Practical Business Process Improvement for SAPThe simple route to greater value from your existing technology

Neil Start, Managing Director, Rapid ERP

#ValueThroughTech

Business ValueThrough Technology

We have no shortage of TECHNOLOGY…

DevOps

Internet of

Things (IoT)

Cloud

Big Data and

Analytics

Mobile

But does it really deliver VALUE?

Most IT projects

are considered

successful if they

are on time and

on budget

And only 27% of

organisations

actually measure

the value post-

implementation 2

But… Companies

typically only

achieve around

60% of the

potential value

because of gaps

between planning

and execution 1

Sources:

1. Harvard Business Review

2. SAP / ASUG best-practice survey

If Technology has transformed our Business…

Why do we still spend

28% of our time

managing e-mail and

nearly 20% searching for

information and tracking

down help from

colleagues?

If Technology has improved our Sales and Service…

…Why do only

5% of customers

agree that their

customer service

experience

‘Exceeds

Expectations’? 1Source:

1. American Express Global Customer Service Barometer

We implemented the

technology but we didn’t

transform the process to truly

deliver VALUE…

Technology-driven improvements are far more common

But process-driven improvements are more likely to be valuable

The good news is that improving processes is easy…

Stop doing stupid stuff!

Stop wasting time!

Stop people making errors!

…OK, but where do we start?

Stop wasting resources!

We just need to find the stupid stuff, and the waste, and for that we need some help…

We need an approach, a methodology

Define

Measure

Five simple letters…

Improve

DMAIC

Analyse Control

Phase 1 - DEFINE

The first phase involves defining the

process, the problem and the goal

Steps:

• Identify candidate processes

• Look for obvious problems

• Determine if there is a potential

for improvement

Tools:

• Business

Process

Analytics (BPA)

Phase 2 - MEASURE

The team then moves on to focus on data

collection, which ordinarily takes time and

effort, but we have tools to help…

Steps:

• Select measures

• Plan data collection

• Create baseline data

Tools:• Business Process

Analytics (BPA)

• Business Process

and Interface

Monitoring (BPIM)

Phase 3 - ANALYSE

Now we review the collected data and

attempt to narrow down and verify the root

causes of waste and defects

Steps:

• Analyse processes

• Brainstorm root causes

• Develop hypotheses

Tools:

Phase 4 - IMPROVE

The team now moves on to solution

development

Steps:

• Identify potential solutions

• Evaluate and select

• Create new process flow

Tools:

Phase 5 - CONTROL

This is the final phase, focusing on how to

sustain any newly achieved improvements

and pass them on throughout the business

Steps:

• Update procedures, standards

and training material

• Communicate

• Track progress and compliance

Tools:

A quick summary…

Technology is an enabler

but true value comes

when we focus on the

process

Think big, but start small

Adopt a tried and tested

approach to improvement

Make the most of the

systems and tools that you

already have available

Get some expert advice –

we’re happy to helpDon’t forget to measure

the value!

Thank You!Neil Start (neil.start@rapid-erp.com)

+44 7740 193508

uk.linkedin.com/in/nstart

@NeilStart

info@rapid-erp.com

www.rapid-erp.com

@RapidERP