## 3 Design of a Function-Based Model for the Identification of Improvement Potentials
### FMEA Model for Developing Improvement Plans in Manufacturing Organizations  
This sub-chapter serves to generate a model of how to make a holistic diagnosis of malfunctions within manufacturing organizations by analyzing the functions performed by the firm. For any given organization, the deviations in key performance indicators (KPIs) are a matter of daily activity tracking, reporting, and processing. Therefore, organizations begin the search for the cause of the perceived effect, that is, the deviation. In this process, on many occasions, the result is not satisfactory, without a true outcome of the final cause. For that purpose, Figure 6 assumes that any given deviation needs to assess all functional areas, their performances, and interrelationships in order to identify the cause of an organizational indicator deviation or any other malfunction.  
Based on the model, a common process could be as follows:  
1. KPI deviation is identified.  
Figure 5: Manufacturing Functions Development within an Organization (own elaboration).  
Figure 6: FMEA Process for Function limitation or bottleneck: diagnosis sequence at the organizational functional areas level (the authors’ own elaboration).  
* KPI attracts the attention of top management.
* A process for searching the cause is initiated:
* If the deviation identified refers to a cross-functional manufacturing indicator, normally this process starts from the operative manufacturing function and goes through the organization;
* If the deviation refers to a specific functional area such as the quality rate, the analysis starts from the related functional area, quality function, in relation to the manufacturing function.
* The sequence is normally the same as the historic evolution of the different functions.
* The cause-effect analysis of malfunctions of organizational functions is normally not analyzed with a global holistic perspective considering all the functional areas and interrelationships. However, it is normally assessed in the manufacturing and technical areas such as quality and maintenance, and on occasions, moves up to other logistics and IT functions. In the process of many malfunctions, a real cause is not identified, and occurs as \"sporadic cases\"; therefore, on many occasions' managers do not know why certain projects fail to make it impossible to learn from experience.
* For doing so, first, it is necessary to analyze the maturity model of the organization by functional area to determine in which evolution state the organization is at. The following steps are considered:
* Current state knowledge: Know the function maturity level of each functional area in the different planning levels according to the historic evolution. A company state will be determined by the moment it was created, the functions implemented at this time, the improvement projects performed until now, and the success, partial success, or failure of this project.
* Identify the problem.
* Perform an holistic malfunction analysis based on an organizational function FMEA process with the help of mapping the interrelationships among functions.
* Optimize the process for executing the function that needs improvement.
* Determine the measures for the technical, organizational, or human factors for executing the new process.
* Implement the plan.  
These later steps for developing measures for function development are specified in Figure 7, also considering the alignment with the organizational goals: