CustomerFocusinProcessImprovement

byBenBGraham
Copyright2009,TheBenGrahamCorporation.
Permissionisgrantedtopost,printanddistributethisdocumentinitsoriginalPDFformat.

Aprocessisaseriesofstepscompletedtoachieveaparticularresult.Itishardtoimagineaprocess
improvementeffortthatdoesntstartwithafocusonthatresultwithaquestionlikeWhatisthepurpose
ofthisprocess?whetherthecustomerisactuallyengagedornot.Sometimeswehaveastrongsense
thatourproductorserviceisgood.Sometimeswechoosetogetourownhouseinorderbeforewestep
outsidetheorganization.Sometimeswebasetheresultonaprescriptionprovidedbythecustomer.
However,sometimes,ourfocusmaybemisdirectedtohowwedotheworkwithoutconsideringwhyitis
doneinthefirstplace...particularlywhereslicknewtechnologiesareinvolved.Inanycase,without
actuallyengagingthecustomer,wecantreallyknowhowwelltheprocessisworkingtoprovidethe
customerwithwhatthecustomerneedsorwants.Thefollowingthreecasesshowverydifferent
waysthatcustomersinfluencedprocessdesign.
WHOIStheCustomer?1
In1959,HectorRiquezeswasworkingforCreolePetroleuminVenezuelawherehecharteda
shippingprocessattheCaripitoTerminal.Whentheteamreviewedit,theyquicklydiscovered
thatnoonewasusinganyoftheinformation.Thepeoplewhoweredoingtheprocessingall
knewwhattheyweredoingandhowtodoit,andtheinformationtheywereprocessingwas
beingdutifullyfiled.Theyhadfilesgoingbackmanyyears.Butnoonewasusinganyofit.At
thispoint,HectordidwhatIrecommendanyoneshoulddounderthosecircumstances.Hedug
intoittofindoutwhytheprocesswassetupinthefirstplace.(Ifyoudontknowwhatathing
isfor,itisalittleriskytogetridofit.Butifyouknowwhatitusedtobeforandthatreasonno
longerexists,youcanconfidentlygetridofit.)Hectorfoundoutthatthereasontheywere
processingthisdatawastosupplyinformationforschedulingoilshipstorendezvousoffofthe
islandofTrinidad,formupintoconvoysandsailforEuropeduringWorldWarII.Thiswas
1959andWWIIhadendedin1945.Sofor14years,theyhadbeenprocessingpaperworkthat
nobodywasusing!Whatdoyouthinkthosepeoplewouldhavebeendoingwiththoserecords
in1960ifHectorhadnotdonehisprojectin1959?Howabout1961?Whenwouldithave
ended?
Adetailedprocessmapclearlyshowshoweachiteminaprocessisused.Ithiscase,eachteammember
knewtheirownroleintheprocessandknewthattheywerentusingtheinformation.Whentheywalked
throughtheprocess(typicallyabouta5minuteeffort),theysoonrealizedthatnoneoftheotherpeople
involvedintheprocesswereusingtheinformationeither.Therewasnocustomerfortheirproduct!

Customer Focus in Process Improvementwww.worksimp.comwww.processchart.com


DevelopmentintheCityofDayton2
In1998,wewereinvitedtositinonaDevelopmentTaskForce.Businesswasleavingthecity
centerandtherehadbeennomajornewbuildingtherefordecades.Thetaskforcewasmadeup
ofkeyplayersinthecity(builders,architects)whowantedtoseethisturnedaround.We
soonfoundoutthatthiswasthethirdsuchtaskforceformed.Theothershadmetquiteafew
yearspreviously,completedtheirdeliberations,madetheirreportsandnothinghad
happened.Wealsolearnedthatanumberofthepeopleonthistaskforcehadpreviously
servedononeorbothoftheprevioustwoandtheywerentparticularlyoptimisticaboutthings
changing.
Weofferedtoprovideprocessfocusbychartingthebuildingpermitsprocessandworkingwith
thepeoplewhodidthatprocessingtoanalyzeandimprovetheprocess.Wechartedtheprocess
inoneday,approximately400steps.Atthenextmeetingofthetaskforce,thechartswere
hangingonthewall.
Thepeopleonthetaskforcearrivedintheroom,gravitatedovertothechartsandstarted
readingthem.Theywereimpressedbythedetailandtheprofessionalappearanceofthecharts,
andthensomethingspecialhappened.Thespiritintheroomchanged.Therewasageneral
feelingthattheyweregoingtodoitthistime.Thetaskforcecameupwitheightmajor
recommendations.
Animprovementteamwasformed,representingthedifferentareasofbuildingpermit
processing;building,zoning,engineering,fire,water,structural,housingand
plumbing/heating/electrical.Theteammembersstudiedthechartsandworkedouthowto
accomplisheachoftheeightrecommendations.Withinayearthebuildingpermitspeopleof
thecitymovedintoaonestopshop,andinthefollowingyears,thecitysawthebuildingofa
minorleagueballpark,anewofficebuilding,anewperformingartscenterandamajorpark
areaalongtheMiamiRiver,whichrunsthroughtown.
Withthefirsttwoefforts,thecitywentdirectlytothecustomer,collectedgoodideasbuthadnostructure
ormethodforincorporatingthemintothecurrentprocesses.Thethirdtimeworkedbecausetheyhada
detailedmapofthecurrentprocessandtheywereabletoengineertheprocesstoaccommodatethe
customerrecommendations.

Customer Focus in Process Improvementwww.worksimp.comwww.processchart.com

TakingProcessAnalysistotheCustomer
SteveVisio,presidentofExecutiveDataControl,Inc.(EDC)describeshowhispeopletook
processimprovementbeyondthewallsofEDCtohelpacustomerwiththeirrequisition
process.
SixyearsagoweappliedtheBenGrahamDetailProcesschartingmethodologytoourinternal
processes.Specifically,wecompletedmajorimprovementoftheproductionofbusinesscardsin
ourprintshop.Weestimatedasavingsof15hoursperweekfortheproductionteam,
significantlyreducederrorsandimprovedtheproductionturnby5days.Basedonthatsuccess
weexpandedthescopeoftheprojecttoincludetherequisitionofbusinesscardsatoneofour
largestclients.
Weproposedtocharttheentirerequisitionprocessfromtheclientrequestallthewaythrough
production,shipment,receivingandpaymentfortheirbusinesscards.Thestudyconsistedof
buildingateamofkeyclientemployeesinvolvedwiththeprocess.Wethenconducted
interviews,drewthechartsandreviewedforaccuracy.Thenweconductedtwoprocess
improvementmeetings.Thefirstmeetingwaswiththehumanresourcesdepartment
responsibleforprocuringthebusinesscards.ThenweincludedtheITdepartmentwhowas
responsibleforthecorporateintranetusedtobuildthecardordersonline.Theeffortwasa
greatsuccess;weeliminatedapprox150emailsperweek,streamlinedtheprocessfrom68to34
stepsandremovedthecustomerservicedepartmentfromtouchingtheindividualorders.
Thispastyeartheclientmadeanacquisitionthatroughlydoubledthesizeofwhatwasalready
atwobilliondollarorganization.Theclientplacedtheirbusinesscardrequisitionprocessoutto
bidnationally,includingthelegacyvendorsofthenewlyacquiredcompany.Wewerepleased
tolearnthatwewonthebid.Theprocesswebuiltthroughourjointanalysisyearsago
continuestobetheonebestwaytoprocuretheirbusinesscards.Infact,theclientmadesome
changestotheirintranettoconnectdirectlyintoourinternalprocessandcompletelyeliminated
severalinterimstepsontheirsideoftheprocess.
Itisamazinghowresilientworkprocessescanbecomeandthecontinuedrefinementthat
derivesfromteachingpeopletothinkprocessimprovement.ThankstotheBenGraham
improvementmethodologywehavedevelopedacustomerfocusthatothercompaniesjust
cannotseemtomatch.Foreverpeoplehavetalkedabouttheimportanceoftrusting
relationshipsbetweenbusinesses.Trustissomethingyouearnandthismethodologyhasbeen
ourmeanstoearntrustbasedonconsistentlysuperiorresults.Manypeoplemakepromises,
fewpeopledeliverresults.AftermanyyearsexperiencewiththeBenGrahammethodsIam
veryconfidentthattogethermyclientsandIcandeliversustainedimprovement,whatmore
couldacustomerwant?

Customer Focus in Process Improvementwww.worksimp.comwww.processchart.com

Thesethreescenariosgaveusaprocesswithoutacustomer,animprovedprocessdrivenby
customerrecommendationsandprocessimprovementextendedtothecustomer.Process
analysiswillhelpyoudowhatyoudobetter,whenitincludesengagingthecustomer,itwill
helpyoudobetterthings.

BenBGrahamisPresidentofTheBenGrahamCorporationandauthorofthebookDetail
ProcessCharting:SpeakingtheLanguageofProcesspublishedbyJohnWileyPublishers.His
companypioneeredthefieldofbusinessprocessimprovement,andhasprovidedprocess
improvementconsulting,coachingandeducationservicestoorganizationsacrossNorth
Americasince1953.Benhasworkedwithmanyorganizationstobuildlibrariesofbusiness
processmapsanddevelopeffective,processfocused,continuousimprovementprograms.His
organizationpublishesGrahamProcessMappingSoftware,whichisdesignedspecificallyfor
preparingdetailprocessmaps.Moreinformationaboutthesoftwareisavailableat
http://www.processchart.com

Excerpted from the following book:

Ben B. Graham, Detail Process Charting: Speaking the Language of Process (Wiley, 2004), 172.
2
Ibid., 171.

Customer Focus in Process Improvementwww.worksimp.comwww.processchart.com