Transcript 5-04 Documenting process architecture

Documenting Process Architecture
Identifying a process network and
documenting the process hierarchy
A Traditional Organizational Structure
CEO
In an organization that utilizes a functional management approach
and a command-and-control style of operation, the predominant
view of the organizational structure is a chart of the reporting
responsibilities of the management team to the senior executive.
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A Process Network Structure

A different perception of how an organization is structured is
often referred to as the organization’s “network of processes.”
This is compatible with a functional organization structure, as
expertise in functional areas is still necessary to undertake the
variety of process tasks needed to deliver products and
services to customers.

The organizational process network structure consists of a
network of the primary processes the organization uses to
conceive, develop and deliver products and services to
customers.
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A Process Network View of the Organization
Internal to the organization
Suppliers
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Customers
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Understanding Process Networks

Work processes and process networks exist in all
organizations but are often not formally documented

It is the knowledge of work processes and process networks
that enable those who understand them to integrate their daily
work

Knowledge of work processes and process networks enable
front-line workers to work together effectively with less
direction and to increase the ability to utilize a self-organizing
approach for undertaking daily work

Organizational performance depends upon the efficiency and
effectiveness of these processes
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Process Networks for Groups of Processes

ISO 9000:2008 has been modified from earlier versions of the
standard to provide a “system of processes” view of the
organization’s quality management processes

The Project Management Institute’s Project Management
Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) provides a “system of
processes” view of the organization’s project management
processes
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ISO 9000:2008

An advantage of the process approach is the ongoing control that it
provides over the linkage between the individual processes within the
system of processes, as well as over their combination and interaction
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PMI’s PMBOK

The PMBOK describes project management’s knowledge and
practice in terms of five process groups, as shown below

These align with the P2DCA approach described earlier in this
class
Purpose
Plan
Initiating
Processes
Planning
Processes
Check
Do
Controlling
Processes
Executing
Processes
Closing
Processes
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PMI’s Project Management Process Network
Initiating
Controlling
Executing
Closing
Planning
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Example: Outage Maintenance

For one utility, the area management wanted to improve was outage
maintenance

The utility had a history of outages running over schedule and over
budget. Often, some of the needed maintenance would be put off
until the next outage just to get the units back up and running

Discussions with the plant management about this problem led to
the question, “what measures does the plant collect related to
outage performance?” The answer was, “we measure total budget
spent and total days and man-hours needed for the outage.”

The next question was, “if the budget and schedule have gone over
the estimates made at the beginning of the outage, what information
do you have to remedy the situation for the next outage?” The
answer was, “none.”
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Example: Outage Maintenance (Cont’d.)

By providing the plant with a process management capability,
employees and managers could see the processes that impacted
outage maintenance

Oftentimes, the causes of a problem lie “upstream” from the process
where the problem shows up

This was the situation with outage maintenance – many of the
processes that affected the efficiency of the outage occurred before
the outage began

One example of such a process was the process for creating work
orders (W/Os). The number and accuracy of work orders had a
major impact on the efficient use of the time of mechanics and their
foremen during the outage
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Example: Outage Maintenance (Cont’d.)

It was determined that mechanics and their foremen spent much of
their time investigating duplicate work orders. This frequently caused
mechanics to be assigned to work orders for problems that had
already been fixed under another work order

The following pages demonstrate the analysis by the plant of the
outage process and its upstream processes. The first chart is a
diagram of the process, showing the inputs to the process of outage
maintenance, the outputs resulting from completing outage
maintenance, and the various customers for the outputs. Many of
these customers are internal to the organization

The second chart shows the processes that exist upstream of
outage maintenance

Developing this understanding of the outage maintenance process
enabled the plant to establish and collect measurement data to
improve outage maintenance performance
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The Outage Maintenance Process
Inputs
Outputs
Customer
Equipment
Planned work
scope
Plant mgmt.
Planned schedule
Actual schedule and
Actual budget
Planned budget
Actual work done
(equipment fixed)
Outage W/Os
Outage
Maintenance
Materials
People/manpower,
including
contractors
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Transformation
Process
Shareholders
Operations
Maintenance
Level of satisfaction
with contractors
Dispatch
Paperwork done
Ratepayers
Used parts
Accounting
Warehouse
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Upstream Processes of Outage Maintenance
Providing
Clearances
Creating
Work Orders
W/O’s with
status of
equipment
to be fixed
Equipment
available
Planned schedule
Planning
Outages
Planned budget
Planned work
scope
Outage W/O’s
Managing the Manpower
availability
Workforce
Ordering
Parts
Managing
Contractors
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Doing
Outage
Maintenance
Materials/
Parts
Contractors
and their
work scope
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Impact of Improvement on Performance

To understand the impact of improving the outage maintenance process,
the plant needed to examine the “downstream” processes. These are the
processes that eventually lead to providing the company’s product
(electricity) to its customers, thereby impacting the plant’s bottom line

In any organization that is improving, either formally or informally, there are
feedback loops that provide information from the outputs back to the inputs.
An example might be an organization using customer surveys to improve its
product design

The plant realized that some of its important feedback loops related to
outage maintenance were weak or missing, making it difficult to improve
outage performance

One example was the use of contractors during the outage. The main
contractor used for the past several years had not been performing its
duties adequately. Somehow, this information never got back to the person
who contracted with the firm, so the contractor continued to return to the
plant year after year
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Downstream Processes of Outage Maintenance
Providing Equipment
Clearances available
Creating
Work
Orders
W/O’s with
status of
equipment
to be fixed
Planning
Outages
Managing Manpower
the
availability
Workforce
Equipment
working
Planned schedule
Actual schedule
Planned budget
Actual budget
Planned work
scope
Outage W/O’s
Doing
Outage
Maintenance
Actual work
completed
Paperwork done
Used parts
Ordering
Parts
Materials/
Parts
Managing Contractors
Contractors and their
Level of satisfaction with contractor
Amount of
contractor
work complete
Doing
Daily
Maint.
Operating
Plant
Storing or
Disposing of
Scrap
work scope
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Adding Feedback Loops
FEEDBACK LOOPS
Providing Equipment
Clearances available
Creating
Work
Orders
W/O’s with
status of
equipment
to be fixed
Planning
Outages
Managing Manpower
the
availability
Workforce
Equipment
working
Planned schedule
Actual schedule
Planned budget
Actual budget
Planned work
scope
Outage W/O’s
Doing
Outage
Maintenance
Actual work
completed
Paperwork done
Used parts
Ordering
Parts
Materials/
Parts
Level of satisfaction with contractor
Amount of
contractor
work complete
Managing Contractors
Contractors and their
Doing
Daily
Maint.
Operating
Plant
Storing or
Disposing of
Scrap
work scope
FEEDBACK LOOPS
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Example: Manufacturing Process
Inputs
Outputs
People/manpower
People with skills
Subassemblies
Quality of
subassemblies
Production
Schedule
Budget
Actual schedule
Manufacturing
process
Procedures
Equipment
Transformation Process
Budget spent
Actual procedures
used
Status of
equipment
Materials
Manufactured
product
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Example: Manufacturing Process (Cont’d.)
FEEDBACK LOOPS
Hiring/
training
Managing
Subcontractors
Planning/
scheduling
Budgeting
Product
design
Product
specs
People
People
Subassemblies
Satisfaction
with contractor
Production
schedule
Actual
Schedule
Budget
Manufacturing
process
Actual
Budget
Writing mfg.
procedures
Procedures
Product
Maintaining
equipment
Equipment
Equipment
Purchasing/
inventory ctl.
Materials/
parts
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Selling
product
Package
& deliver
FEEDBACK LOOPS
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Example: Credit Process
CREDIT
Set up new clients/
conduct
annual review
of clients
Manage
client
default
Manage
credit limits
Contracts
Accounting
Manage
collateral
Market
data
Monitor client
and financial
information
Review credit
terms for
unique or
long-term deals
Manufacturing
Prepare and
distribute reports
Ensure
compliance
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Operations
Corporate
Credit
Corporate
Compliance
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Process Levels

All of these processes are at a single level of detail

A value chain is the largest process we normally document:
it is usually called the “Level 0” process

Within this value chain, many of the boxes can be
documented as a more detailed process: these would be
called the “Level 1” processes

The boxes in these processes can again be subdivided into
more and more detailed levels of processes, until the boxes
contain only single steps

It’s common to see the process hierarchy divided into 3 or 4
levels: it’s rarely documented at more than 7 levels
Harmon, Paul, “Business Process Change”, 2007.
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Maintaining a Business Process Inventory

A process inventory is hierarchical listing of business processes

Can be initially developed at the local or regional level, but will
eventually be required for the entire enterprise in order to achieve its full
potential

Some organizations develop a process inventory at the department
level: this can result in difficulties when the inventory is expanded to
include the entire enterprise, as most processes cross between
departments

Once the process inventory listing is developed, it and the related
process documentation should be kept in a process library

This can be as simple as a share drive where employees can access
the information, or it can be stored within one of the many types of
process modeling applications (Visio, ARIS, etc.)

The latter usually provides some method for viewing the processes with
less or more detail, and also for connecting the processes to each other
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Optimizing Collections of Processes

Redundant processes and process standardization



The enterprise process inventory provides a means to identify processes that have
similar intents and should be examined for redundancy and potential standardization
Cross-process integration

The enterprise process inventory clarifies how processes should be related

The process library helps us find the current model of the processes and map their
relationships

Developing common terminology and definitions for the inputs and outputs is critical.
Processes with common sub-processes

Re-usable sub-processes are analogous to subroutines in computer programming

Having a collection of processes in the common process library modeled with similar
notation and terminology will help identify potentially redundant sub-processes

A collection of processes can be modeled based on the capabilities or functionalities
used within the processes, which can help identify common capabilities and
functions that cross processes (common components)

This kind of analysis can also be useful in identifying related competencies and
roles, with the goal of either simplifying training, or identifying potential synergies in
job assignments.
Chevron, “Business Process Management”, presented July 2007.
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Why develop a process inventory?
An enterprise-level process inventory:

Assists with the identification of the enterprise value chain

Ensures processes that are documented within the enterprise can
be located within a larger framework

Facilitates the development of enterprise-level process standards
(e.g., process and sub-process numbering system, resource naming
conventions, search keyword definitions)

Helps process teams avoid overlap of process efforts (encourages
discussion and resolution at process boundaries)

Helps establish the enterprise process network, which shows
employees how their activities fit into the larger picture of creating
and delivering the organization’s products and services

Provides a foundation for prioritizing future process change efforts
and aligning them with organizational strategy
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Identifying the Process Inventory

Start by documenting the primary activities in the organization’s value
chain

Next, identify the secondary activities in the value chain - these both
comprise Level 0 processes

List the Level 0 processes in an outline form (see next slide), and
assign a numbering system that enables items to be added later

Work with employees from the enterprise as needed to fill in the rest of
the inventory to one level below the value chain - these comprise the
Level 1 processes

If the organization has previously documented any processes, collect
the flowcharts, determine any overlaps, and identify where in the value
chain they are located - some of these may comprise Level 2 processes

Process documentation and process change teams can fill in the
remaining Level 2 processes as they work on their projects
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Value Chain and Level 1-2-3 Processes
Level 0
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Harmon, Paul (2007), Managing the Process-Centric Organization, presentation, BPMTrends.
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Example Process Inventory (Partial)
L0 L1 L2 L3
Process Title
11.0
Develop Organizational Capabilities
11.1
Develop Skilled Employees
11.1.1
Develop Career Path
11.1.2
Create Development Plan
11.1.3
Develop Annual Performance Objectives
11.1.4
Administer 360 Feedback Process
11.1.5
Develop Succession Plan
11.1.6
Execute Commercial Skills Development Program
11.1.7
Evaluate Learning and Development Opportunities
11.1.8
Conduct Needs Assessment
11.1.9
Develop / Modify / Improve Courses
11.1.10
Provide Courses
11.1.10.1
Process Course Enrollment
11.1.10.2
Schedule the Room and Equipment
11.1.10.3
Deliver Course
11.1.10.4
Evaluate Course
11.1.11
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Assess Employee Competencies
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