Process Design

Removing Barriers to Success by Removing Non-Value Added Tasks

"It has always been done this way," and "we had to do this to keep ___ from happening again"are the most common answers to the questions we raise during the analysis phase.

The foruth phase of the engineering process is the design phase. Depending on whether we are providing systems implementation or business process engineering services, we will develop a System Design Specifications document that details all of the information and staff that will be included in the implementation.

Business Process Implementation Design

Design documents take a unique form for almost every client we work with. If we are providing businss process engineering services, the output may include an organized combination of SOPs, training documents, and information flow diagrams that will be contained within a systems design specification document. It is always customized to meet your organization's particular needs, but some common elements will be:

• Workflow Diagrams - Proposed Tasks and Flow Activator Descriptions
• Task Descriptions - Including Current/Future Task Comparison (Good for Visualization, Training and Change Control)
• List of Task Specific Outputs
• Benchmarks - Current Output Levels
• Parent/Child Notations
• Special Conditions

Software Implementation Process Design

If we are providing software implementaiton services, the output will depend on our role and the customizability of the software being implemented. The System Design Specifications document may include commonly includes one or more of the following elements.

• Workflow Diagrams - Proposed Tasks and Flow Activator Descriptions
• Task Descriptions
• Custom Field Descriptions and Data Types
• User Roles and Security
• Output - Reports and Data
• Legacy Data Conversion Requirements
• Required Interfaces

If the System Design Specifications document is meant to help you create an Request for Proposal (RFP), it will contain an introduction to the agency and the goals of the new system along with technical specifications for each business process and business rule being addressed by the new software package.

Distribution Logistics Implementation Process Design

If you are a distribution center or a logistics provider, the output may contain one or more of the following:

• Materials Flow Diagram
• WMS Input/Output Tasks
• Communications Protocols
• Vendor
• Transporter
• Client
• Disaster Protocols
• Task Specific Outputs and Benchmarks
• Implementation Outline

To achieve a truly integrated supply chain requires a system wide analysis. The above mentioned outputs are only some of the outputs that could result from this analysis.

TML Business Services Reduces Specialty Manufacturer's Order Procurement Timeline by 9.5 Days

In 2005 a specialty manufacturer hired Lincoln Bittner to assist them in leveraging their recently implemented Visual Manufacturing ERP system. The goals were to reduce errors, reduce the order procurement timeline, and improve overall profitability and customer satisfaction to the levels achieved prior to the implementation.

We realized that to achieve the last two goals, the first two must be achieved.

Order procurement at the start of the project was taking 13 days, from receipt to scheduling for production. By analyzing the order procurement process, Lincoln was able to identify several tasks that were out of order or unnecessary. By rearranging the out of order tasks and eliminating the unnecessary ones, the timeline was reduced to 6 days.

By leveraging the search and report capabilities while providing training to key production personnel, order quality was raised and rework/remakes were reduced by better than 70%.

The final result of the project was a reduction in the order procurement process to 3.5 days, and rework/remake was reduced to 21% of pre-project levels.