Knowledge graph enhanced retrieval-augmented generation for failure mode and effects analysis

Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is an essential tool for mitigating potential failures, particularly during the ramp-up phases of new products. However, its effectiveness is often limited by the reasoning capabilities of the FMEA tools, which are usually tabular structured. Meanwhile, large language models (LLMs) offer novel prospects for advanced natural language processing tasks. However, LLMs face challenges in tasks that require factual knowledge, a gap that retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) approaches aim to fill. RAG retrieves information from a non-parametric data store and uses a language model to generate responses. Building on this concept, we propose to enhance the non-parametric data store with a knowledge graph (KG). By integrating a KG into the RAG framework, we aim to leverage analytical and semantic question-answering capabilities for FMEA data. This paper contributes by presenting set-theoretic standardization and a schema for FMEA data, an algorithm for creating vector embeddings from the FMEA-KG, and a KG-enhanced RAG framework. Our approach is validated through a user experience design study, and we measure the precision and performance of the context retrieval recall. • This paper proposes integrating knowledge graphs within a retrieval-augmented generation (KG-RAG) framework, utilizing a query search to deliver user-friendly and analytic question answering on failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) data. • It builds on a set-theoretic standardization of FMEA, enabling any FMEA to be converted into a KG. An FMEA schema is proposed to facilitate this transposition. Additionally, an algorithm is suggested for traversing the FMEA-KG to generate vector embeddings. • A user experience design study and performance measurements of context recall and precision validate the approach. Initial results indicate that (i) the query search outperforms RAG approaches that rely solely on vector search for retrieving numerical information, and (ii) well-defined vector embeddings of the FMEA-KG are crucial for effective information retrieval in expert domain data.