Business Process Consulting refers to Business Process Re-engineering (BPR), Continuous Improvement and Other Initiatives that improve management and operational processes. BPR and “Continuous Improvement” tools and techniques have evolved over some 20-30 years. Some of the terms and methods heard in association with this include:
- Business functional decomposition, business process notation, swim lane diagrams, SIPOC diagrams (supplier, input, process, output, customer)
- Moments of Truth (experience at point of customer contact), Value Stream Mapping,
- Lean Production, Lean Manufacturing, JIT, 7 Wastes, Poka-Yoke, PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act)
- Activity Based Costing (ABC)
- Kaizen, Total Quality Manufacturing (TQM), Language Processing/Semantics, 4 Fitnesses, Measuring Your Process
- TQ Management Tools: 7 Step WV Problem Solving Model, 9 step Project Planning Process, Affinity Diagrams (KJ), Multi-Stage Picking Out Method (MPM), Tree Diagrams, Decision Tree Analysis, Concept Engineering, Voice of the Customer, Kano Model
- Six Sigma DMAIC Tools: Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA), Pareto Charts, Histogram, Scatter Diagrams, Run Charts, Control Charts, Check Sheets
- Types of Work (TOW), Cost Out, Outsourcing Decisions Matrix
- Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
As “Process Reengineering” was evolving many of these methods were highly separate. We used to talk about big “BPR” and little “BPR” in order to scope discussions and understand the appropriate methods and tools to use. Big “BPR” was big process reeenineering. This was characterized as needing the kind of improvement whereby current approaches could not be incrementally improved to get the what was needed. New thinking and something entirely different was needed in order to attain 1-10x scale improvement. Little BPR was associated with continuous improvement where the goals were 10-25% measurable improvement. In little BPR there wouldn’t be a need to blow up the current way of doing things. Instead, incremental improvement would be enough.
Wayne MacNeil has worked with all of these tools at length. He was one of the pioneers in practicing business process reengineering in IT development projects and the use of TQ and Six Sigma tools in company problem solving and continuous improvement programs. Wayne learned many of these tools at Bose Corporation in affiliation with the Boston area Center for Quality Management (CQM). As leader of Bose internal consulting group, Wayne developed a company wide pool of TQ/Six Sigma trained advisors. He also played a key role in the rollout of the company wide TQ program. The Bose Consulting group practiced these tools regularly as appropriate within business and IT projects.
Many of these tools have value that is now often forgotten and could help companies to improve internal methods for collaboration, problem solving, continuous improvement of processes and management decision making.
MacNeil Consulting can provide “Business Process Consulting” services in a number of ways including:
- Project Management of business and IT projects where business process engineering is required
- Program Management for the development of trained internal consultants and/or implementation of a continuous improvement/ TQ program within a company
- Training programs for employees who need to learn specific business process engineering skills, TQ Management Tools, Six Sigma Tools, Root Cause Analysis or other Total Quality (TQ) tools
- Facilitation of workshops that are using process engineering tools as a part of their reengineering or continuous improvement projects
Let us help you with your Business Process projects and to institutionalize the use of root cause analysis, problem solving tools and other collaborative management tools and techniques.
Use this link to contact MacNeil Consulting about Business Process Consulting or Continuous Improvement.
