Business Process Improvement (BPI) is a set of management and leadership tools used to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service and product delivery. Applied effectively, BPI helps reduce costs, improves quality, reduces risks, increases employee morale, and can help an organization or enterprise rise above the common inefficiencies that limit productivity.
In the commercial sector, BPI is used to meet target goals and track the correct metrics that result in an improved organization that is profitable. The tools utilized in BPI extend across the business world to effect changes that others.
At ProSource we have Shingo Prize leading Six Sigma Black Belts and Lean experts who understand how to transform a business enterprise into a lean and efficient organization. We start with the raw material – the people who care the most about the enterprise. Our BPI methodology involves all elements of a business. It takes discipline and focus to develop an enterprise into a lean machine;but, we are there to help you every step of the way.
BPI achieves competitive excellence through the application of Lean principles to change organizational culture, promote teamwork, enhance training, and capitalize on partnerships.
Our BPI system uses Lean Six Sigma (LSS) as the primary means to improve processes when the solution is not known, or effort is needed to ensure that the process produces stable results. LSS is a rigorous, data-based process-improvement approach to reduce process variation and waste through LSS projects. LSS projects may also be referred to as continuous improvement workshops (CIWs) and rapid improvement events (RIE’s).
Drawing on the tool sets from LSS we are able to employ standard Lean and Six Sigma methodologies such as Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) and Define-Measure-Analyze Improve-Control (DMAIC) to solve problems or eliminate waste in existing processes as well as Identify-DesignOptimize-Verify (IDOV) to design new processes. Adapting to change your business processes will involve all of the following elements, and our BPI provides tools to help with each of these:
- Developing an Enterprise or Project Charter that is agreed upon by the team
- Developing a Project vision and mission statement
- Asking customers and suppliers to rate your company and services provided
- Asking staff to describe how they feel on the inside of the business and to rate the business
- Executing Value-Stream Mapping for those processes that deliver services to internal and external customers
- Measuring process metrics for an objective understanding of performance.
- Identifying Failure Modes and Effects within the processes
- Brainstorming innovations and breakthroughs
- Developing a pilot to test the Future State the team agreed to
- Sustaining the gains achieved in the pilot through codification of process steps
These elements are then used within an iterative improvement cycle of ‘Plan, Do, Study, Act’.
Mouse Over Boxes
