Quality management 路 Free
Automotive Core Tools: FMEA (AIAG-VDA 1st Edition)
The core tool an automotive customer audits hardest, taught to the 2019 AIAG-VDA handbook: the seven-step method, the five T's, the three-level structure tree, functions written so the failures fall out of them, effect against mode against cause, prevention against detection controls, the severity, occurrence and detection tables, the Action Priority table that replaced RPN, optimisation with owners and dates, results documentation, a reverse FMEA pass on the shop floor and the supplemental FMEA-MSR.
Inside the course
From the lessons
The seven-step method, and what changed in 2019
Bhavya Mangla
Choosing the FMEA and scoping it before the form opens
Bhavya Mangla
Structure analysis and function analysis
Bhavya Mangla
Failure analysis, and the two kinds of control
Bhavya Mangla
Risk analysis: severity, occurrence, detection and Action Priority
Bhavya Mangla
Optimisation, results documentation and checking it on the floor
Bhavya Mangla
Lesson frames belong to the creators named in the Credits below and are shown from YouTube.
What you will learn
Raise a PFMEA to the AIAG-VDA seven-step method. Scope it with the five T's and decide whether a problem belongs in a DFMEA or a PFMEA. Build the three-level structure tree and write a function for every box. Separate failure effect, failure mode and failure cause and place each at the right level. Mark every existing control as prevention or detection and say what each one moves. Rate severity, occurrence and detection against the handbook tables, then read Action Priority instead of chasing an RPN threshold. Write optimisation actions with an owner, a date and a re-rating. Assemble the Step 7 results documentation, verify the document against the line with a reverse FMEA pass, and say when a supplemental FMEA-MSR is needed.
- Scope a PFMEA with the five T's and set a boundary you can defend to a customer
- Build the three-level structure tree and write every function as verb, noun and requirement
- Place failure effect, mode and cause at the right level so the argument about which is which stops
- Mark every control on your line as prevention or detection, and say which rating each one moves
- Rate severity, occurrence and detection against the handbook tables and read Action Priority instead of an RPN threshold
- Write optimisation actions with owner, date and re-rating, then check them on the line with a reverse FMEA pass
For you
Taking Automotive Core Tools: FMEA (AIAG-VDA 1st Edition) from the United States
- Free in the United States, as everywhere, and self-paced: lessons, notes and the final assessment are open at any hour, so your time zone and shift pattern do not matter.
- The optional certificate for learners in the United States is a one-off US$28.99. What you get for it
- Plants across the Americas most often run Allen-Bradley, Siemens and Inductive Automation; each has its own free course to take next.
- See automation and engineering jobs in the United States, and what the industry looks like in Houston, Detroit and Chicago.
- EDWartens also has a regional site for the United States, for classroom training and local support: edwartens.com/us.
The course project 路 about 16 hours
PFMEA for a brake-caliper machining line: seven steps, Action Priority and a control plan that matches
Run the AIAG-VDA seven-step PFMEA on a brake-caliper housing machining line: plan and scope it with the five T's, build the structure and function trees, place effects, modes and causes at the right level, rate severity, occurrence and detection against the handbook tables, read Action Priority instead of an RPN cut-off, write optimisation actions with owners and re-ratings, and carry the result into a control plan. You deliver your own structure analysis, PFMEA sheet, control plan and optimisation report. The sample pack shows what a tier-1 supplier hands to its customer's SQE.
Sample document pack, 7 documents, filled in for the scenario
- PlanPFMEA Planning and Preparation Record (Step 1): Caliper Housing Machining Line L3
- RegisterStructure and Function Analysis (Steps 2 and 3): Line L3 Caliper Housing Machining
- FMEAProcess FMEA (Steps 4 and 5): Line L3 Caliper Housing Machining, AIAG-VDA Format
- ProcedureControl Plan: Line L3 Caliper Housing Machining (Production)
- ReportOptimisation and Results Report (Steps 6 and 7): Actions, Re-ratings and Reverse-FMEA Walk
- Change noticeDesign Change Notice: Control Plan L3 Rev 2017-C to Rev 0, Inspection Frequencies and Gauge Calibration Records
- Training recordTraining Record: PFMEA Team and Line L3 Operators
Read inside the course and download as a workbook. The project is optional practice, marked when you submit it; the certificate needs only the modules and the final assessment.
Course content
8 modules 路 17 lessons 路 3h 24m
In order, at whatever pace suits you. Each module ends with a practice task that builds on the last.
- 01The seven-step method, and what changed in 20192 lessons26m
- 02Choosing the FMEA and scoping it before the form opens3 lessons28m
- 03Structure analysis and function analysis2 lessons25m
- 04Failure analysis, and the two kinds of control2 lessons31m
- 05Risk analysis: severity, occurrence, detection and Action Priority3 lessons35m
- 06Optimisation, results documentation and checking it on the floor3 lessons30m
- 07Supplemental FMEA-MSR, and why FMEAs go dead in real plants2 lessons29m
- 08Final assessment0 lessons0m
Requirements
- Who it is for
- Intermediate. Suits diploma and degree engineers in production, quality, maintenance or controls at an automotive supplier, or applying to one. No statistics or software background needed.
- Software
- None required. A spreadsheet is enough for the structure tree, the rating sheet and the action list. What to download, and how
- Hardware
- None.
Software you need
What to download, where from, what it costs and how to install it. Every link goes to the maker's own site, never a mirror.
Nothing to install
A spreadsheet is enough for the structure tree, the rating sheet and the action list.
Optional
Useful, not needed to finish the course.
- 01Free
LibreOffice
The Document Foundation
- Runs on
- Windows 10 or 11, macOS 11 or newer (Intel or Apple silicon), Linux
- Account
- None needed
- Size
- up to 1.5 GB of disk space on Windows
LibreOffice is free, open-source software under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, for any use including business. Calc is its spreadsheet.
Steps
- 1.Open the LibreOffice download page.
- 2.Check the page has picked your operating system, then select Download.
- 3.Run the installer (administrator rights are needed on Windows).
- 4.Start LibreOffice Calc for spreadsheet work.
- 5.Save as .xlsx if you need to share files with Excel users.
- Choose the latest main version unless your organisation asks for the older, more conservative release.
Official download pagelibreoffice.org
Checked against each maker's own page on 27 September 2026. Trial lengths and editions change; the maker's page is the final word.
Automotive Core Tools: FMEA (AIAG-VDA 1st Edition) at a glance
Automotive Core Tools: FMEA (AIAG-VDA 1st Edition) is a free, self-paced online course from EDWartens for quality, production and process engineers. It has 8 modules and 3h 24m of video lessons by Bhavya Mangla, with written notes and worked problems, a practical project with a document pack and a 15-question final assessment (pass mark 60%). Learning is free with an account; an optional certificate with a public verification code is issued when you pass. Last updated 27 September 2026.
All course factsHide course facts
- Price
- Free, for good. No trial, no card. The only paid item is the optional certificate, a small one-off fee.
- Who it is for
- Quality, production and process engineers
- Format
- 8 self-paced modules, 3h 24m of video, written notes, a practice task per module and one final assessment.
- Level
- Intermediate. Intermediate. Suits diploma and degree engineers in production, quality, maintenance or controls at an automotive supplier, or applying to one. No statistics or software background needed.
- Brand
- Vendor-neutral
- Software
- None required. A spreadsheet is enough for the structure tree, the rating sheet and the action list.
- Hardware
- None.
- Certificate
- Optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, verifiable by code. Not a vendor credential.
- Video lessons by
- Bhavya Mangla (independent creators, credited below)
- Language
- English
- Last updated
- 27 September 2026
A shareable EDWartens certificate
Finish every module and pass the final assessment, and the optional EDWartens certificate is yours. It carries a unique verification code on a public page anyone can check, so it stands up when a recruiter looks it up. See it below.
The course itself stays free whether or not you ever buy one.
Stuck? Ask a practising engineer
A free course usually means a comment section and hope. This one does not. Every module has an Ask-your-trainer panel that reaches the same engineers who teach our paid programme: people who commission panels for a living, not moderators.
Pairs well with
PLC programming 路 FreeSiemens TIA PortalFrom zero electrical knowledge to a working, simulated S7-1200 program, for nothing.
PLC programming 路 FreeSiemens TIA Portal in Three HoursThe first three hours of the Siemens TIA Portal course, cut to end on a win: what a PLC is, how it is wired, a project configured in TIA Portal, and your first ladder program running in simulation. Finish it in an evening or two, earn a certificate, and carry straight on into the full course.
PLC programming 路 FreeTIA Portal: Build a MachineOne machine, start to finish. Take a bottle filling line from a written specification and an I/O list to a structured S7-1200 program with a fill station, a capper, a reject sorter and an operator screen with alarms, then test it against a written record and archive it for hand-over. The lessons are the reference; the machine is yours, and it is what you submit.
Instrumentation 路 FreeInstrumentation for PLC EngineersThe half of the loop that is not code. Follow one measurement from the transmitter in the field, down the 4-20 mA loop, into the analog card, through NORM_X and SCALE_X into engineering units, out again to a valve, and back to the control room when the reading is wrong.More free courses: Free Six Sigma and quality courses
Learner reviews
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Reviews here are written only by learners who have finished every module of Automotive Core Tools: FMEA (AIAG-VDA 1st Edition), and they are published exactly as written. Finish the course and yours will be the first.
Common questions
The page mentions APQP and PPAP. Are they taught here?
No. This course teaches one core tool properly: FMEA to the AIAG-VDA 1st Edition, which is the tool an automotive quality interview goes deepest into and the one the control plan is built from. APQP, PPAP, MSA, SPC and the control plan are named where FMEA hands over to them, so you know the connection, but they are not taught in these modules and the course does not pretend otherwise.
Do I need any software or a licence?
No. A spreadsheet, or even A4 paper, is enough for the structure tree, the rating sheet and the action list. Nothing in the course needs Minitab, a licensed FMEA package or a statistics background.
What should I know before starting?
Enough shop-floor familiarity to describe one real operation: what the station does, what can go wrong and who checks it. Production, maintenance and controls engineers already have that. No prior quality role is assumed.
Is this the same as an AIAG, IATF or ASQ certification?
No, and it is not preparation marketed as one. AIAG, IATF and ASQ run their own paid examinations and issue their own credentials. This is free EDWartens training on the published AIAG-VDA method, useful preparation if you later sit one of those exams, but it is not that certification and is never described as equivalent to it.
Is the Automotive Core Tools: FMEA (AIAG-VDA 1st Edition) course really free?
Yes. Every module, the practice tasks and the assessments cost nothing. You create an account so your progress is saved and the assessments can be marked.
What certificate does the Automotive Core Tools: FMEA (AIAG-VDA 1st Edition) course give?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you have finished every module and passed the final assessment at 60 percent, with a verification code anyone can check. It is not a vendor credential and is never described as one.
Who made the video lessons in the Automotive Core Tools: FMEA (AIAG-VDA 1st Edition) course?
The creator named in the Credits block at the foot of this page, on their own YouTube channel. EDWartens did not make the videos and the creator is not affiliated with EDWartens. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the module notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
Will this help me move from production into quality?
It is the vocabulary that interview runs on. Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers in Chakan, Oragadam, Manesar and Sanand ask candidates to walk through a failure chain, explain Action Priority and say what a prevention control changes. The practice tasks build that answer from your own line rather than from a textbook example.
What you walk away with
Your certificate for Automotive Core Tools: FMEA (AIAG-VDA 1st Edition)
Finish the course, pass the final, and this is the document with your name on it.
Verifiable by anyone
Adds to LinkedIn in one click
QR code on the certificate
Names what you can do
A permanent link
Earned, not attended
Learning is free. The certificate is optional.
Add it now and pay only when you have finished the course, or come back for it later. One-off, US$28.99, with a receipt.
Issued by EDWartens, the training division of Wartens, as a Certificate of Completion for this self-paced course. Sold by Wartens Ltd (England and Wales). It is not a vendor certification, a university award or a CPD-accredited activity, and it does not certify competence on live equipment. Delivered electronically; see the refund policy.
Credits
Who made the video lessons
The video lessons in this course were created by the people below, not by EDWartens. Every lesson streams from its creator's own YouTube channel; EDWartens neither hosts nor sells that footage, and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens and do not endorse this course. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
- Bhavya Manglathe whole FMEA 1st Edition (2019 AIAG-VDA) series in English: the seven steps and what changed from 2008, planning and preparation, DFMEA against PFMEA, structure and function analysis, failure mode against cause against effect, prevention against detection controls, severity, occurrence and detection, RPN against Action Priority, optimisation, Step 7 results documentation, reverse FMEA, the supplemental FMEA-MSR and the 3G shop-floor habit
If you are one of these creators and would like a lesson removed or credited differently, write to info@wartens.com.