Process Model, and ERP Implementation - Essay Example

Process model, process improvement and ERP implementation Name University Affiliation Process model Introduction The term process model is often used in various contexts. For example in business, the firm’s process model is known as the business process model. The term process model means that description of a particular process at a type level (Gendlin, 2001). The main purpose of the process model is to prescribe how things have to be carried out in contrast to the process itself. In simple terms, a process model is an anticipation of what the process will look like. During the actual system development, that is when one can determine how the process shall be. Process models are main concepts in the field of process engineering. Like other models, process models also have goals. The first goal is descriptive goal. In this goal, tracking of what actually happens during a process. In this goal also aims at looking at the way a process has been performed and ascertain the improvement that ought to be done to increase the efficiency (Reiter, Stahlmann & Nithe, 1999). The second goal is the prescriptive, it defines certain desired processes and how they ought to be performed. The prescriptive goal establishes some rules and guidelines and even the patterns of behaviors when followed would automatically lead to the desired performance. The rules laid can either be flexible or strict guidance. Then the last goal of the process model is the explanatory goal (Gendlin, 2001). This goal gives the information about the rationale of the processes. It also explores and evaluates some possible courses of action basing on the rational arguments. Explanatory goal establishes a link between the processes and the requirements that the model has to accomplish. This goal also predefines the points at which data should be taken for reporting purposes. Process model can be classified in different forms. First, we have the classification by coverage. Under coverage, process model can be based on the activity oriented, this is where related set of activities are done for particular purposes of product definition (Hangos, &Cameroon, 2001). Activity oriented involves a set of partially ordered steps that are intended to attain a goal. Under coverage, we also have product oriented. This is where a series of sensitive activities are conducted to transform the product to reach the desired product. We have also the decision oriented; this is where a set of related decision is conducted for a particular purpose in the definition of a product (Reiter, Stahlmann & Nithe, 1999). Under coverage, we also have the context oriented where a sequence of contexts that is causing product transformation under the influence of the decision reached in a context (Gendlin, 2001). Lastly, under coverage, we have strategy oriented. This allows the construction of the models that represents the multi-approach processes and planning the different possible ways to popularize the product basing on the strategy and the notion of intention. Secondly, we have the classification by alignment. Under alignment, we have strategic processes where an investigation is done on alternative ways of doing things and at long last come out with a plan for doing it (Gendlin, 2001). Strategic processes always require the corporation of the people within the firm, the process of choosing the alternative should be conducted very careful since it is a very critical activity. Under alignment, we also have the tactical processes. This process aids in the achievement of the plan. It is more concerned with the techniques or the tactics that would be employed for actual plan achievement. Then we also have the implementation process, this is the lowest level of processes. This process is directly concerned with the details of a plan of implementation. The third classification of process model is the granularity. This refers to the level of the details of a given process model, the kind of granularity depends much on the prevailing situation (Gendlin, 2001) The managers in an organization need coarse-grained process description since they want to gain an overview of time, resource planning, when making decisions within the firms. In most cases, the process model is coarse-grained description. A process model ought to provide a variety of granularity. The last classification of process model is the by flexibility. It was realized that while process models were prescriptive, the actual practices tend to departure from the prescription (Reiter, Stahlmann & Nithe, 1999). Therefore, there is the establishment of the framework for adopting the methods so as to ensure that the system method s match with the particular firm situations hence improving the usefulness. The development and establishment of such frameworks is sometimes called situational methods engineering. Process Improvement A process improvement is an initiative in the organization development where the owner of the process in identification and the analysis of the existing business processes take a number of actions (Srull, 1988). The process owner to ensure that the new goals and objectives are achieved does this. The goals pursued are the improvement in the profits, performance, cost reduction and increasing the efficiency (Balancedscorecard.org, 1996). . All these actions tend to follow particular methods and strategies to create specific results. Another way process improvement can be done is through restructuring of the organization’s training programs to improve their effectiveness. On the other hand, process improvement can also be a way of introduction of the process changes to boost the process quality of the products so that they can match well with the customer requirements (Reiter, Stahlmann & Nithe, 1999). On other hand, business process improvement is an approach that aids the firm to optimize the underlying process to attain results that are more efficient. Business process improvement works by defining the strategic organization goals and objectives and the purposes. It also determines the organization’s customers (Srull, 1988). Then lastly, business process improvement aligns the business processes to realize the business goals. Here, the main goal of business process improvement is to bring radical changes in the firm’s performance. Some key considerations should be put in mind when trying to perform process improvement. First, the processes need to align to business goals. A firm’s strategic goals should highlight the key direction for any business process improvement (Balancedscorecard.org, 1996). The alignment can be found by integration of the programs such as the balanced score card to the business process improvement. For example, this can be done using the six sigma, the identification and the selection of the projects can be done basing on how they fit into the balanced scorecard agenda of the firm. The second consideration when improving the business process is being customer focus. When any business firm wants to thrive well, it has to listen to the voice of the customers. When the customer needs change regularly, it becomes difficult for the firm to align business processes to achieve higher satisfaction (Reiter, Stahlmann & Nithe, 1999). However, it is advisable that the organizations should be able to read the minds of their customers so that they produce goods that satisfy them. Thus, in simple we are saying that when the managers are trying to do process improvement, they must consider the issue of the customer tastes and preferences for them to remain relevant. Another key consideration is knowing the importance of bench marking. Business process improvement tend to put a lot of emphasis on the measurable results, the benchmarks plays a crucial role in the business process improvement (Balancedscorecard, 1996). Benchmarks can be internal or external depending on the life cycle of the process. The internal benchmark is found within the organization while the external benchmark can come from the competing firms or sometimes can be dictated by the senior management. Another key consideration is the establishment of the process owners. For good management of a process, it is important that there is a clear line on who is the owner of the process (Reiter, Stahlmann & Nithe, 1999). This is followed by ascertaining some of the things that can lead to success or failures of the process. The ascertainment the success or failure of the process aid in the establishment of the control limits for the process. This also assists in checking on whether the process is meeting the consumers’ desired needs. When the process owner wants to improve firm process, there are number of steps he will have to follow in order to attain good results. The first step is the selection of the process and establishment of the improvement objectives (Balancedscorecard.org, 1996). In this step, he should clearly state the process he is going to work on it. We have some important considerations when selecting the process you are going to work on. First, one should adhere to total quality since it is quite important (Reiter, Stahlmann & Nithe, 1999). Secondly, somebody who is doing this should start out small, this means that you should start with simple tasks before going to complex tasks. Thirdly, the selected process should occur often to be observed and documented. The second step that should be taken in improving the process is the organizing the right team that would ensure that the set objectives have been attained. One should show the team size, team composition, team leaders, team members, team charters, team ground rules and training the team (Balancedscorecard.org, 1996). The right team should be selected and the team should consists of the good representation of people who work inside the boundaries of the process and have an inside knowledge on how it works. The team leaders or the people who formed the team select the team members. Having a strong team that is corporative and industrious boosts the performance of the organization. The third step is the making of the flow chart. Here, before a team can improve the process, they must be taught on how it works. In the current times, the most used tool that helps in teaching the team members are the flow charts (Hangos, &Cameroon, 2001). For one to come up with a flow chart the team assigns some of its members to observe the flow of the work by using the flow chart. The main goal of using flow charts is for the team members to fully understand the processes before attempting to make some changes on it (Balancedscorecard, 1996). The fourth step is simplification of the process and makes some changes. Here the team describes the current process through developing a flowchart. The fifth steps are developing a data collection plan and collect the baseline data. The team needs to develop the data collection plan and start collecting the baseline data. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is an integrated software for all the processes of a given organization. Companies that want to utilize these soft wares purchase these ERPs software (Joshi, 2008). After the purchase, the company needs to implement these soft ware to improve its performance. Enterprise resource implementation process should be divided into pre-implementation, implementation process, and continuous improvement of the system in future. There are specific phases or steps that should be done by the management for effective implementation of the ERP. The first phase is the systems study; this phase involves the conducting of the system study to understand the planning, production and the material processes (Joshi, 2008). This phase involves so many activities that involve the study of every aspect of the operation in an organization. Some of the activities carried out in this phase are the evaluation of the loss areas. (Hangos, & Cameroon, 2001). The evaluators scrutinize the loss areas in order to ascertain the really loopholes that might be causing the losses. They try to find the root cause of the failures that have been incurred in the organization. The evaluators also look at the manufacturing processes and try to find out which processes seem to be outdated that need the replacement with a new and improve process that can increase the reputation of the organization (Joshi, 2008). Another activity done during the system study is the analysis of the equipment performance by looking at the time taken by equipment to perform a certain task in comparison to the standard time expected for it to perform the same task. The quality of the products is also checked during system study to deduce if the products manufactured actually meets the standards that are required on the market by the consumers. Impart training is the second phase in the ERP implementation process. Training is conducted and it involves various levels of employees in the entire organization to enable them to effectively apply the business process improvement (BPI) solutions (Joshi, 2008). Impart training helps in proactively performing normal activities and participating in solving business issues that are affecting different departments of an organization. Moreover, this training serves a purpose of building a knowledge base on initial planning, failures and non-conformity of quality and any other parameters that determine the performance of the organization (Srull, 1988). Therefore, the main aim of training phase is just to equip the ERP implementers with adequate knowledge and skills so that they can be in a position to carry out an implementation process effectively to spur growth. The third phase in the implementation or ERP process is mapping. This involves the consolidation of system study and imparts training control requirements to be incorporated into information technology (Joshi, 2008). This also involves the development of the control measures on product features. In this phase, an analysis is done to determine the features that are needed in the software and the methodology that ought to be adopted when addressing the gaps. In mapping process, the alarms are incorporated which are triggered off when particular values come out below the expectations (Joshi, 2008). The main concern of the mapping phase in the ERP implementation process is to put controls that checks performance to ensure that at every time, the performance is done within the standards set at the initial stages of planning. Piloting is another phase that comes after the mapping phase. Piloting is the incorporation of the control features developed during the mapping phase with the facilities used in the root cause analysis (Joshi, 2008). It involves the interfacing other information technology applications to use in the capture and control in the business process improvement related data. Furthermore, in this phase, there is the adaptation of the software to include features that aid in improving the efficiency of the system. Piloting phase also involves the definition and adaptation of how the work should flow. Workflow involves the planning process, production process, maintenance process and on how to deal with the material functions to suit, the requirements of business process improvement (Joshi, 2008). Moreover, in piloting, there is the selection of the area of piloting and the implementing of the business process improvement and the subsequent procedures for implementing other areas. Go-live is the next phase after piloting in the ERP implementation process. In this phase, the tailored ERP products are shifted to the real production environment where the results are regularly monitored (Joshi, 2008). In this phase, the proactive decisions are made after comparing the actual and the standard set. The deviation is calculated and the control measures revisited to rectify where necessary. During the go-live phase, the experts who have the knowledge in the interpretation procedures are the ones that studies the results analyze them. They come up with credible decisions that are based on the results (Srull, 1988). They give some advice to the management on some of the measures that ought to be taken to ensure that the actual results in future are close to the standardized results. Extended support is the last phase in the ERP implementation. During this phase, the implementation of the Information technology gives the extended support and other consultation services in many areas (Joshi, 2008). Some of these areas include the initial handholding where support is given during the initial stages of the implementation procedures. This support is extended in building of expertise in various processes in the firm such as planning, production and materials (Hangos, &Cameroon, 2001). Once a good expertise team is established in a firm, there would be an improvement in the operation of the firm in every process. In this phase also, the experts ascertain the areas where the weaknesses are in the entire system and they conduct the business process risks and control audits. When all these stages are conducted well with efficiency, the organization will automatically realize some improvements. The implementation of the ERP basing on the business process improvement (BPI) leads to many benefits (Joshi, 2008). For example, the organization would have increased productivity, since the procedures and the methodology of production would be well monitored by the experts. Another benefit is that the firm would produce quality products that have minimal defects; it is obvious that when all the process and methodology of production are efficient and employees modern methods, there would be the reduction of the defects that would have been caused by the faulty machines or ignorant workers. Another benefit that accrues to the firm when it implements well the ERP program is that it would reduce the inventory costs (Joshi, 2008). When there is efficiency in every aspect of operation, the cost of production automatically reduces since time is not wasted and the machines are efficient due to good maintenance. Improvement in safety is another benefit a firm would get when it decides to adopt the ERP program in its system. Better profits a margin is another benefit that will be got by the firm that decide to implement the ERP program. These benefits tend to go along with the realization of the strategic goals of the firm. References Balancedscorecard (1996). Handbook for basic process improvement. Retrieved from http://www.balancedscorecard.org/Portals/0/PDF/bpihndbk.pdf Joshi, C. (2008). Business Process improvement (BPI) enabled ERP implementation and upgrading. Retrieved from http://www.compubee.in/download/bpr.pdf Gendlin, E. (2001). A process model. University of Chicago. Retrieved from http://www.focusing.org/process.html Hangos, K &Cameroon, I. (2001). Process modeling and model analysis. Academic press. University of California.USA. Reiter, B, Stahlmann, H & Nithe, A. (1999). Process modeling. Springer. Srull, T. (1988). A dual process model of impression formation. Erlbaum Associates. The University of California. USA. Read More