Synergizing Through Kaizen Business Processes

If only it is easy for a business to change for the better, it will be quite uncomplicated for it to reach its goals. However, there are numerous hindrances that do not allow such improvement to take place. Luckily, you can now implement the kaizen methodology so that you can develop your business into a more productive and progressive one. The Kaizen business processes actually pertain to the tasks that aim to improve the functionality of the company. Each organization has a standardized set of activities and processes and these are the target of the kaizen approach. These processes will eventually be more effective especially since the aftermath will be about the elimination of wastes.

The Kaizen business processes strategy is all about the never ending efforts that are being done to cause improvement in the organization. Everyone in the company is involved here. Kaizen management has two major components and they are maintenance and development. The main objective here is to sustain the present technological, operating and managerial standards and improve those that require such. In order to fully come up with a successful tactic in kaizen management, there is a need to first establish a set of rules, policies, objectives and SOPs or standard operating procedures. It is then needed that everyone is told to follow the SOPs, which can be achieved by means of combining discipline and HR development measures.

In improving the business processes, there is a need for the management to revise the current standards. The revision will have to be mastered by the employees as well as the CEOs. There are two main parts of improvement and they are innovation and kaizen itself. The former is about the drastic changes that will occur in the exiting processes and will require from you large investments. On the other hand, kaizen is about small improvements so that you can come up with coordinated efforts coming from your employees.

For most people, kaizen is a difficult approach but you can always use the mini-kaizen or what is known as the quick and easy kaizen. The main purpose of this is to improve the productivity, the quality and the satisfaction of the workers. What happens here is that every single employee is encouraged to provide ideas for the firm when it comes to solving problems on specific areas including the topic on waste elimination. The ideas should also help improve the activity that he performs, the environment of the workplace that he is currently at and others. The managers will then have to be supported when it comes to implementing the ideas that he has shared since this is the main idea of mini-kaizen.

Kaizen business processes work because the employees will notice that there is a problem that they have to provide a solution upon. On a lighter note, they will also be able to spot the opportunities that might help them improve on their job giving them more advantages and benefits in the long run. With the help of kaizen, improvement is assured not only for the present time but also for the years to come.

ERP and Business Process Re-Engineering

The timing of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) efforts in the context of selecting and implementing ERP is a dilemma for many organisations. Many companies recognise the benefits of taking a new look at the way they do things when implementing ERP but baulk at the thought of the costs involved. Surely there's a way to get better value out of ERP by improving the way your processes work but without going through a full scale BPR exercise?

Say you've done all the right things in your ERP selection process - you've surveyed the market, documented your requirements, had the vendors demo their systems and done your due diligence with reference checks - and you've done the deal with your preferred vendor. The implementation looms large, and very soon your team will be sitting in a room with implementation consultants who will ask "how do you want this to work?" What happens next has a huge bearing on the success of your project.

If the team knows exactly what you want then rapid progress can be made towards the design of a system configuration to support your processes. If the team don't know what they want then you could well be in trouble. ERP vendors factor very little time into their consulting services estimates to help you figure out what the process should be. They expect the client to come to the table with a reasonably coherent view of what the solution should look like; this gives them a starting point for configuring the system which will be fine-tuned as the project progresses.

Clearly in some parts of a business it's perfectly normal and advisable to keep things as they are: in essence the new system must replicate what the old system did. However some level of preparatory work is going to be hugely beneficial for all of the processes and functional areas in scope:

• In areas that differentiate your business you may be reasonably happy with the process but want to take the opportunity to look again at how things are done and make minor improvements; at a minimum you should know what your key objectives are for these areas.
• Areas outside the scope of existing systems or where you rely heavily on spreadsheets are likely to change substantially: you will need to know what you're trying to achieve.
• Some areas may need a complete rethink.

A good approach here is to review all your processes and take follow-up action based on the level of change envisaged:

• Low level of change: Identify high-level objectives and benefits that should be borne in mind during the design process.
• Medium level of change: Draft high-level to-be process maps as well as identifying high-level objectives and benefits that should be borne in mind during the design process.
• High level of change: If a radical overhaul is required then you probably need to conduct a full BPR exercise.

The point is that you only undertake a full BPR exercise where it's required and has value. Don't forget that the objective has to be to have a clear vision of what you want when you sit down with the implementation consultants: you probably don't need to agonise in detail over every process to get to the point where you're confident that you know what you're aiming for.

All of this brings me back to the question should you look at reengineering business processes before selecting a new system, before implementation, or during implementation? My view is that, in general, it's best to conduct a BPR exercise in advance of ERP selection with the outputs from the BPR exercise driving the ERP selection project. This can be a tough argument to win in many companies, but the selection process often brings a realisation of the scale of the project ahead and the lack of preparedness for the task. Taking the approach I've outlined above is a sensible option designed to minimise cost, reduce risk and maximise the long-term benefits of investment in ERP.

Business Process Modeling Management

Business Process Modeling (BPM) is an on-going term that has been evolved after so many stages and phases. This modern term has been coined to help business owners to know about the changing business market scenario.

Broadly, business owners are using the terms business process modeling/model interchangeably and using it in a more conventional way. The term helps in designing and creating better methodologies and to suit different business needs in all different sorts of organizations. For example, the term has a different meaning for government agencies whereas its application will be different for non-governmental agencies.

Nowadays, many people are using BPM for different purposes. It is a kind of method that helps in increasing organizational efficiency and quality. Initially, the BPM strategy was used in all commercial businesses where profit making was the main aim. However, nowadays BPM has become a part of every business entity of different nature.

There are so many factors that increase the demand for advanced level of business process modeling. Main factors may include transparency and accountability of activities within organizations, responsibility of public service and government, better use of information technology penetration, and such others.

Hence, it is not wrong to say that business process modeling is arguably a relevant part of every business entity. It helps in improving overall business performance by helping businesses to concentrate on its core specialties in the best possible manner. This technique helps businesses to get a clear roadmap and workflow system to enable and improve more understanding on various changes.

Improving and Implementing New Business Processes

Most organizational operations are made up of a series of processes. Important processes include marketing, sales, order fulfillment, new product design and introduction, financial, information technology, customer support, human services, operations planning and production. The overall organizational business processes provide an excellent opportunity for creating greater efficiencies. In fact, the integration of agile work-flow systems throughout the organization is important so that the organization's business processes are clearly documented understood and optimize.

A good process requires more than simply documenting how something is accomplished. A good process takes into account how it impacts the overall operation of an end-to-end system and the organization at large and its customers (both internal and external). When improving or implementing new processes, consider the following questions.

1. How will this new approach add value and benefit the customer (internal/external) and the people using the process?

2. Does this new approach work "backward from the customer" so it does the best job of meeting the customer's need?

3. Does this new approach simply automate or document a process that is ineffective in the first place or "does this approach truly do the right things better?"

4. What implementation issues will we want to avoid as we make the change?

5. Does the new approach "clearly align" with the business strategy and goals of the organization?

6. Does this new approach have the work or decision performed where and by whom it makes the most sense?

7. How will we measure the success of the new approach?

8. Is the new approach a "seamless" and "foolproof" solution?

9. Does the new approach fill a gap in the overall business/organizational strategy?

10. Does the new approach fit well with other areas or departments?

11. Does this new approach have accountability built into it?

An overriding thought, which can be useful when analyzing your business processes, is to keep in mind the statement "are we easy to do business with?" These words go a long way in supporting an organizational value of "customer-value focus" or "customer satisfaction." Often, procedures and processes are installed for good reasons and with good intentions; however, sometimes although convenient for your business, department or area of responsibility, they cause problems for others. Always ensure the fix is well integrated, agile, and in concert with your organizations value statements and overall business strategy.

As you remove inefficiencies and improve and add new processes, you must also make a concerted effort to place the right people with the right skills in a position where they can exert the greatest impact. If a skill gap exists, training, retraining or hiring the skill to achieve continuous improvement must be accomplished. This approach will provide the organization the best opportunity to attain excellence everywhere. An organization is only as good as its talent.

Note: - Innovation through continual process improvement is not simply a science or an art. It is the passionate and continual entrepreneurial practice of seeking new answers to both old and new problems. It is also the creating of an organizational culture that seeks opportunities to maximize the use of human imagination, knowledge and potential. It is truly using the organizations collective knowledge to shape its future.

Helping Businesses to Find Unique Ways of Beating the Competition

International boundaries are disappearing fast and worldwide market access is on the rise, making businesses more demanding and aggressive day by day. The heavy increase in business turnover has made it extremely difficult for any entrepreneur, big or small, to stay abreast of the latest technologies, tactics and trends that are also undergoing a process of perpetual change, necessitating every business to find its unique way of beating the competition and surging ahead. The old manual ways will get you nowhere in these conditions and you will have to necessarily go for customized business process software and solutions to see improved productivity and workforce attitude to business. However, the best way forward is to set yourself elevated targets for productivity and proficiency and work hard towards optimizing your goals with the help of the software at hand.

You should take your first steps towards optimizing the business system by unraveling its various pros and cons. You can arrive at proper solutions only if you take the trouble to do a comprehensive study about the new technical methods and trends and use them in the unraveling process. However, before you finalize your business process software provider, you would do well to make a thorough comparative analysis of the various choices available.

Making a success of any business without proper guidance is a great challenge indeed. Under these circumstances, hiring professional help in implementing business process software would go a great way in advancing opportunities for rapid growth. The experts also provide technological solutions for better productivity and value-addition in every process. Since, business has grown considerably, business process software experts have also proliferated widely and you can get good offers at highly affordable prices. Find an experienced firm without harping too much on the cost angle, work together with their managers and developers and make full use of their knowledge and expertise for the benefit of your organization.

The Business Process Software application always takes into account the factor of human resource management that is the core strength of any organization. It tells you how to project a good management infrastructure that takes care of its employees and retain them without loss. The experts in the software will guide and empower the workforce and weld them into an impressive workforce structured on modern technology and ideas.

This software also helps in providing the right cues for office management, supported by regular meetings and changing the organizational behavior in standing with the requirements of the market and the clients. The workforce will now be flexible to new ideas, and by optimizing the management at the workplace the team members find the ideal atmosphere to work comfortably without pressure.

We can presume that business process software contributes greatly to extract the best options for effective and efficient business solutions. You can plan to do this entire process in-house if you get a good Business process software developer to make custom software, not only enabling your company to attain its goals but also to earn a long list of satisfied customers.