Business Process Re-engineering Projects

Making the commitment to become a process-driven organization is a momentous event for any company.  Implemented correctly, process re-engineering results in changes at the grass-roots level of a company that produce efficiencies, lower costs and heighten customer satisfaction.  Done poorly, the transition to a process-driven way of doing business can “confuse” an organization, cause it to lose money and competitive positioning, and demoralize a workforce.

AEG has helped customers in the U. S. and off-shore implement process improvements for many years.  One such initiative that is currently underway called for a complete process mapping of the entire company prior to the mobilization of process redesign teams.  The company required documentation of its activities in a standardized format that would facilitate consistency in its analysis and redesign efforts.  Rather than adopt the often over-zealous approach seen in the early days of process reengineering (that generally failed), this utility chose a path that would be better planned and more conservative in its implementation, but nonetheless as dedicated in its goals.

Twelve months were spent in defining the business silos and the principle processes for which the company is responsible.  Detailed mapping of each process, in and of itself, pointed out numerous tasks and responsibilities that were unnecessary or repetitive.  Business centers were established during this phase of the redesign and the organization was realigned within the business centers.  AEG was responsible for the entire process mapping project and for providing support to the client in structuring its redesign plans and strategy.

Phase II of the company’s initiative has seen the creation of a Process Office to coordinate the redesign throughout the company.  Process Officers work with teams comprised of business center members who are relieved of their regular responsibilities during their redesign mobilization.  One of AEG’s senior staff serves as one of the four Process Officers.  The teams are responsible for establishing their own redesign targets based on the contribution that could be expected in the achievement of the Company’s strategic initiatives, i.e., anticipated cost savings, increased customer satisfaction, and improved employee opinion.

Redesign teams meet for a period of weeks to diagnose process problems and subsequently redesign them.  While each team is made up principally of members of the business center involved, each team draws heavily upon subject-matter experts to bring experience and “corporate insight” to the team’s work.  All redesign work receives the scrutiny of the business center before being implemented.  Implementation plans are developed for each process redesign in detail sufficient for another team to step in and complete the transition to the revised process.  Each team employs a vertical cross-section of employees to assure the requisite knowledge and understanding is available, thus avoiding the kind of situation where some critical element is left out because no one thought of it. 

The client has been successful in its process redesign efforts and has been able to significantly improve its supply chain processes up to this point.  It has avoided the kinds of mistakes that were made so often in the past when well-intentioned executives and consultants drove changes so large that the culture of the company could not tolerate the resulting change-management issues and the process improvements were never implemented.   Two new teams will mobilize shortly to begin work on the core business centers of the company, now that the main support organization has been redesigned. 

Critical to the success of this process redesign initiative has been:
• Communication of the process message by senior management together with the continuous presence of senior management in sponsoring and supporting this commitment
• Working to involve all levels of the company in the process initiative
• Recognizing that process redesign is something that can intimidate and negatively impact employees who fear change in any form, and taking the time to manage employee reactions in a highly positive manner.
• Allowing process teams to “set their own mandates” for success and the processes to redesign.
• Conveying the importance of process to the future of the company and to the wellbeing of its employees.
• Giving the necessary level of authority to the teams to achieve their goals.