Reengineering Business Processes

Imagine a world in which your business operates at its full potential, with every process streamlined for maximum efficiency. Innovation becomes second nature and performance reaches new heights. Business process reengineering can make this vision a practical and achievable reality.

Business process reengineering involves more than just minor adjustments; it reshapes the core operations of your organisation. Significant improvements in productivity, quality and overall performance can be achieved by fundamentally altering workflows, eliminating inefficiencies and addressing bottlenecks.

Techniques such as process mining reveal hidden opportunities for improvement by highlighting tasks that can be simplified, automated or outsourced more effectively. Beyond improving efficiency, reengineering drives collaboration and innovation within teams, transforming the way work is approached and creating a lasting impact on organisational success.

“If I had one hour to save the world, I would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution. “ - Albert Einstein

Identify Inefficiencies and Hidden Opportunities

The identification of inefficiencies, redundancies and hidden opportunities in the re-engineering of business processes requires a systematic approach.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do this effectively:

1. Map Current Processes

Create detailed flowcharts or process maps to outline each step of your workflows. These visual guides help team understand stages and components, giving you better coordination and a basis for discussing how work should proceed.

Gather data on the duration of each step, the resources involved and any delays or waiting times. This information helps you spot bottlenecks, compare performance with plans, and guide decisions that help processes run smoothly.

• What surprises you most when you examine your workflows closely?

• Where might a simple change create the greatest improvement?

2. Analyse the Data

Look closely at your workflow and identify bottlenecks where tasks accumulate or slow down. Remember, a process is only as strong as its slowest point and each delay directly impacts your bottom line.

Next, examine your tasks for redundancies, spotting duplicated or unnecessary work that inflates costs. Measure performance through key performance indicators (KPIs) to see if objectives are met and determine steps to enhance overall efficiency.

• Which step in your process consistently slows progress and why?

• Are there tasks you repeat that could be streamlined or removed entirely?

3. Engage Stakeholders

Speak directly with the employees involved in each process to uncover daily inefficiencies and challenges they face. Their practical insights are invaluable, helping you pinpoint issues that might not be visible from a managerial perspective.

Engage stakeholders in brainstorming sessions to explore improvements and ensure everyone is aligned with project goals from the start. Leveraging the expertise of skilled employees can enhance operations, boosting both efficiency and overall profitability.

• How often do you consult your team for feedback on process improvements?

• Are all stakeholders actively contributing ideas to align operations with project objectives?

4. Leverage Process Mining

Use process mining tools to pull data directly from your IT systems, giving you a factual foundation for understanding and refining your processes. Many businesses underestimate process variability and the effect it has on overall performance.

Create visual representations to reveal deviations from intended workflows, showing how these variations and performance issues develop and interact. Detect common patterns and trends that indicate inefficiencies or opportunities for optimisation, uncovering valuable insights.

• Which deviations from workflow are recurring most frequently in your processes?

• How can visualising performance trends help your team make better operational decisions?

5. Benchmarking

Compare your processes with industry standards or best practices to evaluate your core activities on a wider scale. This perspective, combined with a clear understanding of each element, provides a vital benchmark for improving baseline performance.

Identify where your processes lag behind top-performing organisations and use gap analysis to pinpoint and address these differences. Closing these gaps allows you to enhance performance, streamline operations, and move closer to achieving your strategic goals.

• How does your current performance measure up against industry benchmarks?

• Which gaps, if closed, would have the greatest impact on efficiency and results?

6. Conduct Root Cause Analysis

Use techniques such as the "5 Whys" or fishbone diagrams to uncover the root causes of inefficiencies and redundancies affecting your team, department or organisation. Concentrate on resolving these core issues rather than simply treating surface-level symptoms.

Remember, root causes are the underlying reasons behind problems, whereas symptoms are just visible signs indicating something is wrong. By addressing the true origins, you create solutions that are more effective, sustainable and capable of preventing recurring issues.

• Which recurring problems in your workflow are symptoms, and which are true root causes?

• How can identifying root causes change the way your team approaches problem-solving?

7. Simulate and Test Changes

Create small-scale prototypes or pilot projects to test proposed changes. These pilots act as practical learning tools, letting you experiment on a manageable scale and gather insights into feasibility, costs and potential returns before full implementation.

Evaluate how these changes affect efficiency, cost and quality. While structured processes help maintain order and productivity, it is just as important to continually question and assess them, ensuring they evolve to meet organisational needs and drive lasting improvements.

• Which pilot project results could inform broader process improvements?

• How often do you review existing processes to ensure they remain effective and relevant?

8. Implement Automation

Identify tasks suitable for automation to cut down on manual effort and minimise errors. Focus on repeatable, high-volume and standardised activities, as these offer the greatest potential for efficiency gains through automation.

Deploy tools such as robotic process automation (RPA), AI and machine learning to streamline these processes. Using these technologies wisely lets you optimise resources, reduce operational strain and concentrate your attention on areas that require human expertise and strategic input.

• Which repetitive tasks consume the most time and could benefit from automation?

• How can technology be applied to free up your team for higher-value work?

Implementing Change

Implementing business process reengineering isn't for the faint of heart, but it's worth the effort. The journey typically involves seven major steps:

• Putting Customers First: Aligning your company's values with customer needs sets the stage for meaningful change.

• Streamlining Operations: Simplify and standardise complex work while leveraging automation to tackle repetitive tasks.

• Embracing Technology: Equip your processes with modern systems and data to boost efficiency and effectiveness.

• Optimising Environments: Identify the most efficient settings for executing tasks, whether in-house or through outsourcing.

• Empowering Teams: Break down silos by organising cross-functional teams with end-to-end responsibility for processes.

• Cultural Shift: Rethink organisational dynamics and empower employees to embrace the changes ahead.

• Strategic Partnerships: Determine the right roles for third parties or outsourcers to enhance value delivery.

“The key to real change lies not in implementing a new process, but in getting people to hold one another accountable to the process.” - Kerry Patterson

Common Applications of Business Process Reengineering

The impact of business process reengineering extends far beyond the boardroom - it's about delivering tangible results that resonate with both customers and stakeholders.

By embracing business process reengineering, companies can:

• Reduce Costs and Cycle Times: By eliminating wasteful activities and optimising workflows.

• Enhance Organisational Agility: Empower teams to make faster decisions and adapt to evolving market demands.

• Elevate Quality: Standardise processes to minimise errors and focus on high-value activities.

• Support Collaboration: Break down barriers between departments to facilitate seamless information flow and collaboration.

The Process of Creating a Process | Moustafa Moursy (President @ Push Analytics)

Sample Case: Ford Motor Company

Ford once employed more than 500 people in its accounts payable department, processing invoices in a traditional, multi-step approval workflow. Each invoice was manually matched to purchase orders and receiving documents, creating delays, errors and unnecessary handoffs.

Rather than improving the existing process, Ford redesigned it entirely. By integrating purchasing, receiving and accounts payable systems, invoices were largely eliminated. Payments were triggered automatically when goods were received and matched digitally against purchase orders.

The result was a dramatic reduction in manual work, faster cycle times and a 75% reduction in headcount within accounts payable - not through cost-cutting alone, but by removing the need for the process itself.

Key takeaway: Ford did not streamline accounts payable; it questioned why invoices were needed at all. True process reengineering starts by challenging assumptions, not by refining inefficient workflows.

"Reengineering is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary measures of performance such as cost, quality, service and speed." - Michael Martin Hammer (American Engineer)

In essence, business process reengineering isn't just a buzzword - it's crucial for your organisation to thrive in today's competitive landscape. By embracing change and challenging the status quo, you can unlock new opportunities for growth, innovation and success.

As you consider the insights shared, what steps will you take today to start rethinking your processes? How can embracing change lead your organisation to newfound success and resilience in a continuously developing landscape?

Don't shy away from rethinking how things are done. Approach this with an open mind and be willing to make bold decisions. The results can be transformative.