Process_Improvement_Discussion

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Business Process

A business process is a series of steps performed by a group of stakeholders to achieve a concrete goal. These steps are often repeated many times, sometimes by multiple users and ideally in a standardized and optimized way. A business process can be manual or automated. If manual, the process is achieved without the aid of an automation or assisting technology. If automated, a technology aid has been put into place which assists users in implementing the process in a more accurate, standardized or optimized manner.

A business process can often be visualized as a �owchart or of logical steps. is the discipline which attempts to formalize this method.

work�ow Business Process Management

Types of Business Processes

Business processes span industries, both vertical and horizontal, and can include any type of business operation. Examples include:

– an product assembly process, a quality assurance process, a corrective/preventive

maintenance process.

Manufacturing

– an invoicing process, a billing process, a risk management processFinance

– a medical assessment, a drug approvalHealth

– customer on-boarding, credit checkBanking

– trip booking, agent billingTravel

– a situation room process, emergency management processDefense

– a starters process, a leavers process, vacation requestHR

– application for a government servicePublic Sector

– a safety audit, a legal checkCompliance

See our directory of Business Processes by solution

The key here is that business processes are cross-industry. That is why many business process management frameworks attempt to create technology solutions that are industry-independent.

Challenges Related to Business Processes

Executing business processes successfully is not always an easy task. There are numerous challenges which arise, including:

– the slowing or halting of a process at a speci�c stage due to a human/machine error or

di�culty.

Bottlenecks

– ine�cient processes often have areas that are repeated or

unnecessary.

Duplication of work and redundancy

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– management does not have a way of viewing where processes stand, what their status

is, and how they are performing generally, and speci�cally.

Lack of visibility

– process technology does not always integrate well with existing systems, causing

communication gaps and malfunctions.

Integration issues

Technical Solutions to these Challenges

An e�ective (Business Process Management Suite) should take into account the above challenges, and provide a set of tools to handle and alleviate them. Some of these tools include:

BPMS

– these can address the

problems of visibility and bottlenecks.

Management Dashboards

– most BPMSs include

a module which �nds and helps solve errors and malfunctions.

Veri�cation and Error Handling

– these can help integrate the BPMS with common ERP/CRM and other systems,

preventing the need for error-prone coding.

Integration Wizards

– developers who can easily collaborate and view each other’s work are able to help

prevent duplication of work and redundancy.

Collaboration Tools

PNMsoft’s Sequence is a BPM suite which includes enterprise-level tools for meeting these challenges. PNMsoft also includes a unique technology for adapting to change, called , which further improves the ability of stakeholders to achieve continual e�ciency.

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