I have to admit, as sure as that HBR article just over 34 years ago by Michael Hammer, Reengineering Work: Don’t Automate, Obliterate (FROM THE JULY–AUGUST 1990 ISSUE) sparked my interest in this area and sent a lightning bolt of perspective change through a wide variety of organizations, I was wondering if there was another article or trend that somehow I missed that no longer made being efficient relevant.

From our experience, working with some of the fastest growing companies, as well as progressive higher education institutions, looking at how to make or keep an organization focused on efficiency, quality, customer satisfaction and profitability has never been more relevant.  But, to be fair, a lot of things have changed in the past 34+ years.

From TSI’s perspective, here are the top 5 things that have happened to process improvement over the years:

1. It has evolved and now incorporates User Experience (UX), Customer Experience (CX), Transformation or another synonym. Plenty of process definition and analysis is still being done, but it’s done with a greater awareness of what the total experience is.  Further, many organizations are more holistic, looking not just at processes (or operations) but people, culture, technology, strategy, metrics and a number of other dimensions. This is one of my favorite ways that PI has evolved.
2. Tightly coupled with ERP, CRM and other major systems – years back, many organizations optimistically and naively assumed their new ERP/CRM would fix their processes automatically. “We’ll just implement the same processes that (insert Software Product/Vendor name) implemented in (insert similar company name) and we’ll be fine”. Sadly, these organizations learned this is a fallacy and implementing an ERP without looking at processes is a recipe for disaster or just wasting a lot of time and money.
3. Process Renovation – Some organizations are taking a fresh look at the processes that have been re-engineered 10-20 years ago. In some cases, as their business model has changed with acquisitions, divestitures etc. and they realized that it is time to take another hard look at how they operate.  Just because you did this in 2005, does not mean you shouldn’t do it again.
4. Nothing – believe it or not, some organizations missed that wave 34 years ago and still haven’t taken a fresh review of how they operate. Unfortunately in many industries such as retail, publishing, higher education, pharma, high technology manufacturing and many others, we have seen the peril of failing to proactively streamline processes, systems and customer experiences.
5. Lean/Continuous Improvement/Six Sigma Culture – some organizations have reaped the rewards and feel strongly that a periodic review of how they operate is one of the most differentiating characteristics in the marketplace. They strive to be “Operationally Excellent” in all aspects of their business from how they go to market, develop products/services, hire new employees, pay vendors, service customers.

Your Call to Action

In summary, after 34 years, this notion of “process re-engineering” that was set in motion by an article describing a project at Ford Motor Company is alive and thriving.  Granted, this is taking on more adaptive and holistic dimensions, but I would ask you to contemplate the following:

When is the last time you reviewed how your company is to do business with through the eyes of your customers?  When is the last time you analyzed these areas?  When is the last time you had an outsider who is committed to telling the truth, assess your organization? 

TSI (transforming.com) is a leading performance improvement, process re-engineering, technology strategy and organization change management consulting firm based in Chicago. We collaborate with our progressive growth-oriented and higher education clients to define and implement recommendations that help our clients become more efficient, cost effective, higher quality and more customer focused.  Dan Feely is the founder of TSI and can be reached at dfeely@transforming.com

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Business Challenge:

TSI’s client, a fast-emerging innovator in the Biotech space, knew it needed to invest in enterprise systems.  Yet at the time it was balancing many initiatives that caused many of their internal SMEs to be spread very thin as they were embarking on clinical trials, raising another round of funding, building a production facility, along with hiring new employees and conducting the rest of their business.

When TSI was selected, Finance was using QuickBooks and Excel.  Operations and Quality had no defined processes, systems or formalized IT group. The company desired a cloud-based solution, but wasn’t sure about on-premises vs. cloud risks and trade-offs.  There were significant time pressures to identify a cost-effective, reliable and scalable ERP solution that met FDA validation requirements.

TSI’s Approach and Role:

Approach

• Worked with Leadership Team to define/understand strategic direction and priorities
• Conducted a series of rapid design sessions to define future business processes and prioritized functional requirements
• Leveraged TSI’s 20+ years of experience and develop a short list of Vendors for focused software demonstrations and participation in a streamlined RFP process
• Developed, communicated and maintained a committed milestone schedule and set of guiding principles to keep the team on track
• Benchmarked vendor costs and utilize best practices in selection/contract negotiation
• Developed a phased ERP implementation plan to manage risk and reduce time to market for critical functionality while avoiding customizations

Role

• Overall Program, Vendor and Organizational Change Manager
• Business Analysis
• Subject Matter Expertise – ERP, Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Quality
• QuickBooks Interim Technical and Accounting Staff Support
• Technical Infrastructure Support

Results:

• Completed Process/Requirements Definition and ERP Selection in 12 Weeks
• Achieved Validated ERP System Go-Live in 100 Days
• Under Budget 19% for Integrator and TSI
• Shortly after the completion of our work, this company was acquired by one of the largest biotech/pharma conglomerates in the world. The successful implementation of the ERP, along with the process work that TSI led surrounded this, helped to solidify the administrative and financial components of the due diligence.  This, along with other competitive advantages of this organization, led to an extremely lucrative buyout.

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A new eBusiness Healthcare startup was in the infant stages of development. They had identified a critical market need but required consulting expertise to launch that business on the Internet.  TSI was selected to consult on this project because of our specialization in defining business processes, defining business requirements, process optimization, and change or implementation management.

TSI’s Role

Worked with the client to clearly define its eBusiness service offering and how each stakeholder would benefit. Defined the business processes and organizational structure that, in turn, drove portal functionality and maximized stakeholder value.

Results

Clarified the focus of the service offering and target audience. Enhanced the definition of critical business plan information needed to secure venture funding. Developed functional releases that enabled a timely, “robust” service launch within an extremely aggressive delivery timeline.

Click these links to learn more about TSI’s services, TSI’s experienced consulting team, and how they can help your organization achieve optimization in your processes.

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