Business Process Assessment: 8 Steps to Increasing Profits

A business process assessment is an ongoing exercise for your business used to reveal business process improvement opportunities.  Many times companies have business process challenges that if they go undetected, they will act like termites destroying the frame of a home.  The termites proliferate and cause more and more damage as time goes on and you may not be aware until it is too late!  It isn't until you get inside the walls to find that real irreparable damage has occurred.  It is important to have your business checked every so often just like it is your home.  As ERP consultants, we have helped business conduct hundreds of business process assessments.  We will be drilling into each of the 8 points below in further detail in our next 8 blogs in this series.  Stay tuned…

We recommend the following steps to perform a business process assessment:

1. Create a business process project management committee by selecting one member from each department of your company. It is crucial that every part of your company is represented.
2. Nominate a business process project management committee leader to manage the progress.
3. Develop a comprehensive business process analysis document to measure and assess the existing business processes.  Describe a series of questions applicable to the individual departments, assigning value to each question answered.  The business process assessment can reveal "bottlenecks" within a particular department that are hindering the growth and efficiency of the business.
4. Prepare a project time line by defining your projected milestones for the project. 
5. How does the accounting functionality of your current IT compare against your needs set forth in the business process assessments?  Create a matrix your internal personnel and accounting, human resource, customer-relationship-management systems by comparing each business process need against the capable functionality of department.
6. Prepare a visual model in the form of a simple checklist to determine whether your business process challenges are human or software related. If the business process challenges are human related than it may just be a matter of training. If the challenges are software related and cannot be addressed with your current systems in place you may realize return-on-investment by replacing your dysfunctional software systems.
7. Make a simple checklist request for proposal and then submit it to list of ERP software vendors. Especially if there is an independent software consultant involved, keep this request simple, as some vendors will not fill out lengthy requests for proposals.
8. Take advantage of offers by RFP (request for proposals) respondents that match your needs by requesting a product demonstration.  Invite those RFP respondents who checked off the requirements meeting your needs to present their accounting system, human resource system, customer relationship management system etc.

Find out if there are any structural weaknesses where termites are eating away at your business. We can help!  With hundreds of business process assessments under our belts, we know how to detect problems early on and fix them before they do any more damage!  Please contact us at http://ascgllc.com/company_3/ to find out how we can help restructure your business to be more efficient.

Blog Author:  Keith Perkins - ACSG, LLC.

Image credit: Multiple Chart On Black Board Stock Image By KROMKRATHOG, published on 17 October 2012 Sock illustration - image ID: 100106943 www.freedigitalphotos.net