Process Improvement

Baffled by repeated mistakes in your department? Want to focus your employees' limited time on more valuable work? The answer to these challenges and more is business process improvement (BPI). Every process in every organization can be made more effective, cost-efficient, and adaptable to changing business needs. The good news is you don't need to be a BPM expert to get great results. Written by an experienced process analyst, this how-to guide presents a simple, bottom-line approach to process improvement work. With its proven 10-step method you can: Identify and prioritize the processes that need fixing * Eliminate duplication and bureaucracy * Control costs * Establish internal controls to reduce human error * Test and rework the process before introducing it * Implement the changes Now in its second edition, The Power of Business Process Improvement is even more user-friendly with new software suggestions, quizzes, a comparison of industry improvement methods, and examples to help you apply the ideas. Whether you are new to BPI or a seasoned pro, you will have business running better in no time.

This book provides business professionals with the clearest, easiest roadmap to achieving highly effective departments and organizations. Are you baffled by how your department can keep making the same mistakes? Do you feel you have been climbing an unending, uphill battle trying to focus your employees’ limited time on more valuable work? These obstacles are so common in business that the solution to getting past them even has a name--business process improvement (BPI). Thankfully, though, you don’t have to be a BPI expert to resolve these situations and find the results your business needs to find success again. Written by experienced process analyst Susan Page, The Power of Business Process Improvement is the resource you need to find a simple, bottom-line approach to process improvement work. By implementing its proven 10-step method, you will be able to: Eliminate duplication and bureaucracy Control costs Establish internal controls to reduce human error Test and rework the process before introducing it Implement the changes Complete with software suggestions, quizzes, a comparison of industry improvement methods, and examples to help you apply the ideas, The Power of Business Process Improvement is your solution to turning your business into the well-oiled machine you know it can be.

Proven methods for achieving continuous process improvement Resolve "quality chaos" by creating a link between quality problems and their optimal solutions. With a focus on building an integrated quality environment, Strategic Continuous Process Improvement: Which Quality Tools to Use and When to Use Them begins by discussing the different types of continuous process improvement (CPI) systems available. This practical guide explains how to implement a strategic performance model and select and integrate appropriate metrics to achieve desired results. Tested techniques for executing an improvement process are included along with real-world examples. The book concludes with a plan to help you sustain an ongoing culture of continuous quality improvement in your organization. Find out how to: Identify CPI opportunities Evaluate various CPI options using comparative benchmarks Understand the characteristics of each quality option Map CPI characteristics against quality problems Select the appropriate tool to fit a specific quality problem Recognize the role of governance and performance reviews Cascade and communicate CPI throughout your organization Move the needle toward successful process optimization

When you invest in expensive technology and systems, you want to get the most out of them. Process improvement has been used for years as an effective strategy to reduce costs, shorten cycle times, improve quality, and increase user satisfaction in other areas of business such as Quality, Manufacturing, and Engineering. While there are many books a

High-performance process improvement takes process improvement to the next ambition level. The kernel of the substance is a generic process improvement process that operates under the strictest time, quality and cost constraints. Thanks to a modular composition and robust methods the scope may range from one single person to networks with hundreds of companies. This is realized via three high-class phases:network and company analysis and synthesis, process analysis and synthesis, the implementation, including process improvement education and training and the practical realization of the improvement potential. The presented methods contain mass customization features and a very advanced logic for optimizing the interaction of people, technology, information and material both in the process improvement process itself and the focus process. The book is based on an extensive R&D effort and thorough practical verifications in more than 75 companies in almost any business and in all sizes.

No matter how perfect a project plan may be on paper, it is worthless if nobody actually uses it. This innovative guide shows you how to ensure that your team has the process capabilities needed to successfully carry out any project plan you put to paper. By using the SEI's Capability Maturity Model, The Project Management Maturity Model, and PMBOK Knowledge areas, you can baseline your team's process level to see how it measures up to those required by a project plan.

vi The process is important! I learned this lesson the hard way during my previous existence working as a design engineer with PA Consulting Group's Cambridge Technology Centre. One of my earliest assignments involved the development of a piece of labo- tory automation equipment for a major European pharmaceutical manufacturer.Two things stick in my mind from those early days – first, that the equipment was always to be ready for delivery in three weeks and,second,that being able to write well structured Pascal was not sufficient to deliver reliable software performance. Delivery was ultimately six months late,the project ran some sixty percent over budget and I gained my first promotion to Senior Engineer. At the time it puzzled me that I had been unable to predict the John Clarkson real effort required to complete the automation project – I had Reader in Engineering Design, genuinely believed that the project would be finished in three Director, Cambridge Engineering weeks.It was some years later that I discovered Kenneth Cooper's Design Centre papers describing the Rework Cycle and realised that I had been the victim of “undiscovered rework”.I quickly learned that project plans were not just inaccurate,as most project managers would attest,but often grossly misleading,bearing little resemblance to actual development practice.

“The Business Process Improvement methodology established by Dr. H. James Harrington and his group brings revolutionary improvement not only in quality of products and services, but also in the business processes.” —Professor Yoshio Kondo The Book That Goes Beyond Six Sigma and Lean . . . The Next Evolutionary Step in Business Process Management “Don’t design for Six Sigma—design for maximum performance.” H. James Harrington How would you like to streamline your operations, lower your costs, improve your quality, and increase your profits—all at the same time? It’s not an impossible dream. It’s the next evolutionary breakthrough in process improvement that goes beyond Process Reengineering, TRIZ, Six Sigma, and Lean to deliver actual, quantifiable results. And now it’s yours. Streamlined Process Improvement (SPI) is the powerful new program developed by H. James Harrington. After 40 years of improving processes for IBM, Ernst & Young, the Chinese government, and many other private and governmental organizations, Harrington has become the go-to leader in the field. His revolutionary guide shows you how to: Discover the latest process tools—to make faster, more dramatic improvements using the revolutionary PASIC improvement methodology Use walk-through questionnaires and checklists—to streamline your job, resulting in optimum value to your stakeholders Use the newest methodologies—including simulation modeling, risk analysis, Five Ss, Process Innovation, Information Technology, Lean, and Six Sigma—to take your business to the next level Increase innovation—to drive growth and profits for many years to come Harrington’s groundbreaking system is organized and explained step by step to help you achieve maximum results with a minimum of stress. His simple PASIC approach shows you how to Plan, Analyze, Streamline, Implement, and Continuously Improve throughout the entire process. He walks you through the basics of how to analyze each process, how to decide which to focus on first, and how to prepare for organizational change. You’ll be surprised by just how quickly you can make things run more efficiently and effectively. With Harrington’s proven techniques, you can sell your products and services at a lower price, satisfy your customers, make work more enjoyable for your employees, and still earn greater profits than your competitors. This powerful process guide is the definitive handbook for operations managers, quality consultants, Six Sigma practitioners, knowledge workers, and Lean thinkers for a new generation.

This best-seller is fully revised and updated! Its goal is still to give readers practical insight into how they can create a coherent business process improvement system. Author Bjørn Andersen works from the premise that consistently working on improving various aspects of how things are done, large and small, is the key to success for any organization.The first half presents an overall business process improvement model, with the ensuing chapters dealing with topics of understanding and modeling your current business processes, using performance measurement in improvement work, creating a business process improvement roadmap, and organizing for improvement work. The second half of the book presents the overall toolbox, followed by one chapter for each phase of the overall improvement model. For each of these phases, a selection of suitable tools is presented with background, steps to use them, and an example of their use. The final two chapters contain two more extensive case studies illustrating the use of the full methodology. And finally, a number of templates can be found at the very end of the book, templates that support most of the tools presented.This book is suitable for employees and managers at any organizational level in any type of industry, including service, manufacturing, and the public sector. It should also be useful as a textbook for students in courses relating to quality management and continuous improvement.

Thousands of companies have discovered the value of Six Sigma in streamlining operations, cutting costs, improving quality, and increasing profitability. A Guide to Lean Six Sigma and Process Improvement for Practitioners and Students, Second Edition gives green belts, black belts, champions, and students a complete executive framework for understanding quality and implementing Lean Six Sigma. Building on the widely praised first edition, top Six Sigma experts Howard Gitlow and Richard Melnyck add today's most recent and important lean and process control system applications. Step by step, they systematically walk you through the five-step DMAIC implementation process, with detailed examples and many real-world case studies. You'll find practical coverage of Six Sigma statistics and management techniques, and realistic solutions for many common implementation obstacles. Coverage includes: A realistic overview of Six Sigma Management Six Sigma roles, responsibilities, and terminology Managing Six Sigma with Dashboards and Control Charts Mastering each DMAIC phase: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control Understanding foundational Six Sigma statistics: probability, probability distributions, sampling distributions, and interval estimation Testing hypotheses and designing experiments Pursuing Six Sigma Champion or Green Belt Certification, and more