with SAE J1739. That describes an alignment effort; it does not establish formal adoption or universal acceptance by customers. VDA QMC’s listing provides the foreword quotation and alignment statement.
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For a supplier, the practical implication is to use the handbook as a method reference while checking the applicable customer-specific requirements and the organization’s quality-management processes. It should not be described as superseding every customer rule merely because it harmonizes prior AIAG and VDA methods.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to compare it with an older manual
A useful comparison focuses on what changed in the working method, rather than on the document title alone.
| Comparison point | What to check in the handbook |
|---|---|
| FMEA types | Coverage of DFMEA and PFMEA, plus the supplemental FMEA-MSR chapter. |
| Workflow | The harmonized seven-step process and its sequence. |
| Rating criteria | The handbook’s revised Severity, Occurrence, and Detection tables rather than assumed carryover from older manuals. |
| Risk prioritization | Action Priority tables replacing the earlier manuals’ RPN approach. |
| Documentation | The handbook’s forms and software report views, and whether your records preserve the analysis and decisions needed by your team and customer. |
| Requirements fit | Customer-specific expectations and existing quality-system processes; the handbook itself does not define requirements. |
AIAG describes the changes to the method, but whether a particular customer accepts a specific implementation must be confirmed with that customer. AIAG’s description of the handbook identifies the revised tables, AP, FMEA-MSR, forms, and software views.
Getting the handbook or learning the method
AIAG’s catalog lists first-edition hard-copy and single-user e-document purchase options, with multiple language editions. VDA QMC lists the English handbook through its webshop. Catalog details can change, so check the seller’s current language, delivery format, usage terms, price, and availability directly before ordering. The official listings cited here do not establish marketplace stock.
AIAG also lists optional handbook-based practitioner training: a Design FMEA course applying the seven-step approach and a Process FMEA course that includes control-plan development. Its Core Tools page describes a PFMEA-focused competency exam. These are learning and assessment routes, not stated prerequisites to use the method. Check current course schedules and catalog details with AIAG. AIAG’s handbook and course catalog and AIAG’s Core Tools page list these options.
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