Business process reengineering is the concentration on the improvement of key business processes to ensure that outputs are delivered

with speed, service and quality.

Reengineering is all about reinventing the entire organisation including its people, structures - rather than just processes.BPR is the fundamental rethinking & radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvement in critical, contemporary measures of performance such as cost,quality,service and speed.

People are limited and simple. The organisations had to design very simple tasks and jobs for them to do . This in turn led to complex organisational systems , because when the work that is being done is simple and fragmented we need a lot of overhead to tie it all together. Result - high cost , poor quality and bad service.

Starting afresh enables an organisation to identify the Key Business Processes and ordinary business processes. KBPs offer maximum value propositions to the customer .Ordinary business processes offer little or no value propositions to customers. BPR involves a change in organisation structure, roles / responsibilities/ rewards & recognitions etc.,

Several jobs are combined into one by improving skills. Work to be performed where it is directly needed. Eg If central purchase delays activities, go for decentralised purchase. Non-value adding activities are reduced ( reduce checks & controls). Processes have multiple versions- select the one that suits you. BPR combines merits of centralised / decentralised systems.

A business process is a set of logically related tasks carried out using a firms resources to provide customer oriented results in support of the organisations objectives. Examples of business process include order processing, billing, purchasing, shipping, receiving, auditing, vendor certification etc.

Inputs

Outputs

Supplier

Process

Customer

Feed back

It is the redesigning of the business processes as well as associated systems & organisational structures in order to achieve a substantial improvement in business performance. It is not downsizing, restructuring, reorganisation, automation, adopting new technology, TQM etc. It is the examination & change of the following 5 components of a business: Strategy, Processes, Technology,Organisation & Culture.

Poor financial performance External competition Erosion of market share Emerging market opportunities

Decrease in cycle time Decrease in costs Increase in customer satisfaction Increase in quality Increase in revenue Growth in market share

Secure top management sponsorship Guide effort by strategy & the companys capabilities Develop a communication & change management programme Set difficult goals Focus on business process regardless of organisation boundaries Target high priority business processes

Employ a proven restructuring methodology Ensure internal ownership of recommendations Install result oriented performance measurements Establish & implement blue prints with clear mile stones to achieve Assign responsibility for implementation

Customer friendliness to get a competitive edge Effectiveness to analyse how effective is the product or service that the company provides Efficiency to analyse how efficient is the company in reducing costs and increasing productivity

Agile Manufacturing Lean Manufacturing JIT Supply Chain Management

Develop the business vision & process objectives Identify the processes to be redesigned Understand & measure the existing processes Identify IT levers Design & build a prototype of the new process

Senior management commitment & sponsorship Realistic expectations Empowered & collaborative workers Strategic context of growth & expansion Shared vision Sound management practices Right resources Change tolerance Sufficient budget

Wrong sponsor Cost cutting focus Narrow technical focus Unsound organisation Too many projects underway Fear & lack of optimism Animosity towards HR specialists

Hard Barriers: IT problems Resource problems Legal obstacles Soft Barriers: Internal individual resistance Internal group resistance External resistance

Reengineering too many processes at initial stages Inadequate training of process owners & team members Unclear knowledge of BPR Improper monitoring of a reengineered process Wastage of time in a detailed process analysis Fear of failure Unfavourable organisational environment

Delay in showing results Improper appraisal system Inability to quantify improvement Complacency of management Non-availability of adequate resources Limited awareness among employees Discontinuance of BPR after achieving benchmark

Voltas from an average of 28.5 days lead time for the supply & installation of an a/c , it has dropped down to 1-3 days. Reengineered telephone service: Before BPR Customer Repair clerk Line tester- telephone lines Despatcher Service technician After BPR Customer- Customer care advocate (who solves problems on the spot) Service technician ( if problem not solved)

Sample development process: Before BPR Sales rep (visits customer ) Design engineer- Manufacturing plant tool room ( sample designed ) Shop floor Customer After BPR Sales & design engineer visit customer Sample designed from database on the spot Shop floor - Customer