Does BPI save money?

Business Process Improvement (BPI) focuses on helping businesses make changes in the way they are currently doing business. It works with three simple steps:
1. Defining the organization's strategic goals and purposes (Who are we, what do we do, and why do we do it?)
2. Determining the organization's customers (or stakeholders) (Who do we serve?)
3. Aligning the business processes to realize the organization's goals (How do we do it better?)

Managers are in charge of implementing BPI and helping their employees grasp the concept of this behavioral change. This can be difficult for many companies since employees tend to get set in their routines and they are naturally resistant to changes.

BPI does help to save money because it increases the efficiencies of mass production. The end result will provide the customer with a high-value product at a lower cost. In order to determine if you will save money with BPI, you need to step back and look at your workflow from start to finish. Take a look at the different business activities that are involved and determine how the processes are linked to one another. It is natural for BPI to get out of sync if you do not consistently monitor it. Customer demands fluctuate and suppliers often have their own deadlines and fail to meet your expectations. When things get out of sync, you lose more money than you make. The ability to re-gain control over your processes becomes harder and harder. Once you get the process in sync, you then need to deal with the management of your employees that may also be out of sync.

BPI can help your company save money because it helps to re-align some of the following:

• Communication - One of the biggest ways a company will waste money is on improper communication. If departments are not properly communicating with one another, the entire company will have problems. Communication focuses on smoothing the workflow to that everything runs smoothly and effectively. Your customers are able to communicate their needs and those needs are sent directly to your manufacturing line.


• Technology - Another way BPI helps to improve the company is by getting updated technology and support for your business. If you are using outdated equipment, it makes your employees jobs 10 times are hard and this is considered a waste. Proper technology also consists of getting vendors that correspond with your company needs and they help your business find ways to become successful.


• Collaboration - In order to save money, businesses must find a way to properly collaborate all their tools and processes to work together. Collaboration refers to creating a smooth-flowing environment that drives and delivers benefits to the customer and to the company.


• Customer - The customer can also help you save money by conveying their needs before the product hits the manufacturing stage. A customer that has little changes here and there will cost your company thousands of dollars in waiting time and re-working if you already started production.

Use process maps to help your business determine if BPI is a smart strategy to use. The process maps provide you with a visual image of your company processes and customer needs. You can define what tools you need to get started along with determining the unnecessary steps that do not add value to the company. If you are ready to implement BPI, you need to have good mangers on staff to properly manage and change it. Start small when you first implement BPI so you can test to see how well it is working and so you can train your other mangers on BPI.