In this article we’re going to take a look at perfecting the art of ‘The Common Process’. We have previously looked at how difficult it is to achieve and maintain a standard, albeit we looked at this in relation to large standardisation programmes, but it’s a good read for seeing the value of a standard because this also comes into play in the power of a perfected common process.
The Future of Quality Management
In a connected, digital, automated and intelligent future.
Goodbye sticky notes and white boards.
Business process mapping is harder than many people initially think it will be. According to to Brian Safron, a product manager at IBM, this is due at least in part to business knowledge being spread across a wide range of subject matter experts. Collaboration is key, but in their promotional video for IBM Blueworks Live, he also notes that sticky notes and white boards don't work anymore. We decided to take a look at why paper can't keep up with digital when it comes to BPM.
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Torque Management Partners with MatsSoft for Low Code Process DigitisationDublin, 19 January 2016 – Torque Management Ltd. is pleased to announce its partnership with Low Code BPM digitisation platform provider MatsSoft. MATS® (the software product) is a low-code BPM development platform that’s quick to learn and easy to use, allowing organisations to develop and deploy an app in a matter of days or weeks, that previously would have consisted of months or years of development effort. The MATS platform has been defined by Gartner as ‘High-productivity PaaS', and by Forrester as a ‘Low-Code Development Platform’.
The Software Development Life Cycle – Or 5 Things Not to Forget When Using Low Code BPM Applications
With lots of interest in and take up of Low Code/No Code BPM apps opening up the option to all and sundry to develop their own apps, we thought it would be pertinent to take a look at an important part of application development that will continue to exist with or without the need to code! The Software Development Life Cycle or SDLC.
Caroline Waldron (PhD) is the programme director with the Irish Academy of Continuing Medical Education, (iaCME) which was established over 8 years ago to provide Continuing Professional Development online for healthcare professionals in Ireland. At the time, no other organisation was offering online training for pharmacists. The iaCME team have backgrounds in medicine, the pharmaceutical industry and quality and regulation and have earned a solid, trusted reputation for their focus on accreditation and quality in online learning. The Irish Institute of Pharmacy recently launched a new training module for pharmacists that was developed by iaCME, titled “Managing Quality in Pharmacy Practice”. We talked to Caroline about the challenges facing pharmacists today, and how far online learning has come since they started out.
Toyota are a shining example of quality management and have been for many decades. It comes from a 'customer first' focus. This is a simple idea and very easy to dismiss as cliché but it challenges our belief that our own brilliant, creative ideas may not necessarily be the best one. When we have a 'great idea', many of us cling onto it for dear life. A true customer focussed ethos requires we give up our egos in order to listen to the customer and respond to their needs in a systematic, business-focussed way. It's a little like becoming a humble servant rather than aiming to be a great leader with all the great ideas. The great leaders probably got their great ideas by listening to customers, and you can still channel your genius and creativity to work out how you solve problems for your customer.
Michael Needham is the Principal Consultant at MKN Advisory Services Ltd. He previously worked as a lecturer and module coordinator for the MBA modules ‘E-Business’ & 'Supply Chain Management'; and the MSc Business Improvement module ‘Strategic Operations and Quality Excellence’ at Ulster University along with working as a consulting manager at PWc, global procurement manager with Procter & Gamble and supply chain co-ordinator with the Irish Dairy Board. His wealth of hands on, real life experience combined with in-depth research, including papers on the role of knowledge for process improvement and outsourcing, and a Phd that investigated the factors that influence the internal transfer of process improvement knowledge within service organisations led us to wanting to ask him more. All too often people are experts in theory or experts in practice but Needham is one of those insightful individuals who seems to have mastered a balance of both, which has no doubt increased his understanding and abilities in both doing and communicating what he’s doing.
Brian Cooney has a BA in management, is an ISO leader and recently completed an executive coaching diploma. Along with 33 years experience in quality assurance, he's an excellent example of someone with a vision for how well things can be done and the insight to recognise and successfully clear the hurdles that can get in the way.
Computer World UK last week reported IKEA's great success in moving from to a web-based Business Process Management System (BPMS). The move has enabled the company to create internal business cases in less than half the time it previously took them and honestly, we're not surprised considering the array of issues with text or paper based standard operating procedures. (SOPs). Ikea noted that where a business case used to take approximately 24 days to create, it's now done in an average of nine days. That's a whopping difference and a valuable insight to many companies considering a move from paper to digital for processes.
Decreasing Cost and Increasing Benefits for Your ERP Investment
According to ZDNet and Panorama Consulting Solutions, who conduct annual surveys of ERP buyers, 2014 was the year where smaller ERP projects actually had more delays than larger projects. Looking back to the previous year, 2013 saw more and smaller projects than previous years and cost overruns remaining constant at 53-56 per cent between 2011 and 2013. However, the most concerning element of the report was that an increasing number of respondents reported reduced levels of benefit from their ERP investment. Even a 'smaller' ERP project is an huge undertaking in time, effort and adapting to change.
From inside an organisation, it can be hard to be sure you are aligned to the rest of the business. You’ve taken our BPM Maturity quiz and the results resonate with YOUR view which should give you a measure of confidence that you are doing the right things with BPM.
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From inside an organisation, it can be hard to see the wood from the trees. You probably have a 'sense' of whether business processes are well defined or not but it may not be quite as bad as you think. On the other hand, it could be a lot worse.
A Literature Review and Research Agenda by Corinna Grau and Jürgen Moormann
As a Business Process Management consultancy, we see the value in BPM in every type of organization and industry, because we've seen the results. However, in working with various companies, we see one aspect as vitally important time and time again despite the fact that it's often not listed as a 'concrete' element or factor within the various tools or methods that have process management at their core. This secret ingredient also comes up in our conversations with other BPM professionals, indirectly arises as problems or advantages in companies implementing process based changes and one could deduce this element's existence from case studies where changes have successfully taken place also. I would refer to this element as the people element, but it would more appropriately be described as company culture.