Process Mapping and Process Redesign

Every organization is a collection of processes - technical and social in nature. These processes are the typical business activities the company performs that produce value, satisfy customer needs, and generate income. There should be no doubt that the m

Reengineering efforts have companies in pursuit of the promise of dramatically improved quality, service, productivity, and profitability. The most significant effect of this "reengineering revolution" is the focus on - and the resulting increased awareness of - business processes. The eighties saw a "Quality Revolution" in the United States. American companies spent many millions of dollars and effort-hours on Total Quality Management (TQM) and Continuous Improvement. As the nineties unfolded, process reengineering came into vogue (with ISO 9001, Six Sigma, and Lean) and again corporations continued to invest heavily. Still, through all this, relatively little attention has been paid to what could be thought of as the core basics: process optimization is dependent not only on how a process is designed, but more so, on how it is managed. Every organization is a collection of processes - technical and social in nature. These processes are the typical business activities the company performs that produce value, satisfy customer needs, and generate income. There should be no doubt that the management of a company`s processes is the key to the organization`s success. As is true in football, even the best playbook is worthless if execution is flawed. Successful process management requires continuous documentation, analysis, and improvement efforts to streamline and redesign in order to remain competitive in a dynamic business environment. There are a number of business modeling and simulation tools available to evaluate and manage an organization`s processes, but they all must start with a thorough understanding of the basics: process inputs, transactions, outputs and the interrelationships of each. Once defined, we are able to: 1. Understand how processes interact in the company`s own "business system." 2. Locate process flaws that are creating systemic problems. 3. Determine which technical process failures are caused by social system failures. 4. Evaluate which activities add value for customers. 5. Streamline and improve work flows. 6. Identify processes that need to be redesigned and/or areas that need to be restructured. 7. Improve efficiency and customer satisfaction. When a process fails to perform as required we have a gap, a crisis, a fire. All these terms imply a sense of urgency. The tendency for most problem solvers is to look for the flame (gap) and to take whatever action is required to extinguish it. Worse yet, some tend to only see the smoke coming from the fire and create a "work around" to minimize the smoke damage. For this we are praised and rewarded; consequently, we have become extremely proficient fire fighters. Unfortunately, extinguishing the flame does not necessarily eliminate the flow of fuel that allowed the fire to erupt. Our quick fix solves the immediate crisis, but adds a "work around" or a "band-aid" to the process. These non-valued added steps may close or insulate the gap, but leave the root cause intact. Band-aids with time and under stress tend to fall off, leaving the organization at risk. The fire returns and most likely it is when we can least afford it. To eliminate the fuel, there are four steps to improve the process: Value Stream Mapping, Process Mapping, Gap Origin Definition, and Gap Closure. Visit www.pinnacleeg.com for further details.