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Business Process Improvement Methodologies to Streamline Your Workflow

This guide gives a quick overview of each of the process improvement techniques. We’ll do deep dives on each subsequently in this series.

Here we list down the most effective ones that you can easily make use of. Scroll down to find out,

Lean tools

Six Sigma Tools

Other

Lean tools are used to eliminate wasteful process steps or activities that do not add any value.

The 8 types of waste you’ll be able to remove with the following Lean tools are

Getting rid of these wasteful steps in your processes will help you improve product quality, reduce lead time and reduce total cost.

Here are 3 Lean tools that you can use to improve your business processes.

Generally used in:

All types of industries, from manufacturing to small businesses

Useful for:

Documentation:

Ease of use:

As it does not require any technical analysis, it can be used by everyone at work

How to use:

Here are the steps you need to follow when implementing 5S

A value stream map is a graphical representation of the flow of materials and information that are needed to bring your product or service to your customer.

Generally used in:

Manufacturing industry

Useful for:

Documentation:

Ease of use:

The mapping process can take up to 3 days to complete, but with the right team, it can be done faster.

How to use:

Kaizen is a technique that calls for the constant improvement of every function of your business. It can be implemented through the PDCA cycle.

Generally used in:

Management departments, but also by those in quality control circles, waste disposal analyzers and common workers

Useful for:

Documentation:

Ease of use:

It’s an ongoing process and requires the active contribution of the entire company

How to use:

Follow the steps below in each stage of the cycle for optimal results.

Six Sigma is simply a smarter way to manage a business. It’s about collecting data on processes to understand what’s happening. This data is then analyzed and interpreted to find effective ways to improve the process. By doing so you get to

Let’s look at a few six sigma tools that are widely used to improve processes in businesses.

DMAIC is a 5-step method (a direct descendant of the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle) that is used to improve current processes.

If your products/ services or business processes aren’t meeting your customer expectations or not performing well, DMAIC can help you figure out why and find long-term solutions to the problem.

Generally used in:

All types of industries, especially by teams working on projects

Useful for:

Documentation:

Ease of use:

It can be rolled out in a matter of month or over the course of a year

How to use:

Following are the steps you should take to implement the DMAIC method.

DMADV, also known as Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) is used to create new processes at Six Sigma quality level.

If your existing processes do not meet the required quality levels even after they have been optimized, it’s time to do a DMADV to bring about an evolutionary change. Or in other words, create a new and better process.

Generally used in:

All types of industries, especially in manufacturing

Useful for:

Documentation:

Ease of use:

This methodology can be rolled out over the course of several months or even years

How to use:

Follow these steps to implement DMADV

It’s also known as fishbone diagram or Ishikawa diagram. It is a technique that can be used to visually display the causes of a certain issue or effect.

Generally used in:

All types of industries

Useful for:

Documentation:

Documents on information related to the issues that are being analyzed

Ease of use:

Can help a team identify and analyze causes of a problem in a single brainstorming session

How to use:

The SIPOC analysis is a technique that helps organize data on people and things that are involved in your business processes.

Generally used in:

Manufacturing industry

Useful for:

Documentation:

In the SIPOC analysis you’ll be listing data under each of these following categories, and therefore you’ll need information on them.

Ease of use:

The 5 columns are filled during a brainstorming session. As long as the relevant information is provided by the team, the diagram can be completed and analyzed quickly.

How to use:

Gather your team and list down the above information in a diagram/ table like the one below.

Process maps graphically represent each step of a process. And they are an essential part of process documentation.

Generally used in:

All types of industries, from manufacturing to marketing

Useful for:

Documentation:

Ease of use:

To map a process, you need the participation of those who are involved. Gathering them in one place, mapping the process and analyzing it may span over a few days, especially if the process is complicated.

How to use:

Gather your team, brainstorm the process steps, identify process boundaries, put the steps in a sequential order, draw the process map and verify that the map is accurate.

A Business Process Modeling Notation map is the standardized way to create visual models of your business processes.

Generally used in:

All types of industries, especially by business analysts

Useful for:

Documentation:

Information on the inputs, outputs, etc. of the business process

Ease of use:

If you are familiar with the standards of BPMN, drawing the diagram can be done within a day, as long as you have a clear idea of how the process spans out.

We’ve covered a number of handy business process improvement methodologies that you can use to streamline your workflow and increase your team’s productivity. Use them and share with us how they helped you reach your targets.

What other process improvement methodologies do you use?

In our next guide, we’ll look into more detail about process mapping, an essential business process improvement technique that’ll help you improve efficiency and cut costs.

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