An FMEAFailure Mode and Effects Analysis — a structured walk through the ways a system could fail, scoring each one so you tackle the worst first. lists the ways a system could fail, then rates each on three 1–10 scales. Their product — the Risk Priority NumberRisk Priority Number: Severity × Occurrence × Detection, from 1 to 1000. A ranking device, not a measurement — only meaningful next to the other rows. — sorts the list. The twist is detection: a middling failure no one would catch in time can outrank an obvious disaster.