Purpose: The grand challenges of the 21st century require a concerted effort and responsibility across disciplines, including the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) profession. Through the lens of Quality 5.0, an emerging approach to improving livelihoods utilizing quality principles and techniques, this paper is based upon developing practitioners for eventual applications towards social good. While the goal of LSS has been for business improvement, its development toward research that has direct societal implications is nascent. This paper presents the findings from introducing Failure Modes Effect Analysis in an undergraduate course and students applying the methodology to some instances of illegal labor production, helping fill a gap in LSS for Quality 5.0 research. Study design/methodology/approach: This paper is based upon a case study approach to develop and disseminate a new undergraduate level course titled Quality Engineering in IT. Students were introduced to Failure Modes Effects Analysis (FMEA) and its historical applications. They were then tasked with applying FMEA to known instances of illegal labor production in the global supply chain. This paper features the findings emerging from the qualitative analysis of FMEA reports submitted by student teams. This analysis approach is based on prior original interdisciplinary research pioneered by Laux et al. (2023). Findings: Using a case study approach, college students applied the FMEA methodology toward illicit supply chain analysis of illegal labor production. Student reports were based upon tacit-level research upon US Department of Labor reports of country of origin and commodity production. The findings suggest that the FMEA approach is a viable approach for Quality 5.0 applications towards social good. The categories of failure models for illegal labor production were detailed. Research limitations/implications: This study is limited to the analysis of FMEA reports submitted by student teams and may not be as comprehensive as similar reports compiled by subject matter experts (SMEs). Originality/value: This paper contributes to the existing literature by addressing the gap of how FMEA can be applied to solve grand challenges faced by countries along economic, social and political lines. Research Keywords: Failure Modes Effects Analysis, Quality 5.0