Abstract Science Construction’s business is in planning, developing and building road projects. The major of its clients are municipalities, city governments, and other public sector entities. While the bankruptcy rates for these clients is very low, when economic downturns happen, their ability to pay in a timely fashion also suffers. This leads to businesses such as Science Construction needing to take on additional debt and to find creative methods in order to stay afloat during times of recession. Methods such as selling accounts receivables at discounted rates and taking larger lines of credit through banks and other lending institutions are some of the ways organizations can remain viable when their cash inflows have turned into a trickle. Science Construction is asking the Turkish Courts to postpone their bankruptcy proceedings for a year while they attempt to restructure. Through this, suggestions such as forcing shareholders to pay their debt to the organization, gaining credi
Business Process Re-engineering (BPR), is not about making small changes, it's about re-thinking the approach to a business concept, or re-designing a solution to meet the demands of the customer.
In 1990, Michael Hammer, a former Professor of Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), published “Re-engineering Work: Don’t Automate, Obliterate”. He made bold statements and claimed, "the major challenge for managers is to obliterate forms of work that do not add value, rather than using technology for automating it". (M. Hammer 1990).
In many businesses, from SMB through Mid-Market and Enterprise; what started as "quick-fix" to an issue may no longer be sustainable, or will not scale to cope with growth volumes.
For example, an in-house accountant running the accounts, managing expenses and payroll, may have initially supported a small business; but as the business grows, they may need to hire an additional accountant. Alternatively, "Re-design" the concept of how accounting is managed, by out-sourcing it, or introducing an accounting software system.
Another example would be a small retail outlet with one cashier, who also manages the deliveries and stock. As business grows, the retailer could hire more staff. Alternatively, they could introduce "self service check-outs".
These innovative concepts are transforming business processes, with radical changes that can lead to:
Reduced effort to deliver the process
Reduced time
Reduction in materials
Increased quality
Improvements in service
There are two approaches for technology to enable BPR:
Technology enabled engineering:
Off-the-shelf, or "out of the box" solution, utilising a technology that already exists
Your competitors may also be using the same system - but not necessarily copying your exact process
The cost is usually lower, as the software application is already built and robustly tested across many scenarios and use cases
Easy to update when the software develops over time
Engaging user interface and UX design
Easy to train internal users
High "user adoption" rates
Clean State re-design:
Customised solution that fits your organisations specific requirements
It can be a unique differentiator
It can add a competitive advantage
Lots of investment is required in building the product
Long lead-time to implement
Longer lead time to realise the Return on Investment
Who will maintain the solution
What happens when things change
What if the system "product expert" leaves the organisation
Will it still be relevant in 2 years, 5 years, or 10 years
As can be seen above, there are both pros and cons when selecting "Technology enabled engineering" and "Clean State re-design". I feel that the key is to accept that "the business of doing business" has become more fluid, and the dynamics have shifted to being more "agile" rather than heavily structured.
Organisations must balance the business processes around "what is important now" and what might change, with an understanding that some systems will become redundant faster than others.
...
Business Process Modelling (BPM):
Organisational leaders and managers will have their own priorities, primarily in the interest of the business, however, some may be personal; so their may be a small reluctance to "change", and a level of concern around uncertainty of new processes.
BPM is a "diagram" that allows leaders to show the effort required and the connections between departments in the new process model. This is not a technical document or a data structure, it is a schematic to show the interactions between different departments - often referred to as "Lanes".
It acts as a visual representation, or "language" that bridges the communication gap between all teams across the organisation including the "business owner" and "technical owners".
...
Business Process Management (BPM):
BPM is a methodology. A standardised way to convert a set of "inputs" to result in an "output" or decision. The methodology can reinforced with technology, to ensure the steps are adhered to. There are three primary pillars of BPM:
Technology
People
Processes
These pillars can be further expressed in 5 phases to illustrate how the process is designed and modelled:
Design
Modelling and Simulation - Documentation, and test "what if"? scenarios
Execution
Monitor
Optimisation
Technology tools are key to enforcing the rules, and the workflow of the process; to ensure information is captured and distributed to the correct people at the right time.
...
Enterprise resource planning (ERP): is a business process management software that allows an organisation to use a system of integrated applications to manage the business and automate many back office functions related to technology, services and human resources.
An ERP system's primary purpose is to automate business processes in order to increase business efficiency and provide better visibility. (A. Gunasekaran. 2001).
There are many providers of ERP such as SAP, NetSuite, Oracle, Sage, Infor and Microsoft that can support organisations with a backbone structure along with "modules" of technology solutions, as building blocks that can be added as the business grows.
A system that manages "customer relationships" is a CRM. Again there are many providers of CRM solutions, including Salesforce, ZoHo, as well as Microsoft 365 and Oracle. As you can see, there are providers that cross-over from ERP in to CRM; as the providers of the backbone ERP structure also want to ensure that organisations purchase their CRM solutions.
The key differences being that CRM focuses on customer relationship, and increasing sales; while ERP is mainly concerned with planning the resources of the organisation with an emphasis on reducing costs.
A key development in the last 20 years been the shift of "on premise" solutions towards "Cloud" solutions. Historically, organisations wanted to protect their technology investment by having the servers installed within their business premises. However, these are often large and require significant maintenance. One of the pioneers in cloud technology was Salesforce, as they wanted to disrupt the traditional approach of SAP, Oracle and Microsoft. They focused on delivering their CRM solution via the Cloud, and also charging a monthly subscription for a "service" referred to as SaaS (Software as a Service); rather than charging a one-off fee for the purchase. Today, it has become widely accepted that technology systems and software will be delivered via the Cloud and provided as a "SaaS" model.
Organisations often struggle to integrate their ERP system with their other enterprise systems to meet growing business demands. Solutions such as MuleSoft can act as "middle-ware" to connect ERP systems, effectively behaving like plumbing to distribute data from one source to another.
I feel that working in "silos" is no longer acceptable; so it is vital for organisations to "connect" their systems in order to have transparency of data across multiple departments, with a seamless flow of real-time information to manage their business.
...
References and online resources:
Michael Hammer: Don't Automate, Obliterate. July 1990. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/1990/07/reengineering-work-dont-automate-obliterate
A. Gunasekaran. In Agile Manufacturing: The 21st Century Competitive Strategy, Elsiver Science. 2001
https://www.bain.com/insights/management-tools-business-process-reengineering/
https://selecthub.com/erp-software/
https://blog.capterra.com/top-5-most-popular-erps-compared/
https://www.erpfocus.com/erp-product-comparison.html
In 1990, Michael Hammer, a former Professor of Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), published “Re-engineering Work: Don’t Automate, Obliterate”. He made bold statements and claimed, "the major challenge for managers is to obliterate forms of work that do not add value, rather than using technology for automating it". (M. Hammer 1990).
In many businesses, from SMB through Mid-Market and Enterprise; what started as "quick-fix" to an issue may no longer be sustainable, or will not scale to cope with growth volumes.
For example, an in-house accountant running the accounts, managing expenses and payroll, may have initially supported a small business; but as the business grows, they may need to hire an additional accountant. Alternatively, "Re-design" the concept of how accounting is managed, by out-sourcing it, or introducing an accounting software system.
Another example would be a small retail outlet with one cashier, who also manages the deliveries and stock. As business grows, the retailer could hire more staff. Alternatively, they could introduce "self service check-outs".
These innovative concepts are transforming business processes, with radical changes that can lead to:
Reduced effort to deliver the process
Reduced time
Reduction in materials
Increased quality
Improvements in service
There are two approaches for technology to enable BPR:
Technology enabled engineering:
Off-the-shelf, or "out of the box" solution, utilising a technology that already exists
Your competitors may also be using the same system - but not necessarily copying your exact process
The cost is usually lower, as the software application is already built and robustly tested across many scenarios and use cases
Easy to update when the software develops over time
Engaging user interface and UX design
Easy to train internal users
High "user adoption" rates
Clean State re-design:
Customised solution that fits your organisations specific requirements
It can be a unique differentiator
It can add a competitive advantage
Lots of investment is required in building the product
Long lead-time to implement
Longer lead time to realise the Return on Investment
Who will maintain the solution
What happens when things change
What if the system "product expert" leaves the organisation
Will it still be relevant in 2 years, 5 years, or 10 years
As can be seen above, there are both pros and cons when selecting "Technology enabled engineering" and "Clean State re-design". I feel that the key is to accept that "the business of doing business" has become more fluid, and the dynamics have shifted to being more "agile" rather than heavily structured.
Organisations must balance the business processes around "what is important now" and what might change, with an understanding that some systems will become redundant faster than others.
...
Business Process Modelling (BPM):
Organisational leaders and managers will have their own priorities, primarily in the interest of the business, however, some may be personal; so their may be a small reluctance to "change", and a level of concern around uncertainty of new processes.
BPM is a "diagram" that allows leaders to show the effort required and the connections between departments in the new process model. This is not a technical document or a data structure, it is a schematic to show the interactions between different departments - often referred to as "Lanes".
It acts as a visual representation, or "language" that bridges the communication gap between all teams across the organisation including the "business owner" and "technical owners".
...
Business Process Management (BPM):
BPM is a methodology. A standardised way to convert a set of "inputs" to result in an "output" or decision. The methodology can reinforced with technology, to ensure the steps are adhered to. There are three primary pillars of BPM:
Technology
People
Processes
These pillars can be further expressed in 5 phases to illustrate how the process is designed and modelled:
Design
Modelling and Simulation - Documentation, and test "what if"? scenarios
Execution
Monitor
Optimisation
Technology tools are key to enforcing the rules, and the workflow of the process; to ensure information is captured and distributed to the correct people at the right time.
...
Enterprise resource planning (ERP): is a business process management software that allows an organisation to use a system of integrated applications to manage the business and automate many back office functions related to technology, services and human resources.
An ERP system's primary purpose is to automate business processes in order to increase business efficiency and provide better visibility. (A. Gunasekaran. 2001).
There are many providers of ERP such as SAP, NetSuite, Oracle, Sage, Infor and Microsoft that can support organisations with a backbone structure along with "modules" of technology solutions, as building blocks that can be added as the business grows.
A system that manages "customer relationships" is a CRM. Again there are many providers of CRM solutions, including Salesforce, ZoHo, as well as Microsoft 365 and Oracle. As you can see, there are providers that cross-over from ERP in to CRM; as the providers of the backbone ERP structure also want to ensure that organisations purchase their CRM solutions.
The key differences being that CRM focuses on customer relationship, and increasing sales; while ERP is mainly concerned with planning the resources of the organisation with an emphasis on reducing costs.
A key development in the last 20 years been the shift of "on premise" solutions towards "Cloud" solutions. Historically, organisations wanted to protect their technology investment by having the servers installed within their business premises. However, these are often large and require significant maintenance. One of the pioneers in cloud technology was Salesforce, as they wanted to disrupt the traditional approach of SAP, Oracle and Microsoft. They focused on delivering their CRM solution via the Cloud, and also charging a monthly subscription for a "service" referred to as SaaS (Software as a Service); rather than charging a one-off fee for the purchase. Today, it has become widely accepted that technology systems and software will be delivered via the Cloud and provided as a "SaaS" model.
Organisations often struggle to integrate their ERP system with their other enterprise systems to meet growing business demands. Solutions such as MuleSoft can act as "middle-ware" to connect ERP systems, effectively behaving like plumbing to distribute data from one source to another.
I feel that working in "silos" is no longer acceptable; so it is vital for organisations to "connect" their systems in order to have transparency of data across multiple departments, with a seamless flow of real-time information to manage their business.
...
References and online resources:
Michael Hammer: Don't Automate, Obliterate. July 1990. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/1990/07/reengineering-work-dont-automate-obliterate
A. Gunasekaran. In Agile Manufacturing: The 21st Century Competitive Strategy, Elsiver Science. 2001
https://www.bain.com/insights/management-tools-business-process-reengineering/
https://selecthub.com/erp-software/
https://blog.capterra.com/top-5-most-popular-erps-compared/
https://www.erpfocus.com/erp-product-comparison.html
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