Compare and align a master FMEA with the variant FMEA

You can compare a master FMEA with its variant to identify the differences between their structures and align them as needed.

Procedure

1. Open the variant FMEA object.

2. In the Overview tab, the Master Template section displays information about the latest version of the master FMEA that was used as reference to create the variant.

3. In the Master Template section, select the master FMEA that you want to compare with the variant FMEA. The following options are available:
   
   
   Option Description
   
   
   Split
   Shows the selected master and variant FMEA side-by-side in the split view. For more information, see View master and variant FMEA structures in the split view.
   
   
   Compare
   Analyzes and identifies differences between the selected master and variant FMEA.
   
   
   Show Comparison Displays the compare results in the Comparison panel.

4. Click Compare . In the Compare Criteria dialog box, from the Type list, select one of the following.
   Select To
   
   
   FMEA Compare only the root node properties
   
   System Element Representation Compare the FMEA root node and system elements
   
   Function Representation Compare the FMEA root node, system elements, and functions.
   
   Failure Representation Compare the FMEA root node, system elements, functions, and failures
   
   Quality Action Compare all FMEA objects including actions.
   To generate the difference summary report asynchronously, in the message box, click Run in Background.In the Alerts tab, you receive a notification when the compare process is completed.

5. From the Alerts, open the compare context object. A comparison of the source and target FMEA objects is displayed. The source FMEA is the master FMEA that you select in the Master Template table. The target FMEA is the variant FMEA.

6. From the Comparison panel, select one of the following options to specify what you want to view in the comparison results.
   
   
   Comparison option Description
   
   
   Modified
   Shows objects that exist in both master and variant FMEAs, but they have different attributes.
   
   
   Differences
   Shows differences between master and variant FMEAs in the following categories:
   
   All- Lists all the differences in structure, source and in target.
   
   Structure - Shows where system elements, functions, or failures differ in their hierarchical relationships between source and target FMEAs. For example, when a function is under a different system element, or when a failure mode has moved to another system element or function in the FMEA structure. This includes structural changes (structure modified) and cases where both structure and metadata are different (structure and meta modified).
   
   Source - Lists the differences in the source FMEA but not present in the target FMEA.
   
   Target - Lists the differences existing in the target.
   
   
   
   
   Similarity
   Shows objects that are identical in both source and target FMEA.

7. From the Modified or Differences section, select one or more objects to align with the source FMEA.
   The available alignment commands depend on your selection:
   
   Single object - Both Align and Align Details commands are available. Use Align to align all details of the object, or use Align Details to selectively align specific properties and references.
   Multiple object selection - Only the Align command is available. All details of all selected objects are aligned.

8. Click Align Details.

9. From the Details Alignment dialog box, select the details to align from the source to the target.
   The Align Details command allows you to control which properties and references are synchronized, rather than aligning all details automatically.

10. Click Align. Based on a specific scenario, the alignment happens accordingly.
    
    
    
    Scenario Result
    
    
    An element is missing in the master FMEA that:
    exists in the source FMEA
    
    has a relationship with an element in the master
    
    The missing element is created in the master and automatically aligned with the corresponding source element.
    
    Elements are missing in the master FMEA that: exist in the source FMEA
    have relationships with another missing element in the master FMEA
    are selected for alignment while their related elements are not selected
    When you align: only the selected element is created in the master FMEA the unselected related element is not created the relationship between elements is not created
    
    
    Elements are missing in the master FMEA that:
    exist in the source FMEA
    
    have relationships with each other in the source FMEA
    
    are selected for alignment
    
    When you align:
    both related elements are selected
    
    both selected elements are created in the master FMEA
    
    the relationship between the elements is established
    
    
    
    Elements in the master FMEA that:
    exist in both master and variant FMEA
    
    have different meta properties for example, name or description, from source FMEA
    
    are selected for alignment
    
    When you align:
    meta properties of selected elements are updated in the master FMEA
    
    updated properties match those in the source FMEA
    
    changes apply only to selected elements
    
    
    
    Elements in the master FMEA that:
    exist in the source FMEA
    
    have structural changes such as added or removed linked elements
    
    have different meta properties such as name or description, from source FMEA
    
    are selected for alignment
    
    When you align:
    linked elements are updated to match source FMEA structure
    
    relationships between elements are synchronized
    
    
    
    Elements in the master FMEA that:
    exist in variant FMEA
    
    have modified meta properties such as name or description
    
    have structural changes such as added or removed relationships
    
    appear in both the Modified tab and the Differences tab under the Structure section
    
    are selected for alignment from either tab
    
    When you align:
    both meta properties and structural changes are updated
    
    changes are synchronized regardless of which tab was used for selection
    
    complete alignment occurs in a single operation
    
    
    
    Elements in the master FMEA that:
    do not exist in source FMEA
    
    appear in the Differences tab under the Target section
    
    When you align:
    selected elements are deleted from the master FMEA
    
    all relationships to these elements are removed
    
    master structure is synchronized with the source FMEA
    
    
    
    Elements in the master FMEA that:
    exist in source FMEA
    are missing from the master FMEA
    appear in the Differences tab under the Source section
    
    When you align:
    missing elements are created in the master FMEA
    
    all necessary relationships are established
    
    elements are added with properties from the source FMEA
    
    master FMEA structure is updated to match variant FMEA
    
    
    
    If any of the creating, editing, or removing elements operation fails during alignment. The alignment process: continues with the remaining operations logs the failure details for review
    
    
    If the source FMEA is not released.
    The align operation is failed with an error message.
    
    
    If you attempt to align the released version of the master FMEA.
    The align operation is blocked. An error message is displayed stating that modifying released objects is not allowed.
    
    
    If you attempt to start an alignment process while a previous alignment is already in progress. The align command is disabled to prevent overlapping operations.