Process Capability and Customer Demand
Two indicators of productive capacity
Process capability is a direct measure of your organisation's ability to meet customer demand. Productive capacity tells you how much of that capability is creating customer value.
Problems arise when there is too much focus on optimisation and increased efficiency. Very often these goals are pursued at the expense of sustainable change, increased productive capacity. That is, they result in your organisation destroying client value.
But process optimisation and effectiveness are the results of introducing sustainable change in your organisation. They are symptoms of good management...
Increasing productive capacity is the goal...
Purpose, Measure, Method
- Purpose describes why your organisation exists.
- Measure shows you how well you are achieving your Purpose.
- Method is the means to achieveing Purpose.
Increasing process capability means working on Method in order to achieve Purpose. It is at once strategic and operational.
This is what lies behind our approach to helping you develop a strategic planning model. By understanding, assessing and improving your operations, you cannot help but work strategically at the same time.
Testimonial
How invasive to our work would it be?
That was my immediate concern when I knew Stephen would be conducting a Business Process Modelling and Enterprise Architecture (BPMEA) Project at ESR. I wondered how much extra energy would need to be applied to contribute meaningfully to the exercise.
I need not have worried. The benefit of Stephen's findings have far outweighed those initial (minimally) negative concerns.
With his team, he identified...
- wasteful processes and gave ideas on how to minimise/write these out
- opportunities for ensuring generic comparability across different areas of work
- instances of double-handling, inconsistencies in similar processes and potential areas for streamlining activities
To any colleagues needing similar work done, Stephen has my highest recommendation.
He is very collegial, professional and thorough. He completes agreed tasks, is intelligent and, most importantly, has a pleasant demeanour even when delivering "bad" news!
Thanks for seeing it through to the end at ESR Stephen, we all have a lot to learn from you.
Best wishes!
Dr Fiona Thomson-Carter
General Manager, Environmental Health
Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited (ESR)
New Zealand
|
Clients we've helped understand their operations
Clients who have used our consulting and training services to help understand their business in order to increase organisational capability include...
- Fosters Corporation (Australia)
- Hawkes Bay District Health Board (NZ)
- Institute of Environmental and Scientfic Research (NZ)
- MAF Biosecurity (NZ)
- Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (NZ)
- NSW Department of Commerce (Australia)
- New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZ)
- OZ Minerals (Australia)
- Queensland Health (Australia)
- Queensland Housing (Australia)
- Queensland Investment Corporation (Australia)
- Sunwater (Australia)
- Telecom Fiji Limited (Fiji) - Read the case study here
- University of NSW (Australia)
All the clients above are users of the MEGA Modelling Suite exclusively distributed by Prologic in Australia and New Zealand and Pelagic Technologies in South-East Asia.
Clients we've helped improve their operations
Clients who have used our consulting and training services to improve their business in order to increase productive capacity include...
- Accident Compensation Commission - ACC (NZ)
- Central Technical Advisory Services (NZ Health Sector)
- Competency International Limited (NZ)
- Hawkes Bay District Health Board (NZ)
- Institute of Environmental and Scientfic Research (NZ)
- Learning State (previously the Public Sector Industry Training Organisation, NZ)
- Ministry of Health (NZ)
- Telecom Fiji Limited (Fiji) - Read the case study here
- Whanganui District Health Board (NZ)
Why process capability is important
As a manager you are balancing the needs of people, organised vertically, with the needs of your customers, organised horizontally. Productive capacity consulting must take this into account. Process capability is a direct measure of your organisation's ability to meet customer demand.
The best a consultant can do is bring a new way of looking at your organisation, its people and its processes. The worst is to introduce a cookie-cutter approach that attempts to squeeze you and your organisation into a template.
Pursue process optimisation and effectiveness at the expense of sustainable organisational change and your consultants are ignoring your people. At their peril.
Worse still, your capability consultant could spend more time capturing process information than showing you how to make improvements.
Testimonial
Would we spend more time capturing the processes than improving them?
That was my initial concern when I knew that Stephen would be conducting the Business Process Modelling and Enterprise Architecture (BPMEA) project.
I need not have worried. The process was simple and user-friendly and we got far more out of it than I had anticipated.
One of the main advantages of having an external consultant do the process diagnostics was that Stephen was able to ask those questions that get staff thinking about why and how they do certain things without it being seen as threatening or "management" questioning the decisions of staff to follow a certain route.
Stephen turned what could have been a very dry subject into something that staff could see was a very useful exercise.
I had been seeking this for some time so it was all positive from my point of view, and the staff agreed. They engaged openly with Stephen because of his relaxed style and many of them commented that they actually enjoyed themselves!
It's encouraging to sit in a room with staff and see the lightbulbs turning on.
The process has already had an impact on the way we see our work, allowing staff to continue to question processes and see past the standard response of "this is how we have always done it".
Overall, a very positive experience with positive outcomes that will continue as long as we continue to ask the right questions.
Brenda Gibbons
Operations and Resource Manager, Forensic Business Group
Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited (ESR)
New Zealand
|
The only person who can ensure that the change necessary to improve process capability is sustained is ... You!
The people doing the work and who make up an organisation will be there long after the consultants have gone.
As they should...
Return to Home Page from this page showing clients who have learned how to increase Process Capability
|
|
Focus...
Communicate..
... Own
The centrality of the customer became very real.
"Firstly, Stephen was able to cut across the various boundaries that exist between divisions and companies - looking at the issues instead of the personnel. This enabled us to focus on what the company really wants to do. The centrality of the customer became very real."
Changes were essential and the need for implementation was urgent.
"Secondly, Stephen was very effective in communicating the definitive, detailed reasons behind the changes suggested. He repeatedly reminded us that there were valid, functional reasons for the changes; that in order for TFL to survive and position itself for future stability, changes were essential and the need for implementation was urgent."
Change ultimately enhances both customer service and corporate health.
"Finally, Stephen helped staff discover their sense of ownership of both the problems inherent in the organizational structure and their ability to initiate change. They realized that change ultimately enhances both customer service and corporate health."
Taito Tabeleka
Chief Executive Officer
Telecom Fiji Limited
|
|
