Business Improvement

Improve Your Company’s Efficiency & Reduce Expenses

Why your company will benefit from Business Process Improvement (BPI)

Business processes almost never change until new management notices problems like excessive processing time or overstaffing. Why do processes become inefficient? There are many reasons. Managers are so busy they no longer see the “forest for the trees,” or “that is the way we have always done it,” or “if it is not broke, leave it alone.“

As a business leader, you recognize that as your business evolves, new products and services are constantly being added or changed. These changes occur over-time, causing processes to inadvertently become overly complex and filled with work-a rounds.

You control the cost and scope of your business improvement project. We understand that one size BPI project does not fit all. Many clients start with one troublesome process like collections, or accounts payable, or credit approval, and then expand the project assignment to other areas.

Typical Business Objectives:

• Shorten the Sales to Fulfillment Process
• Reduce Turnaround for Customer Credit Approval
• Shorten the Customer Product Fulfillment Process
• Reduce the Collection Process

Why do processes become inefficient?

Most departments operate in a vertical direction, while processes operate horizontally, passing through several departments. For example, new customer orders typically begin with marketing/sales, then move through accounting/credit, then through production/fulfillment, and finally to billing/collections. A procedure change by any department will influence the other departments, but may go unnoticed. This is why fortune 500 companies maintain full time process management teams to manage every process flow by understanding the cause and effect of all new changes.

There is no one cause for a process failure. Our experience shows that new factors will continually influence a process. New demands are placed on your managers to incorporate new products, services or systems to existing processes. Many times the new demands are based on process changes implemented by other departments. These changes can cause process bottlenecks, work-a rounds, increased time and additions to staff. A once streamlined process can become overly complex through no one’s fault.

What is process improvement? Business process improvement (BPI) is a systematic approach based on years of research, tools, training, and proven results that optimize processes to achieve results that are time efficient and cost effective.

A business process can be formal or informal. Formal processes are identified by written procedures that start with documented and well-established stages. Processes change as business products or service offerings evolve, especially with ever changing systems and advances in technology.

For example, years ago a manager who is now gone, may have written procedures to manage the credit and collections process. Over the past few years, your business added new products, services, staff, automation and perhaps new regulations.

Most often business process changes are subtle and handled with temporary work-a rounds. Over time, the original process changed significantly without being re-evaluated. Now, your process has become inefficient and costly.

It is difficult for front line managers, who have overseen the same process for years, to notice the subtle changes. Their job is to “put out fires” and keep moving their product or service responsibilities forward.

What we do to improve your business processes

• Map the existing processes
• Analyze each step of the process with all levels of staff
• Redesign the process to reduce time
• Implement and communicate the new changes
• Provide training for everyone involved with the new process
• Provide metric to determine the measurable cost and time benefits

New automation systems should improve your company’s processes, not dictate or lock you into the vendor’s process. We recommend that before you purchase automation, first you perform an independent process evaluation of your existing process based on your company’s objectives. Then, evaluate if the new system’s promises will benefit or hinder your desired process.

Sometimes, even with pre-purchase system review and analysis, costly mistakes can occur. There is the story of a Fortune 500 publishing company that purchased a multi-million dollar, customized, highly complex publishing system. The vendor claimed there would be remarkable time efficiency and labor saving. Partway through the system conversion process, it became clear that the vendor’s promises were not true. The new process was not efficient and labor costs soared. Several executives were terminated because of their failure to adequately evaluate the proposed new process.

We Provide Other Business Improvement Consulting Services

• Business Coaching –  measurements, reporting procedures, performance management,
• Business Operations – business plan creation & implementation
• Career Transition – workshop & career coaching
• Competition & Business Plan Analysis.
• Employee Assessments – job matching, employee and team assessments and improvement
• Operational Assessment and Improvement
• Outplacement Services – services for your displaced employees.
• Reduction in Workforce planning and implementation
• S.W.O.T Analysis  – for business assessment and improvement

Business Process Techniques & Terms

• Balances Scorecard
• Brainstorming
• Business Process Improvement
• Cause & Effect
• DMAIC
• Juran
• Kaizen
• KPI
• Lean Principles
• Root Cause
• Six Sigma
• S.W.O.T.
• The 5 Whys
• Total Quality Management

eqHR also provides Human Resources and Payroll Consulting Services in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego and San Francisco Counties.

For your protection, eqHR Solutions maintains Professional (E&O) and General Liability Insurance Policies of $1,000,000 per incident and $2,000,000, in the aggregate.