Overview

The term process describes the flow of materials and information. In order to achieve our business objectives, we use energy and knowledge to carry out the process.

The purpose of running a business is to produce or distribute goods (or services) efficiently. A business uses its mission statement to explain its objectives to its customers and staff. This is a top-down approach and enables us to see how to fulfill the mission, and what may cause mission-failure. We call this a functional approach, because it explains the purpose, or function, of the business. We can judge the success or failure of the business by seeing if it has fulfilled its function, as described in the mission statement. A high-level function can be broken down into sub-functions. These, in turn, can be dissected further, all the while retaining their relationship to the high-level function.

After reading the chapter, readers who are unfamiliar with this approach should have acquired an understanding of the method this is the mission or function of this chapter. The main elements of the method are as follows:

• The functional approach, methodology, and communication;

• Identification of functional failure, use of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis, and consequence of failures;

• Reduction of frequency and mitigation of the consequences of failures;

• Cost of reducing risks;

• Damage limitation and its value.

2.1 The Functional Approach

The U.S. Air Force initiated a program called Integrated Computer Aided Manufacturing (ICAM) in the 1970s. They developed a simple tool to...