FMEA (CA) Definitions and Guidelines

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I am establishing the guidelines and the definitions for severity (criticality), failure mode probability and detection for a System Level FMEA. The product has an aerospace application in which it is active at all times. Some vendors will be providing data (failure rates) for electronic components, while others may find it easier to provide probabilities of occurrences. However, there's the rub, how to define and correlate the two and make sense. I need to provide def'ns that make sense. The present military definition for Qualitative Probability isn't helpful, nor is the automotive. Help. What type of scale do you suggest for a product that is always active? (I have completed the Severity (Criticality) Definition, Detection won't be a problem, it's just this probability). The various sources I've viewed don't clarify it any. (old Mil-Std-1629, SAE-ARP-5580 advanced review copy). Thanks Beth