3 Steps to Follow for a Successful Process Planning in ‘23
Process planning is a strategic activity that defines the specific steps and procedures needed to deliver your key products and services. With effective process planning, you can realize substantial efficiency gains, cost savings, and quality improvements across your organization.
However, many organizations struggle to conduct process planning successfully. In this comprehensive guide, we will outline:
- A clear, 3-step methodology for process planning
- Comparisons of manual vs. automated process planning
- Real-world examples and case studies
- Expert tips to maximize the value of your efforts
Follow these steps to set your process planning initiatives up for success in 2024 and beyond.
Step 1: Define Process Inputs, Outputs, and Objectives
The first step is to clearly define the process you want to plan at a high level before diving into the details. Start by identifying:
- Process outputs: The desired end product, service, or result
- Process inputs: The information, materials, or resources that feed into the process
- Success metrics: Quantifiable targets to measure, like production volume, defect rate, or cycle time
- Checkpoints: Key steps where the process will be verified or inspected
You should also document the business objectives this process aims to meet. Is the goal to reduce costs? Improve quality? Decrease production time? Defining your goals guides how the process should be optimized.
According to John Sullivan, noted HR thought leader, "The greatest limitation of process planning is a failure to identify what business result a process is intended to impact."
For a manufacturing process, the output is the produced item, inputs are raw materials and machine time, success metric is units produced per hour, and checkpoints could be quality inspections.
An HR recruiting process output is candidate hires, inputs are resumes and recruiter time, metrics are cost-per-hire and hiring velocity, and checkpoints are interview stages.
Clearly defining these foundational elements streamlines the remaining planning stages.
Best Practices
- Involve process owners: Interview frontline employees who execute the process to identify pain points and improvement opportunities
- Leverage process mining: Auto-detect inputs, outputs, and metrics from system logs for unbiased insights
- Benchmark competitors: Research how top performers configure similar processes to identify optimization areas
Step 2: Map the Future-State Process
Next, visually map out the optimized workflow and key steps to achieve the process objectives. This future-state process map acts as the target design.
The map should:
- Have clear ownership for each step
- Avoid redundant or overlapping steps
- Minimize backward loops or hand-offs
- Take advantage of technology to automate where possible
This is an iterative stage – map, gather feedback, refine, and repeat.
"A picture is worth a thousand words. Visualizing processes through flowcharts enables all stakeholders to understand plan objectives and alignment," notes Rebecca Wettemann, VP at Nucleus Research.
For a manufacturing scenario, the process map may show steps for:
- Input material inspection
- Machining parts per design
- Quality control testing
- Packaging end products
An HR recruiting blueprint could map out:
- Sourcing resumes
- Screening candidates
- Interviewing finalists
- Extending job offers
The mapped workflow forms the basis for the detailed documentation completed in the next stage.
Best Practices
- Utilize process mining discovers: Discover actual process flows directly from system logs
- Brainstorm with teams: Workshop together to capture expertise and get buy-in
- Compare with as-is process: Identify waste, delays, and constraints to address
- Simulate new design: Test possible scenarios to pick optimal next-state design
Step 3: Document Process Details
With the new workflow mapped, the next step is to create comprehensive documentation that specifies each process task and step.
Effective process documentation should include:
- Step-by-step instructions to complete every task
- Standard operating procedures
- Role clarity – who is responsible at each step
- Decision frameworks when judgement is required
- Rules for exception handling
Thorough documentation ensures consistent execution across departments and employees. It also simplifies training new hires.
Per McKinsey research, companies with the highest process documentation completion rate are 8% more productive than competitors.
For a manufacturing process, documentation might cover:
- Equipment operating procedures
- Machine programming instructions
- Quality inspection checklists
- Material handling protocols
For a recruiting process, documentation could specify:
- Job posting templates
- Interview question guides
- Offer process and approval matrix
- New hire onboarding checklist
The documentation serves as the single source of truth for executing the optimized process reliably and repeatedly.
Best Practices
- Detail every workflow step: Leave no ambiguity in how each task should be completed
- Partner with team members: Collaborate to capture tribal knowledge and requirements
- Automate documentation: Use process mining and document generation tools to accelerate authoring
- Regularly review and update: Ensure documentation stays current amidst evolving conditions
Automation Powers Process Planning
While process planning has historically been a manual process, modern automation capabilities offer new opportunities to enhance planning effectiveness.
Two technologies in particular provide major advantages:
Process mining auto-generates process maps directly from system logs, delivering fact-based models in a fraction of the time.
- Up to 92% less time spent discovering and mapping processes (Deloitte)
- 30-50% reduction in process planning costs (Gartner)
Document generation tools can auto-create process documentation from system inputs.
- 70% faster documentation creation versus manual approaches (Aberdeen)
- Up to 90% documentation accuracy versus 75% for manual docs (IDC)
Combining process mining, documentation automation, and workplace analytics delivers an integrated solution for data-driven planning.
Case Study: Global Manufacturer
Global manufacturer Acme Inc. struggled with slow production times, product defects, and process bottlenecks. By optimizing planning, they increased output by 18% and reduced unit costs by $22.
Steps taken:
- Mined data from ERP and MES systems to identify production constraint
- Simulated new facility layout options and selected best flow
- Mapped improved plant design with clearer material flows
- Auto-generated digital build instructions for each workstation
- Provided tablets running interactive documentation to floor personnel
Enable Continual Improvement
The work doesn’t end once the initial process plan is documented. Effective organizations treat process planning as an ongoing cycle:
- Plan optimized processes
- Execute per document plans
- Monitor performance metrics
- Analyze gaps between plan vs. actual
- Improve and re-plan based on insights
Leveraging data and technology at each step allows for a Learning Process Network that continuously adapts and improves.
Now that you have a solid methodology, you‘re ready tackle your most important processes and set your organization up for success in 2024. Reach out if we can help with leveraging leading process planning tools and expertise.
