… not for service organisations
Heresy! Six Sigma not for service industries?
Are we mad?
Well some may think so but that doesn’t change the fact that a service organisation does not produce anything tangible. It does not turn raw materials into finished goods.
And that means that Porter’s Value Chain cannot be applied.
What’s the alternative?
The alternative to using Six Sigma is to re-think service organisations.
- The demands placed on a service organisation require systems that can handle variation. The demands placed on a manufacturing organisation required variation to be minimised.
- Processes within a manfacturing organisation are transactional and can largely be automated. Processes within a service organisation are relational and rely on human contact.
- Management of a manufacturing organisation is based on Taylor’s Scientific Management. Management of a service organisation rests with the people who pick up the phones and answer the emails.
But if Six Sigma articles are what you’re really after, you can’t go past iSixSigma. Just be aware of the model behind the thoughts…
