Background
In 2022, the manufacturer of adhesives and sealants for the automotive industry Henkel AG & Co. KGaA decided to standardize the quality assurance of all products with the introduction of FMEA software.
Challenge
FMEA is at the heart of production and quality management at Henkel. In the past, FMEA was created in almost all plants using local Excel solutions. This was not very convenient, time-consuming and did not allow for transparency and consistency between the plants.
Project implementation
In order to adapt the FMEA to Henkel's requirements, Henkel's quality management team, together with PeakAvenue, visited one of the plants where products for the automotive industry are manufactured. During a one-week workshop, the concept for the Henkel-specific FMEA methodology was developed directly on site. After the first successful implementation, further plants followed, each of which was accompanied by a one-week FMEA workshop. To ensure synchronization of the method and the software between the individual Henkel plants, key users and moderators met regularly to coordinate their activities.
Result
The software and method were rolled out in 25 additional plants in all five regions by the beginning of 2024. The IATF-certified plants and those with high production volumes were prioritized. User support and employee training are extremely important at Henkel. Intensive training and the frequent use of the e1ns software by users ensure acceptance and the sustainable success of the implementation. The use of FMEA modules creates a library that is constantly being expanded with experience and knowledge from the plants. New knowledge flows directly into the optimization of existing FMEAs and the creation of new ones. Preventive quality management is thus significantly optimized and users learn from each other across plants.
