FLEXIBILITY OF CORE PROCESSES
Dr. Hans-Dieter Schinner

Worldwide, organizations are trying to achieve flexibility in all processes and at all levels. This capacity - often called agility - is a prime enabler of success. However, until agility is achieved, aggressive productivity objectives are not being realized.

Prof. Dr. Hartmut Binner, President of REFA, analyzed the present situation in the production, administration and service industries and concluded that process management is a decisive factor in achieving agility and influencing productivity. Our experience has revealed that agility and the productivity it promises, will mainly depend on these drivers: the organization's ability to use its full capacities, build output-oriented teams, implement efficient process orientation, and reach the optimum in performing supply chain management. To that end, my contribution has been in training and coaching organization leadership in the implementation of process management.

Although this set of productivity drivers is well known, the key to success will be the speed with which organizations achieve flexibility in the management of their core processes. The inability to rapidly achieve agility reflects the demands imposed by the complexity of process management, highlighting three major roadblocks: the lack of competency of personnel, the failure to adequately document and make transparent the relationship among process elements and the availability of technological support. There are at least two ways to overcome this situation:

1. Adapt and extend the qualifications/competencies of personnel, and
2. Support process management with adequate software.

Taking into account that many organizations, particularly small and medium sized, rarely provide training, the necessary competencies are typically lacking. Those skills that impact agility include: communication, process flow charting and teaming. These so-called "soft skills" are typically provided through seminars, workshop, etc. However, our experience shows that training in process management must be supported by appropriate software tools. To support careful monitoring and timely adjustments, the software has to offer simple applicable solutions for users. This means the user can get more information in a much shorter time to make the operational procedures more agile and the enterprise more productive and profitable.

Influential readings

• Binner, Hartmut, Contents of REFA Work and Process Organisation (original title : Inhalte der REFA-Arbeits-und Prozessorganisation), published in REFA-News (original title : REFA-Nachrichten) 6/2000
• Schelm, Bernd, Readings of the REFA Strategy Conference by: REFA
• Process Oriented Work Organisation is constantly further developed and implemented (original title : Die prozessorientierte Arbeitsorganisation wird kontinuierlich weiterentwickelt und umgesetzt), published in REFA-News (original title : REFA-Nachrichten) 2/2001