Capturing As Is Process
Organisational Requirements and Characteristics
Change Management Requirements
Process Metrics
Process Change Risk
Delivering Process Improvement
Sustaining the Process Change
Capturing As Is Process
Process Improvement should always start with a sound understanding of what the As Is state is in order to determine whether improvement is required.
When capturing the As Is state of a process it is worth noting:
- The As Is state is how the process is currently executed
- The As Is state is not necessarily the captured process map if it exists
- The As Is state requires input from all stakeholders, operators and potentially the process value stream
As Is Process Mapping Sessions:
- Are brainstorming sessions that capture the required process as a map
- Uses common brainstorming techniques
- Should include those executing the process
- Should include stakeholders if a process design session
- Should have a facilitator and a scribe as resource
- Should not attempt to capture the process as a standard process map
When capturing processes in a brainstorming session it is helpful to not use a computer. Instead give each resource and asset in the process a different colour
post it note.
Each resource can then write on the post it note the action or decision and place in order. As each resource is in a different colour swimlane maps can be produced
electronically after the session.
Steps in Creating a Process Map
- Select a process
- Define the process
- Map the main process steps
- Define the inputs
- Map any alternate process steps
- Map any inspection points
Within the process it is important to define:
- the output of the process
- the customers for the output
- the customer requirements
- the process participants
- the process owner
- the key stakeholders
- the process boundaries – the first and last steps of the process
- the inputs to the process and the suppliers of the inputs
Organisational Requirements and Characteristics
Organisational Requirements and Characteristics required for the identification of process improvement implementation should include:
- All standards that need to be met by the organisation
- Organisational strategic requirements
- Organisational goals and objectives
- Organisational short, medium and long term plans
These can be aligned to the processes within the organisational process hierarchy and a relationship between the process and organisational requirement and
characteristic developed. This reveals processes that have high relationships with the characteristics that should be monitored for improvement opportunities
as they have high impact on the organisation. Those processes that are underperforming and have a high relationship score with the organisational characteristics
need to be analysed as they will be having major impact on the ability of the organisation to deliver the standards levels required, the organisational strategy
and the organisational goals and objectives.
Alternately the analysis will display standards, strategic requirements, goals and objectives and short, medium and long term plans that may be underrepresented
in the activity or processes of the organisation and allow opportunity add processes or upgrade existing processes to deliver the organisational characteristic.
Additionally, some standards, strategic requirements, goals and objectives and short, medium and long term plans may be overrepresented for their level of importance
to the organisation. The opportunity then exists to remove waste in the organisation from its processes.
For assistance in implementing organisational requirements and characteristics within a process improvement program please contact us via our
Contact Page.
Change Management Requirements
Change Management requirements in process improvement would include:
- A view of organisational processes and their interactions
- A view of process owners for stakeholder management
- A view of process executors for stakeholder management and change training requirements
- A view of the existing document chain at strategy/policy, procedural and work instruction levels
- A view of current resources and personnel required to execute current processes
- A view of current KPI in processes and interacting process and data representing the history of affected processes
Change management should be in of itself a process within the organisation that follows:
- Identification
- Change Notification
- Change Approval
- Planning
- Planning Approval
- Change Action
- Change Review and Monitor
- Document the Change
- Approval of Change
- Close Change and transition to BAU
The level of scrutiny of each step is directly dependant on the level of risk attained to the prescribed and or identified change.
Systems can be developed to create an efficient environment for process improvement and change that identify all the requirements process improvement and change and
can run the change management process for an organisation and store its history of change. This is a key characteristic of the Quality One
iProgent™ approach.
For further information on iProgent™ and assistance in change management and change management in process improvement please contact us via our
Contact Page.
Process Metrics
Understanding process metrics and how reported metrics chain together and potentially affect each other is an important if not vital understanding of process
improvement. A solid view of the escalation, accumulation and cascade of process metrics within and organisation is paramount – A Hoshin view.
A view of how external metrics can affect process KPI is often also sought in process improvement.
Interacting process can also have KPI assessed as part of an integrated approach to process improvement. This can be achieved via a process interaction matrix. This
combined with an understanding of risk related to a particular process (see below) and the roles in those in those processes can give a view as to importance and
effect of KPIs within a process improvement activity.
The metric analysis would include all the classical process metrics and any specific metric to a process. This could include but would not be exclusive to:
- Efficiency
- Productivity
- Cycle Time
- Turnaround Time
- Takt Time
- Throughput
- Error Rate
- Defect Rate
- Cost
- Capability – Cpk, Ppk
- TIMWOODS or sources of waste
- Pareto dependant measures…..
For further assistance in process metrics in a process improvement environment please contact us via our
Contact Page.
Process Change Risk
Process Change Risk needs to include analysis of:
- Potential stakeholder engagement
- Owner
- Executer
- Supplier
- Customer
- This can be achieved through an understanding of processes, KPI for the processes and KPI for each role that stakeholders are aligned to
- Process Interaction
- Internal though a process interaction matrix
- External though SIPOC views of processes
- Process Risk Levels
- Process Risk Matrix
- Safety and Regulatory Requirements
- Process Document Chain Requirements
- Policy
- Procedure
- Work Instruction
- Process Map
- Change Management Process Records
- Training Documents
- Training Matrix
- Organisational Working Knowledge
- As Is and To Be Analysis
- Current cost v Future Cost
- Current ROI v Future ROI
- Current KPI v Future KPI
- Cost of Change
- Personnel Changes
- Asset and equipment Changes
- Competency Changes
- New Process Requirements
- Redundant Process Requirements
- External Customers
- External Suppliers
Systems can be developed to create an efficient environment for process improvement and change that identify all the requirements process improvement, change with risk
analysis and can run the change management process for an organisation and store its history of change. This is a key characteristic of the Quality One
iProgent™ approach.
For further information on iProgent™ and assistance in change management risk and change management in process improvement please contact us via our
Contact Page.
Delivering Process Improvement
Delivering Process Improvement comes in the change action section of the change management process. The action plan for implementation of process improvements needs to be
in the form of a Task and Timing Plan which needs to include:
- Risk Management and Mitigation
- Stakeholder Management
- Contingency Plans
- Resource and Asset cutover
- Personnel Training Plans
- Documentation Updates
- Data Collection Plans and Data Collection cutover
- Supplier and Customer engagement
- Transition to BAU
- Organisational Governance Requirements
A change management procedure should be written specifically for the organisation as a template for efficient process improvement change management in relation to the specific
products and or services the organisation delivers.
For assistance in developing a process improvement change management procedure and executing process improvements within a process improvement implementation please contact us
via our Contact Page.
Sustaining the Process Change
Sustaining the process change in a process improvement program requires planning to move the process change to BAU. This would include but are not exclusive to:
- The monitoring and analysis of required data delivered through process execution
- Analysis of the need to continue with redundant metrics
- Analysis that the process improvement did improve the desired process and did not produce any undesired side effects
- Analysis that KPI metrics are set to the correct levels
- The monitoring and analysis of associated regulatory requirements against the process
- The monitoring and analysis of associated safety requirements against the process
- Update of audit requirements and document reviews undertaken
- Assuring the required level of asset resource is maintained
- Assuring the required level of consumable resource is maintained
- Assuring the required level of personnel resource is maintained
- Training requirements updated
- Training matrix maintained
- Training materials or equivalent certification is maintained
- Assuring the required level of software resource is updated and maintained
- The new process being analysed in any future process change that interacts with the new process
- Mitigation plans to be executed when new process KPI levels are not met
- Required benchmarks for the new process monitored and analysed
- Hoshin reporting chain administered and monitored with new process metrics
For assistance in developing a process improvement sustainable change management and establishing BAU process improvements within a process improvement
implementation please contact us via our
Contact Page.