Identifying secondary problem

In this paper the methodology for identifying the most important secondary problems in Engineering Systems (ES) at their Transition-From-First-To- Second Stage of evolution is described1. Normally, at this stage a laboratory prototype of an ES works just fine, with no obvious undesirable effects, while hidden undesirable effects have not yet manifest themselves. So, the main goal of the proposed methodology is to quickly and efficiently reveal critical secondary problems relating to the ES functionality in order to solve them rapidly and commercialize the ES as soon as possible. Broader objectives, e.g. identifying undesirable effects and problems that an ES may create at other stages of its life cycle, are beyond the scope of this methodology. The proposed methodology is based on the modified Failure Anticipation Analysis2 (FAA) methodology, which is part of the methodology for Comprehensive Analysis of an ES at the transitional stage of its evolution that was disclosed by the author in his thesis [4]. In contrast to the original FAA methodology [1-3], the proposed specialized methodology dramatically reduces the time required for analysis and guarantees that all critical undesirable effects and related secondary problems will be identified. These features make the proposed methodology applicable for use even in express-projects 3. This is achieved by focusing the methodology on revealing only the undesirable effects that are related to the ES’s Main Function (MF) and by adapting the depth of analysis depending on how serious the analyzed undesirable effect is. The purpose of Risk Analysis (RA) is to identify, and bring to awareness, potential failure modes ("scenarios") in our systems and operations, so that they may be "fixed" before they actually occur.