Optimize processes — What you need to consider when improving workflows

This rapid progress means that processes no longer remain constant over a longer period of time and have to be constantly scrutinized. Companies that are able to constantly improve their business processes and respond to changing customer needs have a decisive competitive advantage over their competitors. This is one of the reasons why various methods for process optimization are being used more and more widely. This blog post provides an overview of these methods of process optimization.

Requirements and framework conditions

In order to implement successful improvement management with a focus on continuous optimization of processes, the appropriate conditions and framework conditions must first be created and a sustainable improvement culture established. These are:

The most important prerequisite for the success of improvement management is the sustainable anchoring and active life of a cooperative corporate culture. This includes all values, norms and attitudes that shape the decisions, actions and daily conduct of members of the entire company. It is also crucial that these values, norms and attitudes are actively exemplified and demanded by management.

In order to optimize existing work processes and make them more efficient, stable and standardized process documentation is required beforehand. This provides the starting point for implementing improvements. A key success factor is the measurement of process quality using key figures. For example, visual dashboards from Peakboard can be used for this purpose, which show irregularities in a simple and understandable way.

Continuous improvement of work processes without involving employees is doomed to failure from the outset. The employees who take care of the tasks involved on a daily basis know the existing problem areas best and are aware of the difficulties in everyday life. It is crucial to create appropriate platforms that promote exchange between all stakeholders and create the framework for change.

Process optimization methods

As early as the end of the 19th century, the first systematic steps were taken to make production processes more efficient. Engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor developed a system that focused heavily on standardizing work processes and the necessary framework conditions. With the introduction of assembly line production in 1913, Henry Ford was the first to introduce the approach on a large scale and thus pursued the goal of producing an affordable car for everyone. Since then, various methods have been developed, all of which focus on optimising work processes. Here is a summary of the most important methods:

Kaizen: Taiichi Ohno worked as an engineer and production manager at Toyota in Japan after the Second World War. He further developed Henry Ford's concept and consistently integrated it into Toyota's corporate philosophy. In Japanese, “Kai” means change or change and “Zen” means for the better, so “Kaizen” means change for the better. Kaizen focuses on continuous improvement of processes, with the aim of increasing customer satisfaction and reducing waste. The continuous optimization of processes is tackled in workshops led by Kaizen coaches, with the employees involved in the process.

The Six Sigma method was developed in the nineties of the last century by Bill Smith, an engineer and scientist from Motorola, in the USA. This method uses a distinctive mathematical approach and the statistical measurement of data to assess the performance of production processes and their outputs. The processing and implementation of improvement projects, which are tackled according to the Six Sigma method, are carried out as part of improvement projects. The employees involved in the process are involved under the direction of trained Six Sigma experts.

The business reengineering approach was also developed in the 1990s in the USA. In contrast to methods of continuous improvement, this is not about optimizing existing work processes. The focus is on the radical redesign of key business processes, including the established corporate organization. Business reengineering is about the question of how the upcoming work can be organized most efficiently in view of today's market requirements and the latest technological opportunities. Information technology plays a central role in this.

Agile methods: The agile approach is not an improvement method in the strict sense of the word, but rather a holistic management philosophy. The focus is on the wishes of the customer community, which should be implemented quickly and in high quality thanks to a flat, dynamic organization and short internal decision-making processes. The origin comes from software development and is based on the Agile Manifesto with its twelve basic principles. Projects are implemented using the agile approach, for example, using the Scrum method. The focus is on the Scrum team and processes the individual work packages of the project in so-called sprints.

Supporting tools for process optimization

Various tools are used to support the implementation of improvement projects. All of these tools rely on a strong visual component with the aim of making data, figures and facts visible and are ideal for use in workshops with groups. Here are two examples:

that Spaghetti chart is used to record and visually represent incipient routes and carried out transports in a simple way. The completed presentation shows how often the observed employees head to a specific location and which routes they travel within the observation period. The spaghetti chart can also be used as a representation of material flows in production. In this way, the paths of the material can be recorded and improvements to the layout can be made visible to increase processing times.

that process mapping is a tool for visually illustrating an existing workflow and for defining existing fields of action. The individual work steps are assigned to the roles involved, i.e. people or departments. Responsibilities and waste can be presented transparently in this presentation. Process mapping is also known in various forms under other names, such as process flow diagram, value flow analysis or swim lane illustration.

Anchoring optimizations thanks to visualization

The anchoring of the adjustments in the processes and their ongoing monitoring is decisive for the lasting effect of the jointly developed improvements. This can be ensured as follows:

• Review of the lasting impact of the improvements made together with the employees involved around 4 weeks after completion of the improvement project.
• Set KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to measure process quality.
• Tracking the defined KPIs to quickly identify irregularities in the production process. Here, Peakboard's dashboards help to visually visualize the data directly in production and to sensitize the employees involved.

Practical tips

The successful implementation of an improvement project starts with precise preparation and a detailed description of the existing problem. Here are a few tips to help you in everyday life:

• Clearly delimit the improvement before the workshop. Otherwise, there is a risk of endless discussions and distraction. It's better to tackle several small topics separately than one big topic at once.
• Even though certain optimizations seem obvious right from the start of the workshop, it is important that no editing steps are skipped. This prevents premature measures from being taken and important areas of action from being overlooked.
• After the optimizations have been introduced, it is important that their effectiveness is checked and that adjustments are made if necessary.

Visualize and optimize processes with dashboards

With Peakboard, process-relevant key figures are put into perspective on individual dashboards and displayed in a visually appealing and understandable way. This gives all employees exactly the information they need to make well-founded decisions and intervene in disruptions in the ongoing process.
Peakboard's interactivity also offers the option of interacting directly with the visualization via a touchscreen. In addition to a self-determined way of working, this also has the advantage for workers that work progress can be transferred directly to the system without a media break. This saves time and reduces the risk of errors. Our Templates offer you the inspiration you need for your first dashboard.

Note: All text and illustrations presented in this blog post are from the book Process optimization as a holistic approach by Martin Hofmann, published by Springer Verlag in 2020.

‍