Business Systems Reengineering

PART I. 

1. Introduction

Major improvement of business systems isn't just automation of processes. It requires major re-thinking of how work is done, and even what work should be done. Reengineering doesn't necessar­ily mean tearing the company apart and starting over again, but it does require thinking through requirements, learning about other approaches, leadership, creativity, planning, preparing for and effecting change. It involves completely or partially redesign­ing the approach and process of how business is done.

This presentation explains some effective Reengineering approaches and should enable one to better:

• Partially or completely reengineer a company's business sys­tems processes.

• Rethink how work is done, and even what work should be done.

• Employ   policies,   procedures,   objectives,   measurements, training and automation tools.

Highly sophisticated analysis tools may not be needed— in fact these might discourage participation of people most urgently needed. Simple approaches are offered.

2. Why Reengineer?

A. Gradual Improvements May Not Suffice

Nowadays, companies feel the need to rightsize, become leaner, more agile, time-based, faster, stronger, smarter, cheaper and better than their competition.

Incremental improvements, even gradual, continuous improve­ment to the existing order, won't bring most organizations to preeminent positions in their areas of endeavor. We have observed key performance differentials in the range of 1000% among various organizations! Also, improvements need to be part of an overall plan, not just random bright ideas. Major changes in approaches and execution, maybe whole new approaches, might be needed for success.

For example, some manufacturing companies have leapfrogged competition, in part by moving away from traditional functional organizations to focused factories and cells, permitting huge improvements in cycle time, service, inventory turns, flexibility, setup time and administrative costs. Others have sped up product time to market by shifting order entry and sales engineering to field representatives, who may design the final product configu­ration and enter orders on-line, in the field.

Hence, the idea of Reengineering a business, although around for a long time, has become much more popular in recent times. It is even influencing the concept of Continuous Improvement, which is now evolving toward Continuous Rapid Improvement within an overall Process Reengineering framework.

B. Attain Benefits

The objectives of Reengineering are to improve:

•  Service, Time to Market

• Costs

• Responsiveness/Flexibility

• Quality

• Return on Investment and Assets

These need to be targeted and measured to specific, quantifiable (if possible) objectives.

Next Week Part II 

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