The main stages of business process optimization. Optimization of business processes for one-two-three: educational program for managers. Personal involvement of senior leaders

Optimization of individual business processes or a system of processes (accounting, employee motivation, management, workflow, etc.) is a change in them to increase efficiency. The results of this procedure are:

acceleration of the workflow;
cost reduction;
productivity growth;
high transparency of processes;
reduction of routine, solution of some management problems.

However, before ordering optimization from third-party specialists or starting to do it yourself, you need to assess whether this action is permissible in your situation.

What is included in optimization

Optimization of business processes, including management, includes:

the formation of the main, most important goal;
keeping statistics: measuring results and recording them;
analysis of a specific object;
changing an object;
receiving and tracking the result.

Optimization begins with formulating a goal, setting a result and defining indicators for its measurement.

What processes can be optimized?

Many processes lend themselves to optimization (management is also one of them). We list those of them, the improvement of which will bring you the maximum benefit.

Process type	The need for optimization
Regularly recurring	Frequent repetitions of ineffective processes result in a pointless loss of profit.
Costly (in terms of time or finance)	The more you have to invest resources in a low-efficiency process, the greater the loss you incur.
Long-term or those for which deadlines are important	Optimizing these business processes will reduce lead times.
Management processes	This type of process affects the entire company. Optimizing the chain of control processes will bring multiple benefits in many other areas.

Which business process cannot be optimized?

Problematic, in which the result is unstable due to frequent conflicts or failures;
Unsettled, the course of which is difficult to predict, because each time it happens in a different way.

Optimizing such business processes without first working on them will be a waste of time.

Each process described above must first be made stable - regulated. Improvement is usually carried out only after the results of the processes become predictable. However, there is a variant of simultaneous optimization and regulation - reengineering, fundamental rebuilding.

Business process optimization methods

Each business process requires a specific approach to optimization, depending on the way in which it will be most beneficial to solve the identified problems. In the diagram below, you can see the possible optimization methods.

You can optimize a business process in the following ways:

Exception. The number of process levels is reduced, the causes of interference are eliminated;
Simplification. Reduces the complexity of the order, simplifies the organization, division of work and management;
Standardization. As a result of optimization, all applied technologies, methods, programs, business stages (including management) are brought to a common standard;
Reduction. The number of chains of actions and their duration are reduced, production costs are reduced;
Acceleration. Faster sample development is performed, parallel engineering, simulation and automation techniques are used;
The change. Optimization involves revising the materials required for the work, the technologies used, the location of production or workplaces, the number of orders, management and other parameters;
Ensuring interaction. Connections between organizational units, work systems are adjusted, management becomes more efficient;
Isolation and inclusion. New business processes or components are taken into operation.

The management of the company also needs to be optimized in order to maximize the efficiency of the work of all employees. Any optimization, regardless of its type, will be an important step towards business development.

In order to adequately respond to changes in the external environment and remain competitive, a company needs to regularly review its business processes. At the same time, they should be focused not only on solving operational problems, but also on achieving strategic goals. Based on their experience, the authors propose an optimization algorithm that enterprises of various industries can use.

The first steps towards optimizing business processes for the enterprise should be the formation of a working group responsible for the project and drawing up a clear work plan. It is recommended to optimize business processes in stages according to the following plan:

diagnostics of the company's business processes;
description of business processes;
selection of control points;
improvement of business processes;
change management.

Personal experience
Dmitry Dronov, Marketing Director, Comstar United Telesystems (Moscow)

For our company, which is now carrying out the operational consolidation of the business of three companies - Comstar, MTU-Inform and Telmos, the issues of optimizing business processes within the holding are especially acute. Initially, we tried to exclude competition between non-independent enterprises, reduce costs, and achieve a synergistic effect. In fact, the restructuring of three companies boiled down to analyzing the business processes of each of them, combining the strengths of individual functional areas and developing new ones or bringing existing business processes to uniform standards. Business processes in any company are optimized according to the following scheme: processes, the search for "bottlenecks", in fact, and are the area of reform, the need for the participation of various links in the chain in the implementation of this process is studied, new business processes are described and detailed. Now our company is at the stage of implementing changes.

Alexander Eliseev, Deputy Director for Organizational Design, Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant OJSC
At the preparatory stage, it is necessary to form a project working group for optimization, the composition of which is determined based on the goals of the project. As a rule, it includes representatives of the company's structural divisions. It is also necessary to inform the staff about the tasks of the project and carry out detailed planning of the upcoming work. At the end of the first stage, an order is issued to start the implementation of the project to optimize the company's business processes, to which a project card is attached, which indicates the main stages, deadlines, the final result of the project stage, responsible persons and the required resources. In our company, the project plan includes the following works:

formation of a working group and definition of project goals;
training the working group on the methodology for describing processes;
decomposition of key business processes;
selection of a software product for building a model of business processes and development of a modeling agreement;
building a business process model according to the "as is" principle;
development of proposals for changing business processes;
construction and approval of the "as will be" model;
development of process regulations;
preparation and approval of a program of measures for the implementation of changes.

Since production processes must comply with the requirements of technology and safety, then, as experience shows, first of all, business processes of management and administration need to be optimized.

Diagnostics of the company's business processes

Even in a medium-sized company, the number of business processes can reach several thousand. Therefore, the main purpose of diagnostics is to identify business processes that need optimization. It should be understood that cardinal changes in secondary processes do not give serious positive results, and insignificant improvements in key processes can bring tangible effects, for example, reducing costs and spent working time. Therefore, when diagnosing, it is necessary to identify those processes that significantly affect the key performance indicators of the company.

The following can be used as auxiliary factors characterizing the significance of the process:

the product or service received as a result of the process has a large share in the company's cost structure;
the process is very often repeated throughout the day (month, year);
the value of the characteristics of the process (time, costs, resources, etc.) when it is repeated significantly differs from the previous ones.

Expert judgment can also be used to select key processes. The expert group, as a rule, includes heads of departments of the enterprise.

Description of existing business processes

The purpose of this stage is to describe the processes selected for optimization on an “as is” basis and create conditions for their unambiguous understanding by all company managers. To represent business processes in the form of understandable diagrams, such widely used methodologies as ARIS or IDEF are used.

Personal experience
Alexander Eliseev
The appropriateness of describing the processes “as is” is determined based on the size of the company. This is most appropriate for large companies, in the processes of which several large divisions are involved and there is no possibility of a detailed analysis of business processes (it is difficult to comprehensively represent the entire set of business processes) without resorting to their description. In smaller companies, this step can be skipped. Each company must independently determine for itself the optimal balance of efforts, resources and expected returns from this. It is unlikely that a universal solution can be found here. The greatest difficulty is the coordination of the described business processes with the heads of departments: there is no consensus, and you need to find a solution that will suit everyone. Dmitry Korovin, Assistant to the General Director for Organizational Development of OJSC "Wood-processing plant" Krasny Oktyabr "(Tyumen)
It happens that the process does not even need to be rebuilt. It is enough to describe it “as is”, show it to the participants, and the questions will disappear by themselves. In addition, when working on the description of the model “as is”, decisions regarding optimization are found much faster.

When describing business processes, you need to follow simple rules.
The description of the processes should be carried out "from top to bottom", that is, first, the processes occurring at the top level of the company are described, after which they are detailed. For example, the process "Preparation of financial statements" is divided into sub-processes "Closing the period", "Information processing" and "Making amendments", which in turn can be broken down into even smaller processes.

Personal experience
Roman Kotunov, Director of the management company PG "Richel" (Chelyabinsk)
We start describing the processes on an “as is” basis from the top level. These are about five to six integrated processes, such as strategic management, order fulfillment, and new product development. At this stage, it is very important to clearly define the boundaries of business processes, since the distribution of responsibility among their owners will depend on this in the future.

It is necessary to use the descriptions of processes already available in the company. As a rule, even in small companies, at the time of the start of optimization, there is already a partial and fragmented description of the processes. This can be job descriptions, regulations, regulations. Their use will save time for describing processes.
Process descriptions existing in other companies should be used. When describing business processes, one should be guided by the experience of leading consulting companies, competing enterprises that have performed similar work. It is always much easier to adapt an already prepared description of the process for specific working conditions than to compose it from scratch. True, the enterprise is unlikely to be able to get access to such information without the involvement of consultants.
For each process, a person responsible for its execution (process owner) should be appointed. This manager should not only be responsible for the process, but also have the authority to manage it. It is impossible to optimize those processes for which no one is responsible.

Selecting anchor points

To control the progress of the work, even before carrying out the optimization, the most important process characteristics (reference points) must be identified and measured. Usually, such characteristics as the quality of the process and the speed of its execution are considered as reference points. For example, for the “Raising financing” process, the reference points can be the interest rates at which the company attracts loans, as well as the time from the moment of submitting a loan application to the moment of receiving funds. Then, by changing these characteristics, it will be possible to judge the effectiveness of optimization. Unfortunately, most of the characteristics of the process are not formalized (for example, the quality of personnel management), therefore, to determine them, as a rule, the method of expert assessments is used.

Personal experience
Dmitry Korovin
The wrong choice of criteria for the optimality of the process can lead to the need to start all over again. When the problems with the process are obvious (it is either fragmented or some part of it is missing), it is not difficult to determine what needs to be optimized. If it is difficult to identify the reasons for the ineffectiveness of the process, it is better to move on to another process. When it is impossible to say for sure whether a process is effective or not, then most likely it cannot be optimized.

Improving business processes

The complex of work to improve business processes involves a comprehensive analysis of the described processes, identification of logical errors and implementation of optimization measures.

Identifying logical errors
Despite the fact that all company processes are unique, it is possible to identify the most common mistakes inherent in many companies. Eliminating such shortcomings will significantly improve the efficiency of processes.
Creation of information that is not used anywhere. Often all documents are automatically copied and then filed, but the information from them is not used. You need to decide if this information is really needed. If yes, then in the regulations of the business process should indicate exactly where. If not, then you need to change the process in such a way as to eliminate unnecessary work. An example of such a mistake can be a situation in one of the trading companies, when the preparation of an annual certificate for a certain nomenclature of goods took eight working days for a department of six people.
As a result of optimization of business processes, it turned out that no one needed this information, and there was no longer a need to prepare a certificate.
Lack of information required to complete the process. Information is used or should be used in a process, but is not created or transferred from other processes. First, you need to determine the process - the source of this information. In holdings, a lot of the time of employees of the financial department of the management company is spent on contacting the subsidiary and requesting additional data. This can be avoided if the requirement to provide this information is enshrined in the relevant regulations.
Lack of regulations for the receipt of information on the process. For example, a company has a process called “Analysis of Customer Requests and Complaints”. However, some of the information from customers goes to the salespeople with whom they work directly. If the documents regulating the work of the sales department do not provide for the obligation of managers to transfer this data to the claims department, then some of the information will simply be lost. Such situations can be avoided by creating clear, extremely understandable regulations, as well as a thorough description of information sources.
Use in the process of documents that do not have a specific source of origin. A striking example is reports on the structure and dynamics of accounts receivable, which are often prepared by the accounting department, financial and commercial departments of the company. However, the data in the reports is strikingly different. The user of such information should spend a lot of time looking for errors or eliminating discrepancies in the principles of accounting for receivables. This problem can be solved by defining a complete list of all users of information, creating a single report form and strict regulation of the applied accounting principles.
Lack of regulation of the process. The creation of process regulations is one of the main tasks that must be solved in the course of describing and optimizing processes. The absence of regulations and the changes reflected in them will lead to the fact that no adjustments will be made to the processes and the work will be done in vain. So, in a large retail company, after describing and optimizing the processes, the necessary regulations were not created. As a result, after the completion of the project, the employees continued to work as they were accustomed to. In the presence of regulations and appropriate explanatory work among the staff, such cases are excluded.
Interface error. Incoming and outgoing streams of information are presented in different formats. For example, the structure and level of detail of expense and income items in the company's master budget do not match the structure of accounting items. In this situation, 20% of all work carried out is spent on preparing data and about 80% on transforming them into an acceptable form. This situation can be corrected if the conditions for a detailed description of the processes and the introduction of in-house data transfer standards are introduced.
Having eliminated typical errors, you should proceed directly to process optimization.

Optimization activities

Development of process options. The process can be made more flexible if it has several options for execution, depending on the situation. There should be at least two versions of the process - complex and simple. For example, the Cash Management process can be simple (when spending small amounts - the minimum number of approvals) and complex (with significant costs - multi-stage approval).

Issue price
The cost of work to optimize business processes largely depends on the size of the company and the complexity of the work. Only approximate data can be given. For example, optimization of the customer service process in a large Russian bank with the involvement of consultants will cost about US $ 100,000 and will take about six months. For a trading company, optimization of the processes of managing commodity flows will cost about $ 30 thousand. USA and will be held in three to four months. If the company has its own specialists in the field of process optimization, then the cost of such work will be two to three times lower than with the involvement of third-party consultants.

Horizontal and vertical compression. Improving processes involves replacing narrowly qualified specialists with people capable of performing a wide range of responsibilities. An example of the horizontal compression of a process is transformations in a large bank. Each client had to communicate with several bank employees specializing in different areas of activity. The customer service was poor. It was decided to create the position of a client manager, whose responsibilities included solving all client issues. As a result, the number of personnel has decreased, the speed of service has increased, and the number of errors has decreased. Naturally, in such a situation, the requirements for the competence of personnel are significantly increased. It is necessary to conduct periodic training (retraining) of the company's employees.
If a participant in the process is also given the right to independently make certain decisions and the number of levels of coordination is reduced, then a vertical compression of the process occurs.
Reducing the number of control operations. In practice, it is often found that the cost of inspections and process control outweighs the cost of potential losses that would have occurred in their absence. At one of the enterprises, after the description of the processes, it turned out that up to 95% of the process execution time is spent on preparing control and reporting documentation and only 5% on obtaining the required result. After reducing the number of checks, the duration of the processes was halved.

Change management

The main problem that one has to face in the course of optimizing business processes, as a rule, becomes resistance to changes on the part of company employees. Therefore, the involvement of employees, especially direct performers, is a fundamental condition for successful process optimization.
The key factor influencing the creation of a favorable environment for improving business processes is the lack of fear of change among staff. Therefore, it is advisable to introduce motivation systems that mainly contain elements of bonuses and incentives, rather than punishment. According to Roman Kotunov, optimization of business processes is performed not only in order to reduce the loss of time and money, but also in order to simplify the work of personnel. This idea needs to be conveyed to the company's employees, and there will be no problems with the implementation of the newly created processes.

After optimization

In conclusion, we note that process improvement should be viewed as a continuous management system, and not as a series of disparate activities. However, each process improvement project should have a clear plan containing specific activities, desired results, a clear description of the responsibilities of the participants, as well as a cost-benefit analysis. At the end of the work, it is important to plan, organize and periodically audit the implemented processes. It is necessary to control the correct execution of the adopted changes by the employees and compare the actually performed actions with the developed and adopted regulations.

Personal experience
Roman Kotunov
The issue of process monitoring is one of the most important. Often, after optimization has been carried out, business processes are forgotten, and the situation in which it was required to revise the existing work procedure is repeated. We reevaluate the efficiency of our processes annually and as problems arise. For example, a customer service center or marketing department tracks customer complaints, and a certain number of complaints about the same processes is a signal for us to optimize the process.

After optimizing business processes, you can more effectively use complex information systems that will strictly regulate the company's processes and prevent users from disrupting them. Usually, to maintain optimized processes, it is necessary to create a special department that will make proposals for further improvement of processes, as well as conduct an audit.

"It is necessary to clearly delineate the responsibility for the implementation of business processes"

Interview with the Director for Economics and Finance of CJSC Mineral and Chemical Company EuroChem (Moscow) Arthur Markaryan

– Why does your company need to optimize business processes?
- I can single out two main reasons that are typical not only for our company, but also for most Russian enterprises. The first is the consolidation of companies and the formation of holdings with a centralized management system. For such enterprises, the lack of described and effective business processes means a loss of control and a sharp decline in competitiveness, as well as an increase in costs and, as a result, a decrease in profits. The second reason is that many companies in their formation focused on quick profit and short-term prospects. The processes were lined up for a specific deal, while the strategic interests of the company were not taken into account. As a result, business processes became more complex and confusing with each new deal.
We felt the need to describe and optimize business processes especially acutely when we started to implement the information system. It turned out that even the heads of departments did not always clearly understand what they were doing and what their employees were responsible for.
– What are the most common business process errors that you encounter?
- One of the most noticeable mistakes is full or partial duplication of operations both by whole departments and by individual employees. This entails an unnecessary waste of resources. For example, the company prepared a huge number of reports on the dynamics of accounts receivable. The same data was presented by the accounting, finance and commercial departments. At the same time, the numbers in the reports were often different, and the identification of reliable information took a lot of time.
However, the most serious problem that requires a top-priority solution when optimizing business processes is the lack of a clear delineation of responsibility for the implementation of a particular process. For example, it is widely believed that the accounting department is responsible for the preparation of primary documents. In fact, the accountant only checks the correctness of their preparation. These kinds of misconceptions lead to conflicts and ineffective work.
In some companies, I have come across a situation where not a person is matched to a process, but a process is matched to a person. This means that the company has a personalized system for the distribution of powers, created in connection with family ties, some past merits, etc. This approach is completely wrong and cannot bring positive results.
– How did the company's employees react to the ongoing optimization of business processes?- The procedure for describing and optimizing business processes was received without enthusiasm. But this is necessary for the effective operation of the company, and we conduct explanatory work among employees. In addition, they will only benefit from the fact that they will clearly know their responsibilities and do only the work that is really needed.
– After optimizing your business processes, are you continuing to improve them further?
- After the main processes are described and optimized, there is a desire to immediately make additional changes. However, at this stage, all adjustments, as a rule, do not give tangible results. Therefore, I would advise you not to change the created system for a while, but to wait. For ourselves, we have determined that this period will not exceed a year. Otherwise, there is a danger that employees' job descriptions will change every week, and this will add additional confusion and ultimately lead to a sharp decline in labor productivity.

In the activities of a company, the moment inevitably comes when the management thinks about optimizing its business processes. Often this happens after large financial losses, for example, when the cost of production rises sharply or it is not possible to win a tender due to the late preparation of documents for submission to the tender.

Experienced managers anticipate such scenarios and try to keep the situation under control. If you see the risks of loss of efficiency and want to prevent them preventively, this article will help you refresh your memory on the main aspects of optimizing the company's business processes.

Step 1. Determining the goals of optimizing the company's business processes

It is often asked why this should be done, since it is already clear that the processes "must be performed quickly and be cheap." I beg to differ that this is precisely the goal of optimization.

Let's remember "5 why?" Is one of the brainstorming tricks that allows you to find the true cause of almost any problem. Let's try to apply it by changing the "why" to "why" and see an example of how it works.

To increase sales.
Why increase your sales?
To get additional profit in the reporting year.

What conclusion can be drawn from the responses received? The true goal is to meet the profit growth KPIs. It is becoming clear that improving the waybill process will not be enough to achieve this goal. Therefore, it is necessary to identify all drivers of influence on profit and include in the content of the optimization task and other processes that work to increase the target indicator.

Another situation is also possible:

Why do we want to streamline the process of issuing invoices?
To speed up the issue of materials from the warehouse.
Why accelerate the issue of materials from the warehouse?
To avoid production downtime.
Why avoid production downtime?
To increase production per unit of time.
Why is productivity growth needed?
There is no need. The current demand for products does not exceed the available production volume anyway.

We found that the goal of optimizing the company's business processes was initially incorrectly defined. But the process of issuing invoices still does not suit us. Let's keep looking for the truth. In this case, there may be more questions "why":

So why do you still need to optimize the invoice processing process?
To reduce the labor intensity of the process and to carry out the process using fewer people.
Why do you need to reduce the staff of warehouse workers?
To achieve cost savings.
Why do we need savings?
To reduce the cost of production.
Why is cost reduction necessary?
In order to be able to conquer the market due to the price struggle (through lowering the selling prices for products without loss of profitability).

It turns out that by pulling one thread (design of invoices), we found that the goal is much larger than debugging a local process.

Correct goal-setting for optimizing the company's business processes will allow you to properly focus your efforts without wasting resources on performing false tasks.

In addition, sometimes you may find that some of the processes should not be simplified, but, on the contrary, should be complicated. For example, the inclusion of additional control procedures in the payment approval process can improve the efficiency of operational financial management and block the risks of unauthorized cash outflow.

Step 2. Defining the elements of the business process

Any process is characterized by a number of features, each of which can be adjusted during optimization:

object (hierarchy of objects) of the process;
subjects - participants in the process;
the inputs and outputs of the process as a whole and each function performed within the process;
the resources required to carry out the process / function.

Let's consider them in order.

Process objects determine what exactly its participants control in the course of performing their functions. The key word here is manage. For example, an accountant practically does not affect the ability to obtain originals of primary documents. This means that when optimizing accounting processes, it is necessary to consider the processes of document circulation. And this is a different process, other participants, other resources.

Talking about subjects of the process, it is necessary not only to name them, but also to clearly identify them for each subject:

his role (s);
KPIs by area of responsibility;
a way to measure how well the KPIs are met in each area of responsibility.

When optimizing the company's business processes, the definition of roles must be built in the logic of the RASCI matrix, where: R - responsibility, A - coordination, S - support, C - consulting, I - informing (who is informed about the result).

There is a fundamentally important point in the application of the RASCI model. Responsibility (R) must be sole responsibility. If several people are responsible for the execution of a large process at once, then it must be decomposed into subprocesses, functions or tasks in such a way that there is only one responsible person in each link of the process. It is easy to guess what the failure to comply with this principle can lead to. Collective responsibility is always vague. This is a direct road to task disruption.

When distributing responsibility, it is necessary to clearly formulate what exactly this or that employee will be responsible for. The result of any action must be measured in some way. This can be zero complaints, adherence to regulatory deadlines, etc. Knowing his KPI, the subject of the process will strive to fulfill it.

With regard to element A (the function of coordinating the result of the process) there is no such strict limitation. However, in the ideal case, there should also be one coordinator. Of course, collective agreement is also permissible. But this entails the risk of delaying the timing of the process. Sometimes this risk is justified (for example, when negotiating large transactions), but more often it is not.

There are no strict requirements for roles S, C, I. But, in distributing them, in any case, it is necessary to apply common sense and not overload the process with an excessive number of participants.

Now let's focus on inputs and outputs of business processes... In their correct definition, lie, in my opinion, the most significant opportunities for eliminating zones of inefficiency. It is at this stage that you need to identify and eliminate unnecessary steps of the business process or adjust their sequence.

Let me give you a classic example. Accounting is kept on the basis of primary documents. This means that the base document is the entry for transactions to form the posting. In large companies, incoming documents often go a long way before they reach a specialized accountant. Therefore, records are kept late.

Imagine that the invoice arrives at the warehouse, then it is transferred to the logistics service to register the closing of the purchase procedure, from there to the production services to inform about changes in the availability of raw materials, and only after that to the accounting department. It would seem that there are no extra links in this chain. Each participant really needs information about the received goods and materials. But at the same time, materials are accepted for accounting with a delay, sometimes the document is "lost" on the way to the accounting department.

But the original invoice can be sent directly from the warehouse to the accountant, and copies can be sent simultaneously to the supply and production services. After all, they do not need the original, the information contained in the invoice is important. At the same time, the cycle of the process is halved, and the quality of execution increases.

Analyzing the inputs - outputs of processes, you can face the opposite situation: with gaps in the steps of the process, when the input for one step is not an output from any of the previous steps.

This can be avoided by distributing roles among the participants in the process. Remember the letter I (informing) in the RASCI matrix? In essence, it is the consumer of the result of the process. If the process has several outputs, then there can also be several consumers of the result.

Exits should not lead to nowhere. If there is no consumer, then the process is carried out aimlessly, the result is not needed by anyone. It is necessary to get rid of such processes.

Now let's look at ensuring the execution of processes. The main task here is not so much identifying the necessary resources as honest answers to the questions:

Is the goal of the process worth the cost to achieve it?
Perhaps it is better to change the goal or give it up altogether?
If the goal is worth it, what is its priority over the goals of other processes?

Let me note that resources should be understood not only as money costs for personnel and material support, but also time (which, by the way, is the only irreplaceable resource).

As part of the optimization of the company's business processes, solving the issue of the cost of the process, it will be extremely useful to simulate various scenarios and compare them. Which option will be faster, cheaper, easier to implement? It is on the basis of this analysis that decisions are made on outsourcing functions, on changes in the company's business model, on the need for automation, on staff reduction, etc.

Step 3. Splitting business processes

It is not so important who invented the assembly line (Henry Ford in the first half of the 20th century or Eli Whitney at the end of the 18th century). The main thing is to successfully apply conveyor principles in your activities.

A common mistake is the implementation of a complex turnkey process by one department or employee. For example, when a high-class lawyer, checking the draft contracts received by him, is forced to pay attention not only to the complex conditions of contracts, but also to clarify the details of the parties, the powers of the signers, this will inevitably lead to a decrease in his productivity and a drop in the quality of work.

To optimize the company's business processes, it is much more correct to put frequently repeated "technical" and simple operations on the stream, entrusting their implementation to less expensive specialists. Competent delegation of responsibilities and authorities will help speed up processes and reduce the complexity of their maintenance without losing quality.

Step 4. Implementation of changes

So, you have defined the target business process model. Now it needs to be transferred from the theoretical plane to the practical one.

To do this, all changes must be promptly reflected in the company's internal regulations, job descriptions of employees, workflow schedule and made mandatory.

As you can see, the techniques for optimizing a company's business processes are not that complicated. The hardest part about applying them is the company's readiness to change. Sometimes it takes a strong administrative will of the leadership to abandon the rudimentary processes that "historically took shape".

It happens that process reengineering meets local resistance. Employees are afraid of layoffs, increased workload, increased requirements for the results of their work. In such a situation, it is better for management to take timely measures to involve employees in the planned changes.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the work to optimize the company's business processes is quite laborious. Therefore, when starting it, you, in addition to goals, objectives and frameworks, need to clearly define the deadline for completion, ensure the involvement and assistance of participants. And then everything will work out!

Optimization of production means the introduction of innovative technologies and the improvement of the work process. Typically, this modification is carried out in order to improve the efficiency and reduce the costs of the enterprise.

What is the optimization of production processes

Optimization of production is the elimination of shortcomings of the enterprise, focusing on the advantages of technology. The procedure involves going through three stages: planning, approval and implementation. It helps to reduce the number of managerial mistakes and shortcomings, reduce production costs, increase enterprise profits and work efficiency. In addition, production optimization can be implemented in order to get out of the financial crisis. Its effectiveness will become faster and more evident if it is directed to the main technological processes.

Optimization of production management should be carried out in accordance with the approved plan, which indicates all the stages and sequence of implementation. It is best to start with adjusting the narrow functional points, then the risks of the enterprise are reduced and the possibility of returning to the previous course remains. As a rule, the relevant activities are carried out as soon as possible.

Optimization of production implies the improvement of its structures, revision of their relationships and interactions (the functions of one department can be assigned to another). Usually, the result of such actions is: an increase in competitiveness, an increase in sales and profits of the enterprise, the formation of its positive image, but more on that later.

Remember that before carrying out reforms, it is necessary to analyze the features of the technology, formulate tasks, create a business process diagram.

How to optimize production without investing in equipment

Can you improve your company's productivity without investing in hardware? The editorial board of the "General Director" magazine offers three ways to optimize production without buying new equipment.

What does the optimization of production at the enterprise lead to?

Manufacturing companies are optimizing to improve their competitiveness and, using a variety of tools, to reduce costs. However, it is far from always possible to achieve the set goals. Sometimes it is worth revising the approach, methods and ways of implementation in order to increase production efficiency and achieve the desired result. This conclusion was made by specialists from BCG (Boston Consulting Group) after studying the experience of many industrial enterprises (including Russian ones).

The need to study the practice of improving production efficiency came when the competitiveness of Russian companies began to decline due to the fact that in early 2010 the growth rates of wages of personnel employed in industry did not match the rate of increase in labor productivity.

The scale of the problem is shown by illustrating the dynamics of remuneration of the company's specialists and the efficiency of their development. In China, the increase in staff salaries was twice the productivity, and in Russia - eight times. This indicates that the relative competitiveness of industrial enterprises in Russia has significantly decreased (in comparison with similar companies in China). The decline was also influenced by the factor that the rate of decline in production exceeded the reduction in the number of employees.

In 2014, the production costs of our industrialists reached the American level. A decade ago, one hour of work cost $ 7 in Russia and $ 18 in the United States, and today this ratio looks like this: in Russia - $ 21.9, in the United States - $ 22.32. A Boston consulting group cites evidence that Russian companies cannot produce goods cheaper than American ones due to higher wages and energy costs. Only competent production optimization can change the state of affairs.

Industrial companies are implementing various efficiency improvement programs using a variety of methods and forms. Many have succeeded in this process: reduced costs and increased profits, improved the quality of their products, reduced delivery times, increased employee engagement. Due to insufficiently ordered optimization measures, a number of enterprises received local advantages. Companies that have achieved tangible results are gradually losing their "fighting fervor", having not achieved the main goal - the integration of the entire business process or the application of the necessary techniques in all structural divisions.

After analyzing the methods of successful implementation of optimization, experts concluded that an unsuccessful outcome can be if:

the specificity of subdivisions and workshops was not taken into account;
optimization of production is not fully calculated, that is, there is no clear sequence of using the tools and the consequences are not thought out;
the focus is on implementation methods only;
instructions have not been developed for heads of departments, on the basis of which they could manage the reorganization.

Practical experience allows us to conclude that when the approach to the program to improve efficiency is changed, it can be activated.

Let's look at an example. The industrial enterprise has optimized production and achieved very high levels of productivity and product quality. However, after some time (3-4 years), the performance first stopped, and then completely began to decline. The optimization of the production of this company provided for activities that were not systematized, but focused on separate workshops. After the analytical work, the possibility of a holistic approach was considered. The company gave the program a "second life". Comparative analysis showed the need to prioritize factories, develop and carry out a number of activities. Optimization of production costs allowed to reduce costs by up to 15%:

We quickly redistributed enterprise resources and implemented opportunities to create maximum value;
improved communication between factories and identified deviations in the norms, for example, indicators of the coefficient of performance (efficiency) and product yield were adjusted and began to be used to achieve effectiveness;
identified innovative methods used at the enterprise and systematized their implementation in relation to the entire technological chain;
optimization of production was coordinated according to the principle of "top-down", which made it possible to more efficiently distribute material resources.

to involve in the work the most important factors affecting labor productivity;
strive to achieve quick results;
strictly follow a certain course, taking into account the capabilities of the enterprise.

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How to set production optimization tasks

Optimization of production involves solving problems associated with the competing properties of the technological process, such as:

volume of production - consumption of raw materials;
product volume - product quality.

An effective solution lies in the process of finding a compromise for such properties.

To define reorganization tasks, you need to arrange the following parameters.

1. The presence of the object and the goal of optimization. The tasks must be formulated separately for each object of reform, that is, the system should not include more than one criterion, because the extreme values of one parameter will not coincide with the boundary indicators of another.

An example of an incorrectly formulated task: "Achieve the highest possible productivity at the lowest production cost."

The error lies in the fact that the task is aimed at optimizing two values, in fact, contradicting one another.

The following wording may be correct:

Achieve the highest possible performance at a fixed production cost.
Achieve the minimum production cost with the planned performance.

In the first option, the reorganization is aimed at productivity, and in the second, it is at cost.

2. Availability of optimization resources. By resources, it is meant that the selected object must have control actions, that is, a certain degree of freedom.

3. Possibility of quantitative analysis of the optimized value. Evaluating the effectiveness of optimization and comparing the effectiveness of one or another control action is possible only when there are specific quantitative indicators.

What are the methods of production optimization

At the present stage, the optimization of production costs is possible using a variety of techniques and strategies. All of them are more or less successfully applied in practice and are divided into three main categories:

Bottom-up method.
Reengineering method.
Directive approach method.

Reception "bottom-up" carried out in relation to many processes in the enterprise by improving methodology and technology. Moreover, the structure of the company and the main production stages are not affected, optimization concerns ordinary divisions. Reengineering is based on fundamental changes introduced into the business process, technology and organization of production in order to achieve a qualitatively new level. The method of the directive approach involves the reduction of funding for the divisions of the enterprise by a certain amount.

Bottom-up cost reduction is an ideal technique for achieving long-term cost advantage without high investment or risk. The implementation of the program is based on the principle of attracting the maximum number of employees of the enterprise to the reorganization at all stages of implementation (development and implementation of proposals to increase labor efficiency and improve the efficiency of technological processes, increase quality indicators at all stages of production).

For example, the optimization of production costs was carried out by implementing the idea of closing the roller table bearings of a rolling mill to eliminate oil washout and extend the service life. The result of this modernization was savings of about $ 20-30 thousand. But if there are a hundred such ideas, then in annual terms the effect will amount to more than one million dollars. As a rule, such rationalization proposals are on the surface, you just have to pay attention to them.

Almost all companies can optimize costs and improve production efficiency. So why don't they do it? Most likely, the reason is the organizational complexity of the process.

Several decades ago, a number of companies faced a similar problem while working with clients. The result of the solution of the issue was the development of methods for organizing and implementing large projects at enterprises aimed at reducing costs "from the bottom up". The program was named "TOP" - total production optimization. It is based on the experience of the world's leading companies and is constantly being improved. The results of the analysis of the effectiveness of the implementation of TOC show that the optimization of production costs led to a 16% reduction in the total costs of metallurgical, mining and pulp and paper mills.

Reengineering- one of the most effective methods aimed at increasing the competitiveness and reducing costs of the enterprise. This method requires significant investment and takes a long time, which can cancel the expected effect. In addition, key processes and technologies used in basic manufacturing industries have already exhausted their resources and are not subject to radical optimization. All this suggests that an enterprise that has conceived reengineering needs to think about reducing a number of operating costs in order to remain competitive during serious activities aimed at increasing production efficiency.

Directive approach is often the most effective and fastest. Despite the effectiveness of this method, it very often suffers from a lack of strategic priorities. Reducing the budget of departments can lead to the fact that the company will not be profitable, its income will stop growing, and its place in the market will be lost. The directive approach should be applied selectively with respect to those structures that show their ineffectiveness (for example, in comparison with competitors, a large staff of the personnel department).

A clear example of production optimization

Today, large-scale optimization of the production process is carried out at some Russian metallurgical enterprises. For example, at the Vyskunsky Metallurgical Plant, as part of the program, 270 rationalization proposals were introduced, the effectiveness of which amounted to $ 30 million over two years.

The car company Porsche has significantly reduced the welding time (from six weeks to three days) and the number of flaws (four times) as a result of the application of innovations.

Goodyear's production optimization (tire production) is being implemented through a program aimed at reducing production cycle times. Thus, the company seeks to increase its performance by 135%. As a result of the application of measures, the cost of inventories was reduced by half, and for raw materials - by 15%.

The Khortytsa company has optimized enterprise management according to the ERP-class program Oracle J.D. Edwards EnterpriseOne. Moreover, the implementation of this project at the distillery was carried out with the involvement of specialists from the department and external consultants. Further development of innovations in the company continued on its own.

McKinsey's practice gives grounds to conclude that the bottom-up method can be effective when, in order to optimize production, the company's employees were motivated to innovate. Such a program can reduce the company's expenses by up to 40% within a year and a half.

Basic principles of production optimization at the enterprise

It was said above that the most effective production optimization program is implemented according to the TOP scheme. Now we will dwell on this method in a little more detail.

The techniques of this program are absolutely different from other optimization methods. First of all, because when using it, changes relate not only to production efficiency, but also to the effectiveness of the work of employees of the enterprise, their motivation. Thus, the program is aimed at long-term use.

A complex approach

From the name it follows that the method implies a set of goals: cost reduction, increase in labor productivity and product quality. In this case, efficiency is achieved by expanding subdivisions with low production indicators and obtaining additional profit due to the fact that a high-quality product replaces a lower-quality predecessor. For example, at one metallurgical plant, during the implementation of the TOP, a proposal was implemented to replace the lifting mechanisms that move the rolls of sheet steel. The optimization of the foundry proved to be effective, as the edges of the rolls were better preserved (by 80%), and, naturally, the quality of the goods increased. This gave the company an opportunity to attract new consumers, increase the number of products manufactured and raise the company's revenues.

Identifying specific cost reduction targets

Specific targets are based on data from industry leaders. At the stage of the beginning of the implementation of the TOP, the structural divisions have a task: to reduce the costs stipulated by the budget by 40%. Moreover, the calculation of cost reduction is done separately for each sector, taking into account its specifics. Metal raw materials are a quantity that cannot be reduced, but production waste, which is inevitable in the production of slabs, can be reduced. When it is not possible to determine the volume of irreducible costs, then they are guided by the indicators of companies that are successful in this industry. Typically, 40% of cost reductions equals 15–20% of total costs. Of course, such optimization of production costs is a tough method, especially since the process is carried out without much additional investment. But it is quite possible to achieve the goal, since this has been practically confirmed by many foreign and domestic enterprises. If the unit manages to achieve the assigned tasks, then it stands head and shoulders above its competitors (even if they are considered more successful).

Leveraging existing know-how

For the organization and implementation of the TOP, mainly the heads of the units are responsible. Usually they are more competent in matters of the specifics of the divisions of the enterprise and know which of them have the greatest potential for increasing efficiency and which ways to optimize production are better to use. If you involve in the implementation of TOP suppliers and suppliers of these structures, then you can give a more accurate assessment of the effectiveness of the process. The fact that during the implementation of the program the ideas of the employees are used, makes them feel involved in the life of the company. And this has a beneficial effect on the corporate mentality and sets up for long-term fruitful cooperation.

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Using unconventional ideas

When a program is implemented, many common truths are called into question. As a guideline, they usually use the experience of leading companies and the most successful production optimization models. For example, as part of an efficiency improvement program at a smelter, a proposal was made to increase the number of tanks used for slag collection. It seemed impossible, but the number of containers used increased 10 times due to the introduction of an unconventional method of spraying with a heat-resistant composition. The performance was accurately tracked.

Clear tracking of results

The conditions for optimizing production require that all proposals accepted for execution are applied strictly in accordance with the plan and have a specific result that can be measured (for example, to reduce the budget of a structural unit for the purchase of consumables, raw materials, etc.).

To track the progress of the program and the execution of plans, a Controlling group is created. She has been given broad powers and the ability to communicate with senior management. The group is assigned a number of tasks, the key of which is to determine the economic efficiency of the implementation of TOP, distinguishing it from all other changes in the budget, which may be caused by the instability of the exchange rate, fluctuations in prices for raw materials and consumables, and other factors.

4 methods of control optimization that are most often used in practice

How many levels does a production optimization project have?

In the process of reorganization, a gradual increase in the company's efficiency takes place, its qualifications develop, and it begins to use the acquired advantages. Optimization of production involves the passage of three levels of maturity, and enterprises that have competently approached this process, overcome them systematically, gradually moving from one stage to another.

Of course, each company implements the optimization process in its own way, being at its stage of development (maturity level), having an individual improvement plan.

The first level of production optimization

At this stage, the basis of the production optimization system is formed. The work is aimed at analyzing best practices, diagnosing the actual state of technological processes, setting goals and formulating tasks to improve efficiency. Moreover, a thorough study is carried out in relation to key indicators for several KPIs that underlie high productivity (these are, as a rule, equipment and technological lines).

Experts are looking for alternative ways to reduce the level of production losses by increasing efficiency and quality, reducing costs and time required to implement a complete production cycle. At this stage, it is very important to have not only theoretical knowledge, but also to be able to apply it in practice (to set up equipment and maintain it in working order), so that it is possible to quickly improve the functioning of individual structural units (factories).

By streamlining the work of the main objects and processes in the enterprise, such as equipment, logistics and management, you can quickly move from the first level of production optimization (basic) to the next more mature stage.

The second level of production optimization (more mature)

Optimization of production moves to a new level if, upon completion of the introduction of basic methods and technological processes, the modernization of individual shops and the company as a whole begins. At this stage, specific standards are developed, favorable conditions are created, experts are involved and the practical application of theoretical knowledge begins. All this is necessary in order not to lose the positive experience accumulated in the process of work. Usually the more mature stage takes more time, requires a systematic approach and better organization of employees.

At the second level, the optimization of the production structure as a whole begins. As a result, the company achieves cost reductions that do not affect the value of the product itself, in other words, costs for its production are reduced by up to 15% (with the exception of raw materials and other components), material losses are reduced to almost zero.

Companies suffer from a lack of specific expertise, leadership expertise, expert teams supporting the introduction of new products, or a specific assignment of responsibilities. This conclusion can be made if we take into account the fact that often at enterprises they simply do not pay attention to the most important points related to the organization and management tools, labor resources, qualifications and professional competence of employees.

Measures to optimize production should include a mandatory increase in the skills of personnel, their specialized training, for example, in the field of analysis of losses or waste control in the production process, in the field of technical support, etc. According to experts, in order to organize an effective commodity business, at least three years (or even all five).

If the optimization of production has given a small but significant result, and the complex is not fully implemented, you can accelerate the activities in order to move to the second (more mature) level. Experts believe that tangible efficiency can be achieved only if the developed program is systematically and systematically implemented with professional management.

The third level of production optimization

Third-level events are held in companies that are able to assess the efficiency obtained as a result of the work done, and do not stop there, but continue to work towards improving the functionality of production: they are revising the supply and implementation system, the planning scheme, etc. Thus, enterprises move to the next stage, at which not only the optimization of the production process takes place, but also more complex tools are used (integrated planning, management reorganization, specification of technological cycles, etc.).

Typically, companies that have moved to the third level of optimization have full knowledge of the costs that do not affect the value of the product. By this time, the technological processes have already been reorganized. The efficiency of structural divisions, factories and equipment meets the requirements of world quality standards, and the development of the company is possible through production, which has become the main source of income. By this stage, innovative technologies for product segmentation and management strategies have already been developed and implemented, planning of the main process and implementation has been improved.

Of course, the transition to a new level is a difficult procedure, but if the optimization of production is carried out consistently, then the company will certainly increase its potential.

If an enterprise seeks to achieve more significant results, then it begins to reorganize management and services, because high costs in this part of the activity can significantly reduce the profitability of the business as a whole. Experts note that in order to overcome the threshold of the first or second level of optimization, companies introduce short targeted programs, and for the third they use a wide range of innovative technologies.

Return to the first level of production optimization

Modeling and optimization of production is unrealistic without overcoming a number of difficulties, but they cannot be a reason to give up on everything, because it is possible to achieve efficiency one way or another. To do this, you will need to go back to the entry level and implement shorter programs that cover a smaller range of tasks. If you use a controlling system, then with a quick optimization, efficiency can be achieved in the shortest possible time (up to several days). This technique is recommended by experts who have sufficient experience and are convinced of this in practice.

The main thing is that production optimization is carried out using the most effective levers. It is necessary to carefully study everything and draw conclusions about which of the methods should be used at the moment, and which - later. For this you need:

to establish the preferential probability of obtaining efficiency in terms of time, the size of the resource and material benefits;
to concentrate resources, for which a deficit may arise, on production areas selected for rapid optimization;
prepare coordinated measures for the speedy implementation of innovative methods in the divisions within which production optimization is carried out;
create conditions that motivate employees to work efficiently and justify certain risks.

As practice shows, the most successful rapid reorganization can be carried out in 5 directions:

Optimize equipment utilization by increasing efficiency, improving service quality and reducing downtime.
Optimize the efficiency of workpieces, reducing losses that arise due to insufficient equipment power.
Reorganize logistics by increasing the activity of warehouses and reducing transportation costs.
Optimize inventories by more accurately calculating production volumes, orienting them to projected demand, which will help streamline the movement and potential of raw materials and materials.

The planned program will be successful if a small number of specific tools are introduced into the most efficient segments of the enterprise. According to experts, rapid performance is observed in the following production areas:

improvement of equipment performance;
professional development of employees;
reduction in the number of defective products.

All of the above areas are amenable to analysis and, as a rule, do not require large capital investments. In addition, in these areas there is always the potential for the optimization of the company's production volumes to be effective.

Warehouse business processes: a step-by-step plan for optimizing order picking

Total production optimization: 6 stages of implementation

Stage number 1. Organization of the process

The organization of the TOP process is the most important stage. It is during this period of work that the areas of activity are designated to which the optimization of production will be directed, the responsibilities of leaders and group members are distributed, and the participants in the process are trained.

As the sphere of reorganization, both small structural divisions and larger segments of the enterprise can be designated. Usually, no more than 300 people are involved in the life support of the optimized unit. As a rule, the process is headed by managers or their deputies in these departments.

The key indicator for their selection is the willingness to take part in optimization, respect of the team and, of course, professional preparedness, intellectual abilities of the candidate. It is worth motivating leaders by giving them the opportunity to implement ideas that have not been used before due to various objective reasons.

In addition, it is necessary to give a chance to show their potential to members of the team (working group) and the head administration. Optimization of costs in production is transferred to the competence of the group leaders: development of proposals, calculations of efficiency, approval from higher authorities. The organization of the TOC process, as a rule, is as follows:

Stage number 2. Setting goals

The key task of this stage is to determine the goal of reducing costs. It is recommended to start work by calculating the budget per unit of production. This phase can be simplified: during the formation of units, one must focus on what organizational division is established at the enterprise, and on the methodology for accounting for finance. When the budget of the object is determined, a scheme for optimizing production, receipt of raw materials and materials is drawn up. The costs of each production unit are divided among all operations and thus the approximate cost of the individual business process is found.

After that, all costs are divided into two groups: technical and operational (that is, energy and raw materials), unrecoverable costs and costs that are not considered in the project are isolated (suppose depreciation). Typically, some fraction of the operating and technical costs falls under the category of non-reducible costs, the amount of which is determined using theoretical calculations of the least need. In other words, the minimum permissible level of use of raw materials and energy is calculated, provided that there is no waste, leakage, etc. All other costs of the enterprise belong to the group of those that can be reduced.

When all the necessary calculations have been carried out (the budget of departments and workshops has been established, unrecoverable costs have been determined), then a new goal is set for the units of production - to reduce the remaining part of costs by 40%. To achieve this, the head of the department and his support team must develop economically feasible rationalization proposals, the effectiveness of which will be at least 40% of the budget to be reduced.

Stage 3. Development of proposals to reduce costs

"Brainstorming" is a key method that allows you to choose an idea on the basis of which production optimization will be carried out in terms of costs. The event is organized and conducted by the head of the structural unit with the participation of members of the initiative group, employees of the department, suppliers and customers. As a rule, the result of this work is a large number of rationalization proposals and ideas that are aimed at reducing enterprise costs, increasing production efficiency and improving the quality level of products. Note that absolutely everything is taken into account, even the most fantastic statements, because the goal of the storm is to generate the largest number of ideas (the question of their quality is not raised).

All proposals received must be recorded, drawn up and entered into the database, after which they undergo a verification procedure for effectiveness (an assessment of the possible financial result is given, the level of risk, timing and degree of complexity of the program implementation is determined). If, as a result of the brainstorming session, a solution has not been worked out that allows you to reduce production costs by 40%, then it becomes necessary to conduct an additional survey of employees of the divisions on the basis of which optimization is planned, to attract experts and study the experience of leading companies - representatives of your industry.

Stage 4. Evaluation of the submitted proposals

At this stage, an assessment is made of the complexity of the implementation of ideas for optimizing production: the volume of capital investments is specified, the efficiency of implementation (including economic) is determined, issues are agreed with suppliers, subcontractors and other participants in the process. As you work, the proposals are replaced. In short, there is a constant interweaving of the third and fourth stages.

The result of this phase should be a ready-made list of ideas, with the implementation of which the production process and production optimization will be as effective as possible. Moreover, the investment should pay off within two years of com

Business process optimization methods

Business Process Optimization is the direct development and implementation of measures to improve (reorganize) the company's business processes.

The study of their actual state allows you to formulate goals for improvement (reorganization). For example, gaining market share, reducing order transit times, reducing inventories, etc.

Company A manufactures sporting goods and leisure goods. Based on the study of the current market position, the company formulated the following goals:

· Reduction of costs up to 25 Euros on average per product.

· Manufacturing and delivery of the product according to the customer's order within 5 days from the date of the order in the store.

· Maintaining a range of products in the amount of 1300 pieces.

The management of the company accepted the proposal for the research and improvement of the processes and, as a result of the research, set the corresponding goals. To achieve the planned results, it was necessary not only to radically improve the order process, but also to make changes in product development, organization of work at the installation site, change employee functions and organize sales work.

Optimization is aimed at realizing the set goals and contains measures that eliminate the identified problems. These may include: issues of interfacing changed technologies, changed working systems, too many control levels, downtime, unused capacity, duplication of work orders, errors in the transfer of information, loss of information, errors in documentation, etc.

When developing optimization measures, one should take into account the influence parameters: logistic, economic, temporal, spatial, personal.

Logical is the number of stages of the process, technological feasibility, sequence of events, organizational interaction.

Economic - low costs, high capacity utilization, low inventory levels, economical process depth, flexibility, high share of value creation.

Temporary - short lead times, low downtime, low changeover times, flexible production times.

Spatial - the ability to locate the necessary workplaces, the ability to streamline working systems, minimum transport routes, the ability to change the order of the working systems.

Personal - the amount of work and the need for personnel, the provision of the necessary qualifications, advanced training, flexible working hours for personnel.

First, you need to understand for yourself what goal we are pursuing, intending to optimize or reengineer a particular business process.

In other words, first you need to set a specific task, otherwise the optimization will not bring any effect.

Let's consider, in short, the main methods used to optimize business processes:

1. SWOT analysis (analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the business process)

SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to assess the factors of phenomena affecting a project or enterprise. All factors fall into four categories: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

The principle of the method is to find and eliminate / strengthen the weakest sides and minimize potential risks and threats.

2. Method of cause-effect (Ishikawa diagram - Cause and Effect Diagram)

Ishikawa diagram - the so-called. Fishbone Diagram or Cause and Effect Diagram, and also as a Root Cause Analysis diagram.

One of the seven main tools for measuring, evaluating, controlling and improving the quality of production processes included in the "seven quality control tools":

Control card;

Pareto chart;

Bar graph;

Checklist;

Ishikawa diagram;

Stratification (stratification);

Scatter plot.

Such a diagram allows you to identify the key relationships between various factors to more accurately understand the process under study. The diagram helps to determine the main factors that have the most significant influence on the development of the problem under consideration, as well as to prevent or eliminate the action of these factors.

3. Benchmarking

The method of analyzing the superiority and assessing the competitive advantages of partners and competitors of the same type or related industry in order to study and use all the most productive. A bit like industrial espionage, however, the difference is that this method is carried out using superficial observations.

4. Analysis and optimization of business processes based on indicators (KPI)

Key performance analysis method. The principle of setting the final goals for the project, with the achievement of which the "bar" is raised, or if the goals cannot be achieved, the means of achieving or the goals themselves are revised.

5. Brainstorming

The method in which the solution of the problem is discussed and all possible ways are put forward, on the basis of this, the most effective is selected with tz. discussion participants

6. Techniques Lean, "6 Sigma"

A method for identifying productivity gains by reducing defects in the manufacturing process

7. Calculation and modification of the fragmentation of the process

The method of reducing or increasing the constituent parts of a business process

8. Analysis of the business logic of the process, elimination of ineffective procedures, distribution of responsibility for the implementation of business processes and delegation of decision-making authority, linking parallel work, fixing information at the source and including information processing in real work

9. Method of functional cost analysis (FSA-analysis)

The principle of the analysis is to achieve the maximum functionality of the object with minimal costs, both for the seller and the buyer.

10. Method of simulation (dynamic) BP modeling

A technique that makes it possible to represent human actions and the use of technologies used in the studied reengineering processes within the framework of a dynamic computer model. Simulation involves the implementation of four main stages:

1) building a model,

2) launching the model,

3) analysis of the obtained performance indicators,

4) assessment of alternative scenarios.

A very effective method, provided all the quantities required to build the model are up-to-date and accurate.

11. Calculation and analysis of the labor intensity and duration of the business process

The methodology was created to calculate the optimal number of employees in the enterprise, the load on them.

12. Analysis of the matrix of distribution of responsibility

The method of drawing up a visual functional table that strictly distributes the organization to structural divisions, links, and so on. In other words, the tasks are assigned to the structural divisions

For an optimal solution to optimize business processes, you can use all methods as a whole, or separately, depending on the tasks and the amount of analyzed information.

At the present time, when, on the one hand, strong competitors with well-established work schemes enter the market, and on the other hand, our enterprises are expanding their activities, it is important to restructure their work scheme in a timely and painless manner.

For example, if an enterprise needs to improve its work in a short time (no more than three months): reduce costs, receivables, shorten the production cycle, reduce the number of managerial errors or take urgent measures to overcome the crisis, it can use the express method optimization of business processes.

On the one hand, this is a fairly simple method, but, on the other hand, it is very laborious and energy-consuming (regardless of whether it is a commercial enterprise or a production-commercial one).

Stages of optimization of business processes by express method:

First of all, it is necessary to compile a list of all business processes available at the enterprise and develop a functional diagram of the enterprise. Then an enlarged diagram is developed, which reflects all the main business processes occurring in the enterprise, and the relationship between them, and then detailed diagrams of each business process.

2. Conducting ABC analysis.

After the scheme is developed, an ABC analysis is carried out, which allows you to select a small number of the most significant business processes, which need to be focused on. For this, all business processes are divided into three groups - "A", "B" and "C".

Group "A" includes the most costly processes. As a rule, this is 5-10% of all processes occurring at the enterprise, which account for 75-80% of all costs.

Group "B" includes about 20% of business processes, which include about 10-20% of costs. And, finally, the group "C" is made up of the remaining 60-75% of the processes, "eating up" only 5-10% of the costs of the enterprise.

There is a standard set of parameters that must be constantly analyzed regardless of the type of enterprise. It:

* reliability of information flows;

* the scheme of acceptance and the validity of the business decision;

* the effectiveness of existing business processes of the enterprise;

* the adequacy of management to the assigned tasks;

* the adequacy of the personnel motivation system;

* modernity of the technological process;

* the adequacy of the time spent.

The basis for the ABC analysis is the operational data obtained through a questionnaire survey of all employees on problems and suggestions, as well as the timing of working hours in a section for each link of the business process.

The main attention is paid to the problems arising in interstructural connections.

3. Analysis of the state of liquid assets

Simultaneously with the ABC analysis, an analysis of the condition of the most liquid assets is usually carried out. As practice shows, "putting things in order" in the accounting and control over the use of liquid assets in a short time (up to three months) gives the greatest effect.

The importance of accounting for such assets is due to several factors. First, it is these assets that are of the greatest material interest to unscrupulous employees. Secondly, the ability to manage them depends on the correct organization of control over the use of liquid assets. If the information received by the management does not reflect the true state of liquid assets, this can lead to a crisis of the enterprise up to bankruptcy, especially in an increasingly competitive environment.

Analysis of accounting for liquid assets should begin with checking banking and cash transactions. Particular attention should be paid to the state of settlements with suppliers and buyers and to the management of warehouse stocks.

4. Optimization of business processes

After the analysis, you can start optimizing business processes, that is, directly to the stage of improvements. Any actions to improve the operation of the enterprise should begin with the optimization of the processes of the “A” group. It should be emphasized that when using the express method, only those processes are selected that can be improved in three months. It should be noted that the improvement stage is directly related to changes in the company. But the resistance to change, as you and I understand, is always great among employees.

Therefore, each change must be discussed by employees involved in a specific business process. And only a decision should be made that suits the representatives of each link of the business process. Then, within two to three days, the solution is tested and corrected. Only after that do we move on to working out the next business process.

5. A system of daily reporting is being created, reflecting information on the expenditure of all types of resources (including working time). Increased control is established over the most expensive and scarce resources.

Reporting forms are developed, which are also tested in the working order, and then agreed with the managers of the departments where these forms will be used, and approved by the management of the enterprise. Due to the introduction of daily management reporting and streamlining of document flow, the company immediately receives a number of benefits:

* The management of the enterprise at any time can determine the direction and time of spending any monetary and material resources. Even if these resources continue to be wasted, an information base is created from which data can later be developed to better manage resources.

* Due to the introduction of a clear procedure for filing applications for resources, costs are reduced. Since for the expenditure of any resource it is necessary to fill out many different documents and obtain permits, the employee stops making purchases of resources "just in case." Thus, applications are made only for the resources that are really needed.

* Labor productivity increases as people always work more intensively if they are accountable for the work done on a daily basis.

* Based on the analysis of the daily reports of employees (especially the highest paid) on the work done, important tasks for which they do not have enough time and tasks that can be delegated to lower-paid employees are identified. Optimal redistribution of tasks between employees allows the company's management to achieve more efficient work of personnel without increasing wage costs.

* As information accumulates, costs are analyzed in detail and on this basis, measures are developed to reduce them. One of these measures may be the introduction of a more rational procurement planning system, which will reduce the amount of raw materials in the warehouse, and reduce the cost of their transportation and storage.

Thus, there is a transition from cost accounting to managing them.

6. The document flow of the company is being corrected.

All accepted and working decisions are made by adjustments to the document management system: "Regulations on the organizational structure", the system of job descriptions, "Regulations on wages", "Internal regulations".

7. Result

The result of using the express method for optimizing business processes at the end of a three-month period can be a reduction in costs by 5-15%, a reduction in the production cycle and an improvement in the state of the company's settlements.

After the stage of optimization of business processes, the system of effective personnel management is being worked out, a system of assessment and certification of personnel is being introduced, which includes:

* Stages of the assessment process: preparation, implementation, maintenance and monitoring, analysis and use of the results;

* Regulatory support for the assessment process: correct execution of job descriptions, labor contracts, work standards, etc.;

* Assessment process and system of procedures, documenting the process;

* Training managers in the basics of technology for assessing personnel;

* Analysis and use of the results of personnel assessment for decision-making on personnel;

* Planning activities for personnel management of the company based on the results of the assessment process.

We have come to the concept of business process reengineering (BPR), i.e. creating completely new and more efficient business processes without considering what was before. BPO employs a large number of tools and techniques within the normal framework. In the previous issue, one of them was described - an express method for optimizing the business processes of an enterprise. Let's consider in more detail each of the stages of the implementation of this method in the enterprise.

Processes are streams of work, and they have boundaries, in other words, a beginning and an end. For example, business processes are: inventory management, DC management, marketing management, HR management. The subprocesses of inventory management are: planning supplies, accepting orders for goods and materials from the client, selling goods and materials, storing goods and materials, writing off goods and materials, etc.

Procedures - a manual, a documented procedural order of actions, in which a sequence of actions should be prescribed. For example, control over returns is already a clearly defined procedure (by whom, how and when it should be carried out). The procedures are reflected in the procedural cards.

Strictly speaking, the functional structure can also be reengineered of any detail and even appoint “process owners” along with the existing department heads. To make this mechanism work, it is necessary to preserve the principle of one-man management and in the "Regulations on the organizational structure", as well as in other fundamental documents of the company, clearly outline the areas of responsibility, powers and interaction procedures for each department head, process owner and each junction of the responsibility matrix.

Then the efficiency of the structure will not fall as low as it happens in most firms.

So, the sequence of our actions with you:

1. Highlighting key problems in business processes.

2. Conducting ABC - analysis. Distribution of areas of responsibility.

4. Creation of a system of daily reporting.

5. Correction of document flow.

6. Result.

1). All information available at the enterprise is subjected to diagnostics:

* Material or explicit information is data and knowledge that can be found in the documents of an organization in the form of messages, instructions, contracts, Regulations, letters, articles, reference books, patents, drawings, video and audio recordings, software, etc.

* Personal or hidden information is personal knowledge inextricably linked to individual experience. They can be conveyed through direct contact ("face to face"), using a questionnaire. It is believed that it is the hidden practical knowledge that is key to identifying problems in the enterprise. This information is also interesting because it indirectly reveals the degree of readiness of employees to contribute to the development of the company. Therefore, the questionnaire survey is a simple and convenient tool for diagnosing key problems of the enterprise.

Each employee is issued a questionnaire with a request to describe the duties (daily, weekly, monthly, annual) that the employee performs, the problems that the employee faces in the course of work, as well as, of course, specific proposals that he would like to implement in the enterprise. The whole range of responsibilities is usually assigned to TOP managers (commercial director, chief accountant), monthly range of responsibilities - line managers (accountant-coordinator, supervisors, warehouse manager), daily and weekly - ordinary employees (sales representatives, forwarders, operators). I would like to note that the company always has employees who take care not only of themselves, but also of the company. These employees are usually quite specific in their ability to outline their responsibilities, clearly identify the problems they face, and propose specific solutions to address these problems. I personally regard such employees as the golden fund of the enterprise, which must be given maximum attention by the company's management.

Key problems are identified through the analysis of the questionnaires. The key problem (category A) is precisely the one that "comes through" through the employees of different departments.

For example, the operator (accounting) writes: "a large number of returns, sales representatives are receiving applications poorly"; storekeeper (warehouse, accounting): "reduce the number of returns, sales agents do not know how to work with clients"; forwarder: “I’m ashamed in front of our clients, every time you hear that we have a mess, we always bring other people's orders, we must immediately reduce returns”; sales representative (sales department): "are deprived of surcharges for returns, although it is not us, but the storekeeper who allows the" re-sorting ", and the operator generally clogs the waybills incorrectly."

Thus, on the face of the problem, we have defined as a "return", which we stand out as an independent one and pay special attention to it. Our personal experience suggests that you should not pay attention to everything at once. It is enough to define initially no more than 3-4 key problems, which are then worked out. It's okay if you still let the rest of the problems "breathe". I dare to note that some of them will disappear by themselves, after working out the key ones.

Next, the participants who are involved in this problem are determined. The problem of "return": sales representative, operator, freight forwarder, storekeeper. The timing of their working time (implicit information) is carried out according to a characteristic section and an analysis of the documentation they fill out (explicit information).

Sales Representative (TP). Responsible for surcharge returns. A selection of applications (explicit information) that sales representatives fill out indicates that they are filled out accurately, but are submitted as soon as the TP arrives at the office (after 19 hours). However, the interns confuse the names of the stores, there are many corrections in the applications.

For the operator, the main workload occurs from 4 pm and continues until 9 pm - 8 pm, until the entire volume of applications ends. Although he needs to be at his workplace at 8-00. Physical overload on the face. Analysis of the generated documents (explicit information) showed that the operator does not comply with the standard for the set of documents, although the operator's dialing speed is high - 230 signs. The reason is that the 1C program is not adapted to the needs of the enterprise and it takes additional time to generate the necessary documents.

Until 19-00 there are no errors in the generated documents, the operator works quickly, is not distracted by external noises, and after 19-00 the number of errors increases, the operator gets confused, is distracted by external noises, the specialist cannot concentrate. After 20-30, when all the outsiders leave, the operator again starts to work efficiently, however, the dialing speed decreases 2.5 times. Thus, the number of operator errors falls on the time from 19-00 to 20-30. Has a surcharge when the plan is fulfilled. There is no surcharge for no refunds.

Forwarder. Works well with the client. Attentive. Knows the product well. The route is designed optimally. He knows the route and clients well. He is very worried when the client refuses the product, but does not tell anyone about it, experiencing it in himself. It is not present when the goods are shipped. There is no surcharge for no refunds.

Storekeeper. Works with documents (explicit information) inattentively. The location of the product and the product itself is poorly known. Instead of one position (say, 130 tenge), he puts another (360 tenge), absolutely not understanding the difference between them. Maybe instead of ordered 59 pcs. put 69 pcs. The order is assembled only by him and the loader. He absolutely does not care what he shipped. Does not bear material responsibility. The salary supplement is received when the company fulfills the plan. There is no surcharge for no refunds.

2). Conducting an ABC analysis. Distribution of areas of responsibility. The key issue is “control of returns”.

Analysis of the proposed

activities:

A). A supervisor is appointed as the "owner" of the "control of returns" procedure. He is primarily responsible for returns as it is he who is empowered to investigate and identify the reasons for the return with the determination of the guilty party. Why a supervisor? Because he is subordinate to sales representatives who are responsible for the quality of communications with customers. Any failures in work with a client (in our case, the frequency of returns), which employees pay attention to, are reflected, first of all, in communications and the company's image.

B). A matrix of responsibility has been introduced through the allowance "For the absence of returns", which makes it possible to clearly delineate the areas of responsibility between employees and to determine the moment when the fact of responsibility of each employee arises. Thus, it is easy to identify the guilty party and punish. From a psychological point of view, a clearly defined matrix of responsibility does not allow an employee to shift his blame onto others, restoring the principle of fairness and impartiality in the company. The "transparency" of this procedure will not allow some employees (in our example, a storekeeper) to sit back and get paid for being a good person, but not an employee.

V). The load on each employee has been optimized (in our example, the operator is unloaded in the evening, but on the other hand, the submission of applications before 17-00 mobilizes the TP, forcing them to work better in self-organization mode so as not to lose volumes).

3. Reengineering (optimization) of business processes.

In order not to encounter resistance from employees who would not like to change anything, a set of proposed activities is submitted for their discussion. The director gathers representatives from all areas of the process, identifies the problem and, together with the employees, outlines ways to solve it. But before introducing the proposed mechanisms, it is necessary to test the proposed set of measures. Within a week, the decision made is processed in real time, corrected and only then a decision is made to introduce changes, and only then you can start implementing the process description.

Thus, reengineering of business processes allows, on the one hand, to obtain an optimization effect without cardinal breaking of the existing business model at the enterprise, and on the other hand, to really improve the existing business model.