Final Exam Review What is process analysis What are the steps involved in process analysis Process Analysis the documentation and detailed understanding of how work is performed and how it can be redesigned Steps of Process Analysis o Step 1 Identify Opportunities In order to identify opportunities managers must pay particular attention to the four core processes Supplier relationship New service product development Order fulfillment Customer relationship Another way to identify opportunities is by looking at strategic issues do gaps exist between a process s competitive priorities and its current competitive capabilities Suggestion System a voluntary system by which employees submit their ideas on process improvements o Step 2 Define the Scope Establishes the boundaries of the process to be analyzed A process scope can be too narrow or too broad o Step 3 Document the Process Once the scope is established the analyst should document the process Documentation includes making a list of the process s inputs suppliers internal and external outputs and customers internal and external The next part of documentation is understanding the different steps performed in the process using one or more of the diagrams tables and charts described later in this chapter o Step 4 Evaluate Performance It is important to have good performance measures to evaluate a process for clues on how to improve it Metrics performance measures that are established for a process and the steps within it a good place to start is with competitive priorities but they need to be specific o Step 5 Redesign the Process Careful analysis of the process and its performance on the selected metrics should uncover disconnects or gaps between actual and desired performance Using analytical and creative thinking the design team generates a long list of idea for improvements o Step 6 Implement Changes More than just developing a plan must find a way to carry it out How can one get a detailed understanding of the process Through the five techniques of documenting and evaluating a process they allow you to lift off the lid and peer inside to see how an organization does its work at any level of detail o Flowcharts o Swim lane flowcharts o Service blueprints o Work measurement techniques o Process charts What is a flowchart Flowchart traces the flow of information customers equipment or materials through the various steps of a process also known as flow diagrams process maps relationship maps or blueprints How are flowcharts swim lane flowcharts and service blueprints similar or different Swim lane flowchart is a visual representation that groups functional areas responsible for different sub processes into lanes It is most appropriate when the business process spans several department boundaries and where each department or a functional area is separated by parallel lines similar to lanes in a swimming pool Ex customer sales operations finance and marketing divisions Service Blueprint a special flowchart of a service process that shows which steps have high customer contact it uses a line of visibility to identify which steps are visible to the customer and thus more of a front office process and those that are not back office process What is a process chart Process chart is an organized way of documenting all the activities performed by a person or group of people at a workstation with a customer or on materials In a transformation process what are activities of operations transportation inspection delay and storage Operation changes creates or adds something Drilling a hole or serving a customer are examples of operations Transportation moves the study s subject from one place to another sometimes called materials handling The subject can be a person a material a tool or a piece of equipment Inspection checks or verifies something but does not change it Getting customer feedback checking for blemishes on a surface weighing a product and taking a temperature reading are examples of inspections Delay occurs when the subject is held up awaiting further action Storage occurs when something is put away until a later time What is the purpose of a checklist a histogram a bar chart a Pareto chart a scatter diagram or a cause and effect diagram All help you understand the causes of the problem creating a performance gap Checklist a form used to record frequency of occurrence of certain process failures Histogram a summarization of data measured on a continuous scale showing the frequency distribution of some process failure in statistical terms the central tendency and dispersion of the data Bar Chart a series of bars representing the frequency of occurrence of data characteristics measured on a yes or no basis Pareto Chart a bar chart on which factors are plotted along the horizontal axis in decreasing order of frequency Scatter Diagram a plot of two variables showing whether they are related Cause and effect Diagram a diagram that related a key performance problem to its potential causes How is a Pareto chart similar or not similar to ABC analysis for inventory Both have a 80 20 relationship Pareto s Concept called the 80 20 rule is that 80 percent of the activity is caused by 20 percent of the factors What does a scatter diagram look like Is the cause and effect diagram known by another name The Fishbone Diagram How can a Pareto Chart or cause and effect diagram be constructed Pareto Chart Cause and effect Diagram Why engage in brainstorming Benchmarking Brainstorming letting a group of people knowledgeable bout the process propose ideas for change by saying whatever comes to mind Enhances creativity and helps to get as many ideas as possible Benchmarking a systematic procedure that measures a firm s processes services and products against those of industry leaders Companies use benchmarking to better understand how outstanding companies do things so that they can improve their own processes What are the seven common mistakes that managers make about managing processes pages 138 140 1 Not connecting with strategic issues 2 Not involving the right people in the right way 3 Not giving the design teams and process analysts a clear charter and then holding them accountable 4 Not being satisfied unless fundamental reengineering changes are made 5 Not considering the impact on people 6 Not giving attention to implementation 7 Not creating an infrastructure for continuous process improvement Page 4 What is a lean system Just in Time JIT