FMEA or failure mode and effects analysis tool may take many variations, but it has only one fundamental purpose, that is to identify, evaluate, and take actions to reduce risk of failure.
These variations of the FMEA have many uses for the tool within Six Sigma projects. Though it is introduced in the Improve stage of training, FMEA has a place in other phases of Six Sigma as well.
An article on iSixSigma has a good discussion on this.
In Measure, for example, the FMEA can be used as a prioritization tool to understand and fine tune the focus of a Lean Six Sigma project. In addition, it also can be used to determine what can go wrong with the process, and what data the team should collect as part of its process metrics.
Example: A team launched a project to reduce reprocessing of materials in a sterilization line. To determine where to focus the initial efforts, the team created a detailed process map, followed by an FMEA to identify failure points in the process that resulted in re-sterilization. Once the FMEA was created, resulting in severity, occurrence and detection estimates, the team focused their project on four areas to eliminate or mitigate failure points.
