Case Study – Business Process Improvement (BPI) project
Situation A private organization with multiple subsidiaries wanted to standardize and improve its operational processes to become more efficient and transparent while also deploying a new ERP solution.
Our service We documented and improved all the operational processes making sure that they were
benchmarked against the respective best practice areas.
We scoped and categorized the processes into two groups – value stream and support – with 14 groups in total. The value stream processes were specific to each subsidiary and, although standardized where appropriate, remained within the subsidiary (for example, production processes). The support processes utilized by all groups within the organization were to be standardized and centralized (for example, HR and ICT).
Before documenting the processes, we identified owners and champions for each set of processes. This was essential as it ensured a buy-in from the client and enabled them to learn the approach to document processes, so that they are able to maintain the process documentation even after the project with us is complete.
We followed a six-stage approach to deliver the project:
• Define ‘As Is’ Conduct a series of
discovery workshops for each of the
processes to understand the existing
processes and if/how they will be
impacted by the ERP system.
• Perform gap analysis Analyze the workshop information to identify
problems with the
processes,
comparing them to the
best practices; and identify the key
improvements to be made.
• Document ‘To Be’ processes Using
a format pre-agreed with the client,
document the new improved
processes, reviewing and agreeing
on them.
• Development of transition and
implementation plans Document
the actions and changes that need
to happen across all aspects of the
organization (people, processes and
systems) in order for the new
processes to be implemented.
• Deliver process training Deliver
training to the process champions
and support the client in the
organization and delivery of training
of the processes to all the required
people in the organization.
• Conduct process health check
Following the implementation of the
processes, audit them to assess
levels of adoption and identify
further changes that need
to be made.
Outcome We successfully documented and implemented 14 different process areas across the organization and its subsidiaries enabling it to become more efficient and provide greater transparency in its operations. Employing the partnership approach, we empowered the client team to develop the required skills and understanding to maintain and alter the processes even after the project had ended.