Continual Enhancement

In order to improve processes, the current situation must be analyzed in detail. The business process map drawn up here serves as a reference base for future developments. As a next step, the improvement objectives are defined and new processes developed. Process steps can be eliminated, replaced, accelerated or integrated. However, such one-time improvements do not suffice to achieve all objectives. In order to monitor the quality and performance of the processes, adequate parameters must be introduced. Every improvement thus must have a measurable target. The projects initiated to change the processes are also incorporated into the system, while process and project management are closely linked to one another. During the introduction of a system for project management it does not suffice to describe the existing procedures. Instead it is necessary to classify the processes with respect to their contribution to the supply chain and concentrate resources on key processes. Parallel to the classical structural organization, the responsible parties as process owners should also be exposed to the views of the customer and optimize processes beyond the limits of individual departments. Besides process descriptions and current key data, documents from quality management should also be integrated into a process management system.