Risk Priority Number (RPN)

Risk Priority Number (RPN) is a tool used to identify and prioritize potential issues in processes or products. It combines three factors: severity (how serious the problem could be), occurrence (how likely it is to happen), and detection (how easily it can be identified before causing harm). Each factor is scored on a scale, and these scores are multiplied together to produce the RPN. A higher RPN indicates a higher priority for addressing that risk. This helps teams focus their efforts on the most critical issues to improve safety, quality, and efficiency.