The main objective of Business Process Re-Engineering in Process Management is to identify and streamline key process waste and to improve process efficiency within company. This will provide a way of measuring the variability in a process as it delivers services to an end-user or customer. The goal of this concept is to redesign existing processes to better meet customer needs and reduce variability in the process. It is also to understand the pain points in the process and to create a “burning platform” for improvement.
The Purpose is to bring about change, provide a better service or product by improving quality and to make the organization more efficient by using less resource. It is important to understand what the customer needs i.e. both internal and external customers. It is utmost important to understand the purpose of the process – measure it then map it! The management need to question why things are done the way they are then redesign the process to meet customer needs.
Hammer and Champy (1993) stated that re-engineering is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance such as cost, quality, service and speed. Lean and Six Sigma are commonly used methodologies in BPR for process transformation. Lean Concepts in BPR Identifies waste in a process, efficiency gains come from eliminating waste. Quality is designed in the process and those who do the job are the ones in the best position to suggest changes to it. Managers role is not ‘command and control’ but is to facilitate changes suggested by those doing the job.
On the other hand, Lean Six Sigma Concepts in BPR focuses on reduction of variation and subjectivity in decision-making through the creation of a system where everyone collects and analyses data in a cohesive and systematic manner. It improves processes whilst improving the quality of the process outputs. These improvements are defined by their impact on customer satisfaction and value. From an internal perspective, Lean Six Sigma provides a way of improving processes so that any organization can efficiently and predictably produce world-class products and services. Lean Six Sigma has also been very successful in integrating human aspects (such as culture change and customer focus) with process aspects (such as process stability and variation reduction).
In summary, BPR in Process Management is a method to radically redesign processes and redirect resources in order to achieve dramatic improvements in service and customer satisfaction. This often results in reduced cost, reduced time, or improved quality. BPR relies upon questioning, challenging, evaluating, and redesigning every element of an organization’s operational process. Business Process Reengineering means not only change but dramatic change.
