Chapter 1. The ROI of Lean Six Sigma for Services

“The lack of initial Six Sigma emphasis in the non-manufacturing areas was a mistake that cost Motorola at least $5 billion over a four year period.”

—Bob Galvin, former CEO of Motorola

Service operations now comprise more than 80% of the GDP in the United States and are rapidly growing around the world. Even within manufacturing companies, it’s common to have only 20% of product prices driven by direct manufacturing labor—the other 80% comes from costs that are designed into the product or costs associated with support and design functions (finance, human resources, product development, purchasing, engineering, etc.).