Process Management

Process Management is about
ensuring processes deliver value efficienty.

Step one in Process Management is to find out what is going on and what should be going on.

Once what is going to happen in future is determined, the task is to make sure the people who need to know are informed and trained. Process documentation is the next step in adding value to the business: it allows training towards uniform actions through delegation, and where appropriate, automation.

Processes should not fixed: the documenation must not be a straight-jacket, but an ongoing repository of knowledge and wisdom. Incident and problem reviews are both potent opportunities to deal with process issues, looking to find ways to strengthen the processes, to make them more robust. The phrase "we've always done it this way" must not be allowed to pass unchallenged.

An example:
nuts and bolts

The first process automation I wrote was over 25 years ago, for a manufacturing company. As background, items subject to a a quality control rejection were internally impounded and stored in a locked cage. The need for a larger cage triggered a process review. At that time there was no 'world wide web' and it was early days for software supporting what would become known as email. "Reject Notes" were multi-part paper documents that were carried from department to department by hand. Other than seeing the items in these quarantine cages, management had no view on size of what was clearly a growing issue. There was no accurate assessment of the monetary value of the segregated product.

These Reject Notes might be left on the desk of the next person to action, or buried in their in-tray. The person might be on holiday. Due process was being circumvented by somebody writing "Not Required" for what was intended to be a essential check.

Consequently items were being reworked when it was not economic, or the perceived fault was in truth a desired feature. Thousands of pounds worth of product was impounded, meaning even more thousands of pounds was being spent manufacturing urgently needed replacements to satisfy promised delivery dates. This carried the penalties of paying over-time rates and disrupting planned schedules.

Valuable factory floor space was be taken up by ever larger cages.

The automated process

  • prevented mandatory checks from being thwarted
  • prevented the now electronic Reject Note from being lost
  • reported hold-ups, allowing action to be taken
  • provided management with a view on the value of quarantined items
  • avoided the need to enlarge quarantine cages

 

Instead of a bespoke software solution, modern tools allow rapid collection of process information as a diagram which can be reviewed, and in turn becomes the pattern for a process engine like Intelligent Actions. This approach provides a rapid and robust solution to the need, compliant with ISO 9001.

Intelligent Actions logo

Intelligent Actions are experts in Process Digitalization. They ensure that with any set of repetitive tasks, the right work will route to the right person at the right time.

  • Working practices are optimized and paperwork replaced by online forms.
  • Integration with existing systems can retrieve information and push data back.
  • This can free up staff for higher value work, driving down costs and boosting revenue.

Why hire a Service Management Analyst to help you carry out process reviews?

  • As an outsider, we can ask penetrating questions that would not otherwise get asked.
  • You are bringing in an outsider who will be neutral in a process review where entrenched rival positions are held.
  • We bring objective analysis plus transformation expertise and skills from multiple backgrounds.
  • You are buying in experience of appropriate tools to create process automation, plus ISO9001 compliant documentation processes.
  • Use us when you need us.