In an effort to define a broad, widely accepted standard for performing FMEAs, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) published Recommended Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Practices for Non-Automobile Applications, SAE ARP5580. An SAE subcommittee that included representatives of government, industry, and academia was formed to develop a standard that not only reflected current commercial practices but also met the strict guidelines of the Department of Defense.

SAE ARP5580 combines the capabilities of MIL-STD-1629 and the various automotive standards to produce a model that is widely accepted across military and commercial barriers. The most notable difference in SAE ARP5580 is the support of fault equivalencies. Fault equivalencies allow you to focus on the management of failure consequences rather than managing individual failure modes. This reduces repetition and improves consistency. In the FMEA module, you use the FMEA Fault Equivalence file to manage fault equivalencies. For more information, see FMEA Fault Equivalence Files.