Business Process Chapter Four

A set of activities performed to achieve a specific business outcome. This outcome can be tangible, informational, or monetary.

Focuses on the overall flow of information, products, and money across an organization, rather than individual functions.

Creating a visual representation of a process, including all steps, inputs, outputs, roles, and decisions.

Primary processes are the core value-adding activities that directly generate revenue or provide services.

Support processes are necessary but not directly value-adding. They ensure the smooth operation of primary processes.

Development processes focus on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of both primary and support processes.

The lack of a single entity that has a complete view or control over the entire business process, leading to inefficiencies.

Involves examining and improving processes by identifying bottlenecks, redundancies, and areas for automation.

A visual representation that shows how different parts of an organization are involved in a business process and their connections.

A detailed visual representation showing all steps and activities within a single business process.

A process map is utilized when a company needs to understand the individual actions and steps involved in a process.

A relationship map is a high-level overview used when defining the scope of a process or understanding how different departments interact.

The practice of improving and optimizing existing business processes to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity.

Understanding a business process from the customer's perspective, prioritizing their needs and identifying areas of frustration.

The practice of identifying and breaking down a process into its individual activities, steps, and relationships.

Analyzing and improving processes based on their efficiency, effectiveness, and alignment with customer needs.

A supplier that provides a complete assembly or system, like an entire cockpit for a vehicle. They typically source parts from other suppliers.

A supplier that provides specific components or groups of parts to a first-tier supplier. They specialize in a particular area, like plastic trim, gauges, or wiring.

The process of predicting the demand for a product over a specific timeframe, typically for the upcoming weeks or months. This helps companies plan their production and supply chain activities.

The starting and ending points of a process. They define the scope of the analysis and the data that is collected.

The process of identifying and analyzing the activities that make up a process. This is crucial for understanding how a system functions and identifying areas for improvement.

A detailed representation of a process, emphasizing the steps involved and how they connect to each other. Often used for improving efficiency and identifying bottlenecks.

A paper-based order is lost due to a malfunction like a paper jam in the fax machine, which occurs approximately 4% of the time.

The time a fax spends waiting in the 'In Box' before being picked up by the internal mail service ranges from 0 to 4 hours, averaging 2 hours.

The internal mail service takes between 0.5 and 1.5 hours to deliver a fax to the picking area, averaging 1 hour.

1% of faxes are mistakenly delivered to the wrong location.

Once an order arrives at the clerk's desk, it waits in the inbox for an average of 1 hour, but could take up to 2 hours, before being processed.

The actual processing of an order takes 5 minutes.

Picking and packing an item, assuming it is in stock, takes an average of 20 minutes but can extend to 45 minutes.

The inspector examines a completed order, taking 2 minutes, and despite this, there is a 0.5% error rate in order completion.