Although both Six Sigma and Lean Flow have their roots in manufacturing, it works just as effectively in service industries. Much of the U.S. economy is now based on services rather than manufacturing and many service organization managers are wondering how they can achieve the tremendous process improvement benefits of Lean Six Sigma to their service organization. Many service organizations have already begun to blend the higher quality of Six Sigma with the efficiency of Lean into Lean Six Sigma. The effects have been significant and long-lasting.

Service organizations have different root causes of problems and a unique set of processes and metrics. As a result, the tools and methodology required to achieve the improvements of Lean Six Sigma are significantly different. While problems in the manufacturing setting may lie within a process, the issue in a service environment is often the process itself. Services are full of waste--and ripe for the benefits of Lean Six Sigma. It is easy to apply relatively simple statistical and lean tools that will reduce costs and achieve greater speed with less waste in service processes. There are numerous real world examples that demonstrate how Lean Six Sigma can be used in service organizations just as effectively as in manufacturing with even faster results.

In a service organization, the critical factors in quality and efficiency are flow of information and interaction between people, especially interactions with customers. Transforming the process of these flows and making them lean will yield quality results. Analyzing and modifying human performance in service environments is complex, but Lean Six Sigma provides the tools and methodology required to achieve significant long-term improvements. At the heart of every service business are the opinions, behaviors and decisions made by people. Analyzing and modifying human performance in service environments is as complex as any manufacturing situation.

Lean Six Sigma achieves documented bottom-line strategic business results by initiating an organization-wide culture shift. Until a process focus