Home > Business Process Improvement Project Abstracts

Aerospace & Defense Communications Systems Manufacturer (Telephonics)

Telecommunications/electronics specialty manufacturer needed Business Process Improvement support for a number of processes to improve efficiency and ensure governmental and regulatory compliance

  • Non-Conforming Material (NCM) process was overly complex, had multiple functional owners, inaccurate data and slow disposition.  Analyzed and segmented NCM data, Process Flow Mapped the current state process, identified issues and developed recommendations including Key Performance Measures for organizational accountability and post implementation monthly review.
  • Contract Flowdowns process was ad hoc resulting in poor contract compliance and budget overruns: Used SIPOC (Suppliers/Inputs/Processes/Outputs/Customers) technique to determine Flowdown requirements and resources, developed new Flowdown template to flag requirements and updated departmental procedures to comply with those requirements. 
  • Financial Estimate to Completion (ETC) process was not timely and exhibited quarter-to-quarter volatility: Used SIPOC technique to determine minimum essential Departmental ETC requirements and resources in order to simplify and speed up the process. Developed new ETC template and updated departmental procedures. 
  • Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) improvement effort overall:  Procedures were written like legal documents and lacked necessary information for users to effectively execute the procedures.  Segmented procedures into hierarchical groups.  Working with subject matter experts, procedures were consolidated and rewritten to be understandable, complete and accurate.

Results

  • Increased process efficiency
  • Improved regulatory compliance
  • Better data accuracy and material tracking
  • Faster and more stable financial planning

Specialty Transportation Service Company (MTM)

Rapidly growing, health care related transportation service company needed to improve their processes and simplify performance metrics

  • Used a combination of Value Stream Mapping and high-level Process Flow Mapping to identify process work-arounds, document organizational complexity and execution inefficiency.
  • Implemented Key Performance Scorecards from C-Level down through Departmental VPs and then to Functional Managers in order to clarify organizational roles and key measures of success. 
  • Provided customized Lean Six Sigma training to Continuous Improvement (CI) Team to promote and sustain future BPI improvements

Results

  • Improved organizational role clarity and accountability
  • Identified organization structural changes necessary to improve accountability
  • Internal Lean capability – A CI team with multiple improvement projects identified and underway

Specialty Commercial Bank (Rabo Agrifinance)

Agricultural Focused Commercial Bank was seeking process improvement support and Lean Six Sigma training for personnel.

  • Value Stream Mapped and Process Flow Mapped, Commercial Loan Processes resulting in streamlining and time saving recommendations
  • Provided high level awareness Lean Six Sigma training for broad swath of personnel
  • Provided customized Lean Six Sigma training to Continuous Improvement (CI) Team to promote and sustain future BPI improvements

Results

  • Reduced Commercial Loan processing time by 30%
  • Internal Lean capability – A CI team with multiple improvement projects identified and underway

Engineering & Manufacturing Company (Dema Engineering)

Industrial valve manufacturer wanted to shorten new product development (NPD) time, improve new product quality and increase new product sales.  The NPD process begins with input from Sales and Marketing and ends with commercialization by Sales and Marketing departments.

  • Created a NPD streamlining team that included Research, Product Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Sales and Marketing
  • Used Strategy Map (also known as Process Decomposition) technique to understand key aspects of the NPD process
  • Mapped the “To-Be” process (Future State) by building process around each of the NPD key aspects
  • Added “Stage-gates” with clearly defined requirements at all critical hand-offs to ensure buy-in
  • Used Failure Mode & Effects Analysis (FMEA) to ensure quality is designed in, minimizing inspection requirements in manufacturing

Results

  • New products received strong acceptance by the market, increasing % of total sales from new products
  • Cross functional collaboration improved in NPD and other areas of the business, such as customer problem resolution