Introduction
Business process improvement (BPI) is a systematic approach to improve or put processes in place, so as to improve the products or services offered to the consumer and to increase operational efficiency. BPI is a wide-ranging term that can cover many actions, from incremental continuous improvement (CI) to the radical transformation of a business, known as business process reengineering (BPR).
A BPI project may use several different methodologies or combinations of methodologies, techniques, and tools. Some popular methodologies include Six Sigma, Lean management, Lean Six Sigma, Agile Management, Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and Total Quality Management (TQM). Many of these methodologies promote similar process improvement cycles with a varying number of steps or phases.
Popular Process Improvement Methodologies
1. Six Sigma: A data-driven approach to reduce defects to improve an organization's performance.
Six Sigma is defined as a set of methodologies, tools and techniques with the overall goal of process improvement and fewer defects. It seeks to improve the quality of products manufactured from a process by identifying and getting rid of the causes of defects as well as minimizing the variability in all processes across an organization. Six Sigma depends on data to perform the required analytics. Therefore, it applies financial, project management, and data analysis tools. In Six Sigma, problems within processes are solved using the DMAIC framework.
Figure 3: DMAIC Framework
DMAIC consists of 5 steps, namely:
Define the problem
Measure the current metrics related to the activity and the metrics after the improvement,
Analyze the inconsistencies and defects that the job has,
Improve
Control to ensure that the entire system works efficiently.
2. Lean manufacturing (or just “Lean”): A systematic process to minimize waste without sacrificing productivity. Figure 4 below shows the 3 pillars of lean – Delivering Value, Eliminating Waste and Continuous Improvement.
Figure 4: Pillars of Lean ( iSixSigma 2021)
The essence of lean is to determine ways in which you can eliminate the eight types of waste: defects, overproduction, waiting, non-utilized talent, transportation, inventory, motion and extra processing. Within lean manufacturing are multiple tools and techniques used directly for the purpose of process improvement.
3. Lean Six Sigma: A combination of Lean and Six Sigma methodologies.
More recently, some practitioners have combined Six Sigma ideas with lean manufacturing resulting in a methodology called “Lean Six Sigma”.
Lean Six Sigma is the integration of Lean and Six Sigma tools and techniques aimed at producing the best possible quality, cost, delivery, cycle time and other process attributes.
Lean focuses on reducing waste and attains its goals through less technical tools such as 5S, Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping and Kanban.
Whereas Six Sigma is concentrates on reducing variation in the process and uses more of measurements, data collection and analysis, design of experiments and hypothesis tests.
There is no clear distinction between the two disciplines. Thus the term "lean Six Sigma" is being used more and more often, as process improvement requires aspects of both approaches to attain the best possible results.
Very often, successful implementations of Lean Six Sigma start with the application of Lean tools, making the workplace as efficient and effective as possible and reducing waste. More technical Six Sigma statistical tools may then be applied to clear the process problems that may persist.
4. Total Quality Management (TQM): An organization-wide effort focused on continuous improvement to improve customer quality.
This business process improvement methodology is similar to Lean Thinking. But, it is more general in terms of approach. While “Lean Thinking” puts customer value at the center of a specific task, requiring optimization, TQM places the customer value at the center of the company’s management and operation. Under the TQM structure, every department within the organization has to bring customers. The growth of customer satisfaction is the goal of the whole company. It is everybody’s responsibility create customer value – not just management.
5. Toyota Production System/Just-in-time: Methodology centered around reducing inventory costs, manufacturing products only as they're needed.
The Toyota Production System (TPS) was established based on two concepts: "jidoka" (which can be loosely translated as "automation with a human touch"), as when a problem occurs, the equipment stops immediately, preventing defective products from being produced; and the "Just-in-Time" concept, in which each process produces only what is needed for the next process in a continuous flow.
Based on the basic philosophies of jidoka and Just-in-Time, TPS can efficiently and quickly produce vehicles of sound quality, one at a time, that fully satisfy customer requirements.
There are 4 main principles of TPS:
1. Philosophy
Long-term philosophy guides decisions rather than short-term financial goals.
2. Process
Find the right process to produce the right results. This principle may involve: the "pull" system to prevent overproduction, employing visual controls to see the entire process to avoid hidden problems and using only reliable technology necessary for your people and processes
3. People and partners
Invest in the people to create leaders that embody that company's philosophy and can teach it to others.
4. Problem-solving
Instill a culture of learning for continuous improvement by fully understanding the problem before determining a solution and taking time to reach a consensus.
6. Theory of Constraints (TOC): A systematic process focused on finding and eliminating constraints. By leveraging this constraint, organizations can achieve their financial goals while delivering on-time-in-full (OTIF) to customers, avoiding stock-outs in the supply chain, reducing lead time, etc.
TOC BPI methodology solves the inefficiency in the following way:
Determines the constraint causing the bottleneck
Improves this constraint until its negative effect disappears
Normally, the TOC concept follows Five Steps, as follows:
Identification of the bottleneck
Elimination of this constraint
Alignment of all other activities with the constraint’s correction
Realization of other possible actions to eliminate the bottleneck
Movement to the new inefficiency
The TOC operates on a continuous improvement cycle. Once one constraint is eliminated, another bottleneck becomes the focus the TOC.
7. ISO 9001: ISO 9001 is not a Business Process Improvement Methodology per se. Rather, ISO 9001 is a system of administration – referred to as a Quality Management System standard- and not an improvement system. Whereas an organization cannot be certified to any of the aforementioned BPI methodologies, an organization, on the other hand, can be certified to the ISO 9001 standard.
ISO 9001 is the world’s most recognized and most popular Quality Management System (QMS) standard which can be implemented in organizations of any type and size in any industry. It offers the means to continually improve and measure the performance of an organization’s quality management system. The ISO 9001: 2015 standard is made up of 10 clauses.
Clauses 4 to 10 are arranged according to the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act), as shown in the figure below:
Figure 5: Clauses 4-10 of ISO 9001:2015 (Luc Marivoet - Pauwels Consulting 2019)
ISO 9001 provides a framework and set of principles that ensure a flexible approach to the management of an organization, in order to consistently meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders. In other words, ISO 9001 certification enables processes and people to be effective so as to ensure delivery of effective products or services on a consistent basis.
ISO 9001 was developed by the ISO/Technical Committee (TC) 176 (on Quality management and quality assurance) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The standard is maintained and updated by the same committee whose membership includes approximately 120 countries.
Comparison of The Methodologies
TQM versus Six Sigma
The table below briefly compares Six Sigma with TQM:
TQM/Six Sigma versus other programs
All the other programs fit within the TQM/Six Sigma umbrella. The exception to this is Lean, which comes from the Toyota system. Today, Lean and Six Sigma are being merged into Lean Six Sigma.
In Summary
All the process improvement methodologies share many common features, some of which are as follows:
They share the philosophy that processes can always be improved.
They share the assumption of measurement and statistics being a key to improvement.
And they share the faith in the power of the workers closest to a process to be able to improve it.
The combination of Lean and Six Sigma is proving to be the best approach developed yet. It adds more tools, looks at more situations, and achieves better results faster than either Six Sigma or lean alone.
Business Process Improvement Steps
After you have chosen the BPI methodology most suitable for the specifics of your business strategy and requirements, the next step is to start the process improvement. If any one of the following steps has already been fulfilled before commencement of the project, start with the next step on the list.
Figure 6: Business Process Improvement Steps
1. Develop a Process Master Document
The initial process analysis begins with building an organizational master document from the numerous business processes in every department. You identify all the available processes in your organization, department or area.
2. Prioritize Processes
The goal of prioritization is to select the process with the greatest positive impact on organizational goals. Criteria are developed that rank processes accordingly. The goal of prioritization is to select the process with the greatest positive impact on organizational goals. Some examples of this criteria are:
Costs and return on investment (ROI),
Number of people affected by the process, and/or
Employee satisfaction with the process.
More criteria may be included depending on your needs and process improvement goals.
3. Flowchart the Current Process
A process map will help you to understand how your processes flow, since processes flow into each other as rivers do. By knowing the actions, stakeholders, and deliverables of each phase, it’s easier to spot a problem.
Flowcharts are useful tools and enable those involved to understand the steps in complicated business processes and interdepartmental handoffs, by utilizing different shapes connected with lines.
4. Identify Bottlenecks & Areas for Improvement
Once you have documented your existing process, you have to find ways to improve it.
Using the flow chart for current processes, closely examine each step with your team. Speak with operators and determine where delays routinely occur, where too many resources are employed, or where you spend a lot of money. Determining the root cause of the problems is the essence of this step; you must pinpoint the problem spots of the process in order to understand how to fix them. This is where the root cause analysis method and Six Sigma come in handy.
5. Map Out the Potential New Process
Now you need to take what you have identified and use it to sketch out what your ideal workflow would look like. In other words, redesign the process to eliminate the problems you have discovered. Involving the entire team in this step ensures you have the correct understanding of the old process. Consider all ideas from the brainstorming session. For each idea, think about how the affected team members would carry out the redesigned process, how long it would take and what the potential risks are.
6. Identify Your Metrics
It is critical to identify metrics as they are critical for tracking any improvements to the process. Consider the measurable variables that show how much a problem is affecting each existing business process, along with how well the solution works. Metrics for each stage of the process must be identified, not just the problem area. While symptoms of a problem may occur in one phase, the root cause may lie further up the chain.
7. Apply the Chosen Methodology
At this stage, apply the selected methodology in line with the organizational procedures. Ensure to secure management support and approval and sufficient resources before execution of the project plan. It is imperative to solicit representatives from every department who might influence, or might be influenced by the project, to actively participate in the improvement process. The most important part of this step is communication. Before any action is taken, verify that the new process and implementation plan have been communicated to all concerned stakeholders.
8. Test the Process & Revise
This stage is about evaluation of the new process. Because modifying a process can cause delays or increase costs in the short term while staff adapt to the changes, it is best to test the process improvements with a handful of participants before rolling it out to an entire team or across the organization.
Typically, the stakeholders who were actively involved in creating a new procedure would also be the ones testing the changes. If the new process resolves issues and brings about meaningful, measurable improvement, the new process can be implemented across the organization. Depending on the extent of the changes, project integration management may be necessary.
9. Monitor and Control
Finally, assess the stability of the change process and determine if the set goals and objectives have been attained – based on previously established metrics. An aspect of the continuous process improvement methodology consists of monitoring and control. The creation of a feedback cycle enables you to be proactive to any changes when no improvements are evident.
10. Optimize the process.
Using your lessons learned, continue to improve to maintain process excellence.
Conclusion
There is always room for improvement, especially when it comes to organizational processes. The key to real process improvement lies in identifying root causes, rather than simply addressing symptoms. That way you will create long-term solutions that keep bottlenecks at bay. By employing these process improvement steps, you will not only find that you save time and money, but you will also see happier suppliers, staff, and customers.
References
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Process improvement steps. Available at: https://www.frevvo.com [Accessed April 10th 2022]
Process improvement methodologies. Available at: https://www.lucidchart.com/blog [Accessed April 13th 2022]
Business process improvement. Available at: https://fluix.io/help/ [Accessed April 13th 2022]
Business process improvement. Available at: https://toggl.com/blog/ [Accessed April 13th 2022]
Process improvement. Available at: https://www.reliableplant.com [Accessed April 20th 2022]
Improving business processes. Available at: https://www.frevvo.com/blog [April 20th 2022]
Theory of constraints. Available at: https://www.tocinstitute.org [Accessed April 20th 2022]
About the Author
Andrew Salimu is an independent Consultant who works with organizations of all kinds to help them Improve their processes, improve productivity, and to implement ISO Standards. Andrew believes Process improvement and optimization are key for any organization to grow and remain profitable and competitive in today’s global economy. Andrew has various certifications, including Project Management, ISO Management Systems, Six Sigma, Lean, Digital Marketing, Strategic Management, Kaizen and Toyota Production System. He holds a BEng degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Birmingham, England.
E-mail: andrewsalimu@yahoo.com
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