Process improvement should be seen in terms of the strategic objectives of the business, the services and products that will meet customer requirements and the target cost position that will generate exceptional returns.
A well planned and structured process improvement program will help create an organisation’s competitive advantage and aim to deliver substantial and lasting benefits in terms of service delivery, quality and cost.
At Indigo Bridge we view business process improvement across four approaches; continuous improvement, process redesign, process automation and outsourcing with the quantum of benefits increasing as an organisation moves through each approach.
We understand that in practice clients need to deal with competing priorities in terms of time, investment capital and risk and therefore may have a preference for one approach over another.
Fundamental to any process improvement program, this is where we develop the tools to provide the measures for service delivery, quality and cost and put the management processes in place to improve team performance.
We look at process redesign across a spectrum of potential changes, from basic process redesign involving step changes in process flows through to fundamental rethinking of processes using a zero base approach. An organisation’s performance improvement targets and propensity for change will determine where on the process redesign spectrum we work with a client.
Automated processes are seen as the panacea of process improvement. Process automation involves an important capital investment decision, so it is critical that organisations understand the ROI for such a technology project. For many organisations where the investment is quite significant, moving forward rests on a decision to spend the capital on technology or to seek alternative approaches such as outsourcing. We work with clients to help them make these decisions. In situations where the investment does not meet their criteria we explore the viability and benefits of other approaches.
We assist clients to answer the question “Is there another organisation that is able to manage and improve processes to meet our operational and strategic objectives at a lower cost.” In order to make this decision the cost, benefits and risks for the available options must be clearly assessed in terms of alternative service providers and models including shared services and offshoring. Beyond the assessment and selection phase we redesign processes and organisational elements to work across in-house and outsourced environments and assist with developing transition plans.
