Description
This document describes the BPR offline enabling processes.
Business Process Reengineering
“An Improved BPR approach for Offline Enabling Processes”
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Business processes can be broadly classified into strategic processes, operational/value adding processes and enabling processes. The strategic and operational processes have been given more importance due to their value adding importance and more tangible and sequential nature. Enabling or supporting processes have historically received less attention, however with increasing inter and intra networking of organizations these processes are not seen as peripheral but as integral parts of the organization. A key enabling process is that of maintenance (in the manufacturing sector), this process is sometimes referred to as the maintaining process. This area has been highlighted in recent times by the increased interest in improvement methodologies such as total productive maintenance (TPM) (Davis, 1996). Business process re-engineering, on the other hand, has made a significant contribution to strategic and operational processes, but there is only limited evidence of BPR applications to the maintaining process. The case discusses a methodology involving business process re-engineering, developed and applied to the maintaining process within the chemical industry (Du Pont-Global). The methodology includes both self-assessment and proactive change management. Based on the findings improvements to the methodology have been suggested.
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Business Process Improvement Methodologies………………………….4 2. Critique of Business Process Improvement Methodologies……………. 6 3. Du Pont (Global Maintaining Process)………………………………….. 7 4. MERP Process……………………………………………………………..9 5. Methodology adopted for Merp…………………………………………..10 6. Limitations of MERP and need for BPR…………………………………12 7. Application of MERP and the BPR Methodology……………………….14 8. Improvements to the BPR Methodology and the MERP Methodology.. 18 9. Learnings from the case………………………………………………….. 20
2
BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT METHODOLOGIES The five stages common to most methodologies of a BPR project are as follows: Stage one: Initiation: Initiation consists of selecting the processes to be re-engineered. Normally core processes are selected. These are processes critical to business performance and which often cross functional boundaries. Three criteria to help define core processes: • • • Must be visible to the end customer Must create wealth for the organization Must give the organization competitive advantage in the market
Next, the BPR project team is formed. It must be cross-functional to be able to understand processes from start to finish, and be led by a member of senior management. This will reflect the commitment from the top. External BPR consultants may also form part of the team, as may customers. The team’s first step is to use the organization’s core processes to set measurable objectives. Stage two: Analysis: This consists of evaluating existing processes to determine a baseline of success for the project. Stage three: Redesign: Redesign involves an innovative redesign of the business processes. Information technology may be involved as an enabler of change. During this stage it is important to balance organization structural change, technological change and the change of people’s behavior.
3
Stage four: Implementation: This stage moves into the implementation stage with a pilot study to test the reaction of the organization to change. Learnings from the pilot study are fed back to fine tune the main body of the BPR effort. Stage five: Full implementation: Full implementation involves implementation of the re-engineering processes followed by measuring of the level of success of the new projects and review.
4
CRITIQUE OF BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT METHODOLOGIES Criticism can be leveled at existing methodologies from two aspects: 1. Existing methodologies are almost always developed and applied relevant to strategic and operational/value adding processes. These processes are more tangible and sequential than enabling processes such as the maintaining process. 2. These methodologies sometimes take very simplistic views of the people-related issues. Main barriers to BPR: Human and political issues These barriers include loss of support, both of top management and middle and line management, the prevailing company culture and the existing functional structure, employee fears, with resistance to change being evident at all levels. Suggestions by critics of BPR: They suggest a more evolutionary process of change called “business process improvement” and suggest that in the culture of a learning organization more innovative approaches can be achieved than in a slash and burn culture. The overall methodology, discussed later, seeks to address these issues by being applicable to an enabling process, namely the maintaining process, while at the same time, adequately addressing key process and people issues.
5
CASE STUDY ORGANISATION - DU PONT (GLOBAL MAINTAINING PROCESS) DU PONT: Du Pont is a truly global organization manufacturing chemicals and materials in all continents and in many countries. The case discusses Du Pont at the time when it is in the midst of a transformation. By 2002 they then expected to be a different company, combining their mature experience with dynamic new vigor and capitalizing on their diversity of people, geographical locations and products. They wanted to transform Du Pont into the most responsive, most flexible, most aggressive, youngest 200-year-old company in the world. T The five principal areas of transformation: 1. Competing globally 2. Increasing productivity 3. Focusing their business 4. Commitment to the environment 5. Empowering people Radical change in management structure to support these five key strategies was as follows:
6
The businesses streamlined into smaller strategic SBUs, put the power of the company firmly in the hands of the SBU heads, in order to take advantage of local supply chains and improve flexibility and responsiveness. The line of command drastically shortened with 40 per cent reduction in vice-president positions. Once they had the SBUs and got rid of the matrix, they could determine which jobs really added value, otherwise the matrix got in the way of liaison with customers. Just one of the many programmes Du Pont used to stimulate change across the corporation is the maintenance excellence recognition process, or MERP. This programme was the key driver behind transforming the maintaining function within Du Pont globally.
7
MERP PROCESS Du Pont was a truly global organisation manufacturing chemicals and materials in all continents and in many countries. In 1993, Du Pont started going through transformation in order to achieve the followingCompete on a global basis, increasing productivity; focusing on business; commitment to the environment; and empowering people. To support these five key strategies the management structure was radically altered. The business was also streamlined into smaller strategic business units (SBUs). The line of command had been drastically shortened with 40 per cent reduction in vice-president positions. Among these change initiatives taken across the corporation was the maintenance excellence recognition process, or MERP. This programme was the key driver behind transforming the maintaining function within Du Pont globally. The main purpose of maintenance excellence recognition process was • • To determine how Du Pont maintenance compares to leading companies in cost, management and performance of the maintenance function. To determine what actions Du Pont should take to improve the impact of the maintenance function on Du Pont’s business results.
8
METHODOLOGY ADOPTED FOR MERP External Benchmarking Du Point interviewed 300 candidates from 2500 potential candidates. Among these candidates 7 were from similar industries to Du Pont, 9 were from non-similar industries and 16 Du Pont sites were chosen. At each site, the plant manager, maintenance manager, production supervisor and a number of others were interviewed. Each plant was qualitatively rated on: • • • • • Getting the maintenance job done Cost effectiveness Preparing for the future Customer involvement; Commitment to the product
Based on the data collected from these questionnaires Du Point was compared with other similar and non similar companies and evaluated on the basis of following categories: organisation; costs; material management; maintenance management systems; and management philosophy. Development of the MERP process From the benchmarking studies, that compared Du Pont’s competitive position with leading global companies, a vision of maintenance excellence was developed. This vision was an attempt to describe the best maintenance practices. A key issue was how to make all Du Pont business aware of the vision and stimulate change towards the goal of excellence in the maintaining function. The MERP process was to be the stimulant for change. Each business could analyse their current practices versus the best practice laid down in the MERP criteria. MERP challenged each business to develop goals, objectives and processes which could be benchmarked by an external audit team using the MERP criteria. 9
Key stages within MERP MERP consists of eight criteria which are a description of excellence in the maintaining function.
10
LIMITATIONS OF MERP AND NEED FOR BPR MERP was established on benchmarking studies of best evaluative approaches and it proved to be a very good evaluative model for the maintaining process. But it lacked a proactive element to facilitate change within areas identified as needing improvement. This limiting factor prompted Du Pont to study the effect of combining MERP with a BPR methodology. It was hoped this would combine both selfassessment and proactive change. BPR is commonly facilitated by IT and the main attributes of BPR are: Change: To transform an organization, a deep change must occur in the key behavior levels of the organization: Efficiency: Applications in the efficiency category allow users to work faster and often at measurable lower cost Effectiveness: Applications in the effectiveness category allow users to work better and often to produce higher quality work. Transformation Applications in the the transformation category change the basic ways that people and departments work and may even change the very nature of the business enterprise itself.
11
In general, companies identify their Business Processes in the following manner
High
Manufacturing gap versus industry leader
Increasing operating performance
Catch up
Maintain Advantage
Increase flexibility, responsiveness Differentiate product and services
Low Low Services / Marketing gap versus industry leader High
12
APPLICATION OF MERP AND THE BPR METHODOLOGY TO THE MAINTAINING PROCESS AT MAYDOWN The key goal of the exercise was to bring about a continuous improvement of facilities equipment reliability by application of world class maintenance technology and best practices to eliminate equipment failures. The purpose of MERP was to motivate change, both functional and cultural in the maintaining function. MERP is expected to impact the business in many ways by improving safety, environmental performance and product quality. The MERP process was carried out in the following five phases:
Phase 1: Training of a site champion
Phase 2: Self-assessment
Phase 3: Establish the methodology& teams to improve/re-engineer the process
Phase four: Review by external audit team
Phase 5: Accreditation
Phase 1: Training of a Site Champion In the first phase of the process a site champion was selected and trained for the Maydown site. It involved attending a MERP audit at another Du Pont business unit and familiarisation with the chosen BPR methodology.
13
The training of a champion is the key to the successful implementation of any project. In this case the champion had five main roles to perform. 1. Strategist: As a strategist he had to evaluate the culture of a business unit and evaluate the resource available and begin to plan how to achieve maintenance excellence. 2. Leader: As a leader, he had to understand the value of the process to the business unit and lead the implementation of the process. 3. Key Resource: As a key resource, he had to build value for best practices and link the MERP initiative with the BPR methodology and other current initiatives such as TQM. 4. Communicator: As a communicator and networker, he had to promote teamwork and leverage learning to accelerate improvement. 5. Implementer: As an implementer, he had to establish the systems, processes and structures required for achieving maintenance excellence. In the absence of a champion the project might loose direction. Therefore it is extremely important to focus on providing training to the champion. Phase 2: Self-Assessment The second phase was to compare the current status of the business unit versus maintenance excellence. This was done with the full core team, using a self-audit form listing key aspects of maintenance excellence. By the end of the self audit, the MERP team had a much better understanding of the MERP criteria and where the business unit stood versus maintenance excellence. Phase 3: Establish the Methodology and Teams to Improve/Re-Engineer the Process Phase three was the implementation of best practices as developed by the core teams from each element. The BPR methodology was considered to be especially useful at this
14
stage especially with regard to defining the as-is process and the to-be process, including process mapping, in line with the MERP self-assessment. With the help of BPR methodology they could identify the existing processes and the required target practices. This can be achieved by forming a matrix of change. The matrix represents current organizational practices, target practices and a transitional state that bridges the two.
Example of Matrix of Change The matrix can also help identify the positive of negative relationship between various activities, the difficulty expected in the transitional stage as well as takes into account the experts opinion of these. Phase 4: Review by External Audit Team This phase involved the official review by the external audit team. The audit team consisted of three auditors. One auditor had taken part in all MERP audits, and therefore ensured consistency between audits. At least one of the other two auditors had to have been a past MERP champion for another business unit. The auditors scored each section for maturity, approach and results. The business unit averaged 90 per cent and was awarded with MERP.
15
Review by an external audit team ensures complete fairness and can therefore provide and unbiased opinion. Phase 5: Accreditation The final phase of the audit was initiated by the external audit team. It issued a report noting pockets of excellence and areas for improvement. By doing this the pockets of excellence were used to upgrade the maintenance excellence criteria and the areas of improvement were further analysed and methods for improving them were instituted.
16
IMPROVEMENTS TO THE BPR METHODOLOGY AND THE MERP METHODOLOGY The case highlighted some key areas for improvement in both MERP and the BPR methodology. Some of those are: • Role descriptions for key players: Many specialists say that ownership is critical to success. To achieve this, role descriptions should be used to describe the role of the key players in the program. This will help clarifying responsibilities and details the communication paths between individual • Network support teams: One of the most important success factors is top management support. Permanent networked teams can be formed for this purpose. There should be a different team for each level. o The senior most team would be global and operate at a stategic level. o The next team would be regional but operate again at a strategic level, giving direction to the local site team. o The local site team would work at the operational level implementing the business improvement program. The case shows that this structure has been very successful in driving the MERP process, ensuring top management commitment and local support to the process. • Self-assessment document to identify key processes: Self-assessment document is another method for determining the current state versus the goal or desired future state. It will not only give an excellent starting point but also give a clear direction for the future and stimulate innovation and change. • Long-term improvement: The exit criteria for phase four do contain “method for regular review and improvement established”. More often than not when a program is complete, and is not the prime focus, processes tend to slip back into
17
the past practices and benefits are lost. Continuous reviews should be done to avoid this and ensure long term improvement. • Separate step of position organisation for change: An important step for BPR is positioning the organisation for change. In order to do this organizational business and culture should be assessed which is critical to the success of improvement programmes. This may reveal the need for extensive training before embarking on the BPR initiative. • Separation of improvement and implementation phases: It is extremely important to separate improving and implementation phases to make them more distinct. This would help the organisation focus on the process and not just on the end result.
18
LEARNINGS FROM THE CASE Some of the learnings from the case, pertinent to the enabling or supporting business processes (maintenance process) within the manufacturing sector are described below: • Increased importance of Enabling Processes: Due to increased competition and increased networking within organizations, enabling processes like the maintenance processes are becoming more important for the success of any organization. At present, there is very limited literature available on BPR applications to enabling processes in general, which gives us an opportunity to explore them to extract benefits.
•
BPR Methodologies must address Key people and Process issues: Before implementing change it is very essential to understand the underlying processes, key issues involved, and the people who would be affected by it. And, hence the BPR methodologies should be such developed that they address these issues.
•
Strategic and Operational Networks for Multi-site organisations: In case of organizations operating in more than one location/site, strategic and operational networks should be established to ensure consistent processes.
•
BPR methodologies should address other aspects like: – Ownership for the efforts with a special emphasis on supporting communication must be clearly defined throughout all phases of the methodologies – – It should incorporate self-assessment which is a proven approach Eternal benchmarking should be an integral phase of all methodologies
19
doc_206857143.doc
This document describes the BPR offline enabling processes.
Business Process Reengineering
“An Improved BPR approach for Offline Enabling Processes”
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Business processes can be broadly classified into strategic processes, operational/value adding processes and enabling processes. The strategic and operational processes have been given more importance due to their value adding importance and more tangible and sequential nature. Enabling or supporting processes have historically received less attention, however with increasing inter and intra networking of organizations these processes are not seen as peripheral but as integral parts of the organization. A key enabling process is that of maintenance (in the manufacturing sector), this process is sometimes referred to as the maintaining process. This area has been highlighted in recent times by the increased interest in improvement methodologies such as total productive maintenance (TPM) (Davis, 1996). Business process re-engineering, on the other hand, has made a significant contribution to strategic and operational processes, but there is only limited evidence of BPR applications to the maintaining process. The case discusses a methodology involving business process re-engineering, developed and applied to the maintaining process within the chemical industry (Du Pont-Global). The methodology includes both self-assessment and proactive change management. Based on the findings improvements to the methodology have been suggested.
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Business Process Improvement Methodologies………………………….4 2. Critique of Business Process Improvement Methodologies……………. 6 3. Du Pont (Global Maintaining Process)………………………………….. 7 4. MERP Process……………………………………………………………..9 5. Methodology adopted for Merp…………………………………………..10 6. Limitations of MERP and need for BPR…………………………………12 7. Application of MERP and the BPR Methodology……………………….14 8. Improvements to the BPR Methodology and the MERP Methodology.. 18 9. Learnings from the case………………………………………………….. 20
2
BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT METHODOLOGIES The five stages common to most methodologies of a BPR project are as follows: Stage one: Initiation: Initiation consists of selecting the processes to be re-engineered. Normally core processes are selected. These are processes critical to business performance and which often cross functional boundaries. Three criteria to help define core processes: • • • Must be visible to the end customer Must create wealth for the organization Must give the organization competitive advantage in the market
Next, the BPR project team is formed. It must be cross-functional to be able to understand processes from start to finish, and be led by a member of senior management. This will reflect the commitment from the top. External BPR consultants may also form part of the team, as may customers. The team’s first step is to use the organization’s core processes to set measurable objectives. Stage two: Analysis: This consists of evaluating existing processes to determine a baseline of success for the project. Stage three: Redesign: Redesign involves an innovative redesign of the business processes. Information technology may be involved as an enabler of change. During this stage it is important to balance organization structural change, technological change and the change of people’s behavior.
3
Stage four: Implementation: This stage moves into the implementation stage with a pilot study to test the reaction of the organization to change. Learnings from the pilot study are fed back to fine tune the main body of the BPR effort. Stage five: Full implementation: Full implementation involves implementation of the re-engineering processes followed by measuring of the level of success of the new projects and review.
4
CRITIQUE OF BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT METHODOLOGIES Criticism can be leveled at existing methodologies from two aspects: 1. Existing methodologies are almost always developed and applied relevant to strategic and operational/value adding processes. These processes are more tangible and sequential than enabling processes such as the maintaining process. 2. These methodologies sometimes take very simplistic views of the people-related issues. Main barriers to BPR: Human and political issues These barriers include loss of support, both of top management and middle and line management, the prevailing company culture and the existing functional structure, employee fears, with resistance to change being evident at all levels. Suggestions by critics of BPR: They suggest a more evolutionary process of change called “business process improvement” and suggest that in the culture of a learning organization more innovative approaches can be achieved than in a slash and burn culture. The overall methodology, discussed later, seeks to address these issues by being applicable to an enabling process, namely the maintaining process, while at the same time, adequately addressing key process and people issues.
5
CASE STUDY ORGANISATION - DU PONT (GLOBAL MAINTAINING PROCESS) DU PONT: Du Pont is a truly global organization manufacturing chemicals and materials in all continents and in many countries. The case discusses Du Pont at the time when it is in the midst of a transformation. By 2002 they then expected to be a different company, combining their mature experience with dynamic new vigor and capitalizing on their diversity of people, geographical locations and products. They wanted to transform Du Pont into the most responsive, most flexible, most aggressive, youngest 200-year-old company in the world. T The five principal areas of transformation: 1. Competing globally 2. Increasing productivity 3. Focusing their business 4. Commitment to the environment 5. Empowering people Radical change in management structure to support these five key strategies was as follows:
6
The businesses streamlined into smaller strategic SBUs, put the power of the company firmly in the hands of the SBU heads, in order to take advantage of local supply chains and improve flexibility and responsiveness. The line of command drastically shortened with 40 per cent reduction in vice-president positions. Once they had the SBUs and got rid of the matrix, they could determine which jobs really added value, otherwise the matrix got in the way of liaison with customers. Just one of the many programmes Du Pont used to stimulate change across the corporation is the maintenance excellence recognition process, or MERP. This programme was the key driver behind transforming the maintaining function within Du Pont globally.
7
MERP PROCESS Du Pont was a truly global organisation manufacturing chemicals and materials in all continents and in many countries. In 1993, Du Pont started going through transformation in order to achieve the followingCompete on a global basis, increasing productivity; focusing on business; commitment to the environment; and empowering people. To support these five key strategies the management structure was radically altered. The business was also streamlined into smaller strategic business units (SBUs). The line of command had been drastically shortened with 40 per cent reduction in vice-president positions. Among these change initiatives taken across the corporation was the maintenance excellence recognition process, or MERP. This programme was the key driver behind transforming the maintaining function within Du Pont globally. The main purpose of maintenance excellence recognition process was • • To determine how Du Pont maintenance compares to leading companies in cost, management and performance of the maintenance function. To determine what actions Du Pont should take to improve the impact of the maintenance function on Du Pont’s business results.
8
METHODOLOGY ADOPTED FOR MERP External Benchmarking Du Point interviewed 300 candidates from 2500 potential candidates. Among these candidates 7 were from similar industries to Du Pont, 9 were from non-similar industries and 16 Du Pont sites were chosen. At each site, the plant manager, maintenance manager, production supervisor and a number of others were interviewed. Each plant was qualitatively rated on: • • • • • Getting the maintenance job done Cost effectiveness Preparing for the future Customer involvement; Commitment to the product
Based on the data collected from these questionnaires Du Point was compared with other similar and non similar companies and evaluated on the basis of following categories: organisation; costs; material management; maintenance management systems; and management philosophy. Development of the MERP process From the benchmarking studies, that compared Du Pont’s competitive position with leading global companies, a vision of maintenance excellence was developed. This vision was an attempt to describe the best maintenance practices. A key issue was how to make all Du Pont business aware of the vision and stimulate change towards the goal of excellence in the maintaining function. The MERP process was to be the stimulant for change. Each business could analyse their current practices versus the best practice laid down in the MERP criteria. MERP challenged each business to develop goals, objectives and processes which could be benchmarked by an external audit team using the MERP criteria. 9
Key stages within MERP MERP consists of eight criteria which are a description of excellence in the maintaining function.
10
LIMITATIONS OF MERP AND NEED FOR BPR MERP was established on benchmarking studies of best evaluative approaches and it proved to be a very good evaluative model for the maintaining process. But it lacked a proactive element to facilitate change within areas identified as needing improvement. This limiting factor prompted Du Pont to study the effect of combining MERP with a BPR methodology. It was hoped this would combine both selfassessment and proactive change. BPR is commonly facilitated by IT and the main attributes of BPR are: Change: To transform an organization, a deep change must occur in the key behavior levels of the organization: Efficiency: Applications in the efficiency category allow users to work faster and often at measurable lower cost Effectiveness: Applications in the effectiveness category allow users to work better and often to produce higher quality work. Transformation Applications in the the transformation category change the basic ways that people and departments work and may even change the very nature of the business enterprise itself.
11
In general, companies identify their Business Processes in the following manner
High
Manufacturing gap versus industry leader
Increasing operating performance
Catch up
Maintain Advantage
Increase flexibility, responsiveness Differentiate product and services
Low Low Services / Marketing gap versus industry leader High
12
APPLICATION OF MERP AND THE BPR METHODOLOGY TO THE MAINTAINING PROCESS AT MAYDOWN The key goal of the exercise was to bring about a continuous improvement of facilities equipment reliability by application of world class maintenance technology and best practices to eliminate equipment failures. The purpose of MERP was to motivate change, both functional and cultural in the maintaining function. MERP is expected to impact the business in many ways by improving safety, environmental performance and product quality. The MERP process was carried out in the following five phases:
Phase 1: Training of a site champion
Phase 2: Self-assessment
Phase 3: Establish the methodology& teams to improve/re-engineer the process
Phase four: Review by external audit team
Phase 5: Accreditation
Phase 1: Training of a Site Champion In the first phase of the process a site champion was selected and trained for the Maydown site. It involved attending a MERP audit at another Du Pont business unit and familiarisation with the chosen BPR methodology.
13
The training of a champion is the key to the successful implementation of any project. In this case the champion had five main roles to perform. 1. Strategist: As a strategist he had to evaluate the culture of a business unit and evaluate the resource available and begin to plan how to achieve maintenance excellence. 2. Leader: As a leader, he had to understand the value of the process to the business unit and lead the implementation of the process. 3. Key Resource: As a key resource, he had to build value for best practices and link the MERP initiative with the BPR methodology and other current initiatives such as TQM. 4. Communicator: As a communicator and networker, he had to promote teamwork and leverage learning to accelerate improvement. 5. Implementer: As an implementer, he had to establish the systems, processes and structures required for achieving maintenance excellence. In the absence of a champion the project might loose direction. Therefore it is extremely important to focus on providing training to the champion. Phase 2: Self-Assessment The second phase was to compare the current status of the business unit versus maintenance excellence. This was done with the full core team, using a self-audit form listing key aspects of maintenance excellence. By the end of the self audit, the MERP team had a much better understanding of the MERP criteria and where the business unit stood versus maintenance excellence. Phase 3: Establish the Methodology and Teams to Improve/Re-Engineer the Process Phase three was the implementation of best practices as developed by the core teams from each element. The BPR methodology was considered to be especially useful at this
14
stage especially with regard to defining the as-is process and the to-be process, including process mapping, in line with the MERP self-assessment. With the help of BPR methodology they could identify the existing processes and the required target practices. This can be achieved by forming a matrix of change. The matrix represents current organizational practices, target practices and a transitional state that bridges the two.
Example of Matrix of Change The matrix can also help identify the positive of negative relationship between various activities, the difficulty expected in the transitional stage as well as takes into account the experts opinion of these. Phase 4: Review by External Audit Team This phase involved the official review by the external audit team. The audit team consisted of three auditors. One auditor had taken part in all MERP audits, and therefore ensured consistency between audits. At least one of the other two auditors had to have been a past MERP champion for another business unit. The auditors scored each section for maturity, approach and results. The business unit averaged 90 per cent and was awarded with MERP.
15
Review by an external audit team ensures complete fairness and can therefore provide and unbiased opinion. Phase 5: Accreditation The final phase of the audit was initiated by the external audit team. It issued a report noting pockets of excellence and areas for improvement. By doing this the pockets of excellence were used to upgrade the maintenance excellence criteria and the areas of improvement were further analysed and methods for improving them were instituted.
16
IMPROVEMENTS TO THE BPR METHODOLOGY AND THE MERP METHODOLOGY The case highlighted some key areas for improvement in both MERP and the BPR methodology. Some of those are: • Role descriptions for key players: Many specialists say that ownership is critical to success. To achieve this, role descriptions should be used to describe the role of the key players in the program. This will help clarifying responsibilities and details the communication paths between individual • Network support teams: One of the most important success factors is top management support. Permanent networked teams can be formed for this purpose. There should be a different team for each level. o The senior most team would be global and operate at a stategic level. o The next team would be regional but operate again at a strategic level, giving direction to the local site team. o The local site team would work at the operational level implementing the business improvement program. The case shows that this structure has been very successful in driving the MERP process, ensuring top management commitment and local support to the process. • Self-assessment document to identify key processes: Self-assessment document is another method for determining the current state versus the goal or desired future state. It will not only give an excellent starting point but also give a clear direction for the future and stimulate innovation and change. • Long-term improvement: The exit criteria for phase four do contain “method for regular review and improvement established”. More often than not when a program is complete, and is not the prime focus, processes tend to slip back into
17
the past practices and benefits are lost. Continuous reviews should be done to avoid this and ensure long term improvement. • Separate step of position organisation for change: An important step for BPR is positioning the organisation for change. In order to do this organizational business and culture should be assessed which is critical to the success of improvement programmes. This may reveal the need for extensive training before embarking on the BPR initiative. • Separation of improvement and implementation phases: It is extremely important to separate improving and implementation phases to make them more distinct. This would help the organisation focus on the process and not just on the end result.
18
LEARNINGS FROM THE CASE Some of the learnings from the case, pertinent to the enabling or supporting business processes (maintenance process) within the manufacturing sector are described below: • Increased importance of Enabling Processes: Due to increased competition and increased networking within organizations, enabling processes like the maintenance processes are becoming more important for the success of any organization. At present, there is very limited literature available on BPR applications to enabling processes in general, which gives us an opportunity to explore them to extract benefits.
•
BPR Methodologies must address Key people and Process issues: Before implementing change it is very essential to understand the underlying processes, key issues involved, and the people who would be affected by it. And, hence the BPR methodologies should be such developed that they address these issues.
•
Strategic and Operational Networks for Multi-site organisations: In case of organizations operating in more than one location/site, strategic and operational networks should be established to ensure consistent processes.
•
BPR methodologies should address other aspects like: – Ownership for the efforts with a special emphasis on supporting communication must be clearly defined throughout all phases of the methodologies – – It should incorporate self-assessment which is a proven approach Eternal benchmarking should be an integral phase of all methodologies
19
doc_206857143.doc