| The majority of business process improvements were | | | | achieve the objectives set out in the business plan that |
| developed in the manufacturing arena but the core | | | | was created by the business leaders. They create |
| techniques and principles remain transferable across | | | | and approve the documentation that supports the |
| most industries today. | | | | process. They are often supported in this work by the |
| Business process improvement focuses on ensuring | | | | process improvement team. The starting point is to |
| that functions are done correctly, by reducing waste | | | | understand the customer requirements which translate |
| for example. We begin by defining the strategic | | | | into a set of metrics overseen by the operational |
| objectives of an organisation, targeting the customers | | | | managers and are commonly known as KPIs or key |
| of that organisation and making the business | | | | performance indicators. These are what measures |
| processes in line with those objectives. | | | | that the customer requirements and expectations are |
| BPI tends to look at a radical change in the business | | | | being met. |
| performance rather than a slow change approach. | | | | The process operators analyses the performance |
| Change is not intended to be trivial but rather a | | | | data to review the performance of the process. They |
| revolution. Re-engineering is a term often associated | | | | create performance improvement plans based on that |
| with these changes. | | | | performance data and this may include Lean practices |
| Businesses process improvement looks at the primary | | | | to reduce waste such as Six Sigma. Improvement |
| roles in a business, the management system, the | | | | plans include risk analysis to identify problems within the |
| business leader, the process owner, the operation | | | | process and mitigate against their consequences. |
| manager and the process operator. Each has a unique | | | | Meanwhile the operational manager brings resources |
| set of responsibilities but all need to work together as | | | | and process together to deliver the targets set out in |
| a unit. The business leader creates the business plan | | | | the business plan. This follows a classic plan, do, check |
| which was devised through the strategic planning | | | | and act cycle. Finally the process operator performs |
| process. They communicate the the business plan | | | | the work needed to achieve the objectives of the |
| through the organisation, they build communication | | | | business plan again using the do, check and act cycle. |
| bridges and remove barriers. They analyse the | | | | Processes need to be in line with business goals. |
| performance of the business and use management | | | | Customer needs to be at the centre of business |
| data to guide the business to ward its objectives. | | | | process improvement and results need to be regularly |
| Meanwhile the owner of the business process is the | | | | benchmarking to be able to measure improvement and |
| person who designs the processes necessary to | | | | progress. |