Simplify Before You Automate

A transactional process may be simplified by carefully reviewing each step and determining the value-added steps. In most transactional processes, there are typically less than 10% value-added steps. All other steps are candidates for elimination. One of the major opportunities can be found in error-correction loops. Just as in physical processes, things go wrong in transactional processes. When they do, there is an inspection that finds them and a set of corrective steps. These loops cause processes to become larger and larger over time.

In the shipping process above there might be a point at which it is discovered that a valid “ship to” address is not known, prompting a flurry of activity to determine the address. Rigorous examination of the process might reveal that the missing address was caused by an oversight in the order-entry process, which takes place in an entirely different part of the organization. The appropriate action would fix the order-entry process in a manner that guarantees that the “ship to” address is always correct and complete. With this done, the shipping process would never have to deal with the error, and the process would be correspondingly simpler. Most transactional processes use computers and software for at least a portion of the process. Software provides a good way to mistake-proof the process.

Anyone who has bought things online has experienced this. Most well designed merchant Web sites will take you through a series of steps and simply not permit you to proceed if there is missing or invalid information. Ensuring that e-mail addresses fit the usual format, credit card numbers are valid and “ship to” addresses are entered (if different from the billing address) are examples. Nearly everyone has been or will be touched by automation of some sort. If you are party to a process that is being automated, be sure to ask the question: “What simplifications have we made in the existing process?” Hopefully, it will be the beginning of a discussion that will result in substantial improvement and lower cost. Sometimes, you’ll find that after simplifying a process, there just isn’t enough left to make it worth automating. That’s a bad deal for those you would hire to automate, but a very good deal for you and your company.

William (Bill) Eureka is president of consulting firm EurekaResults.com, headquartered in Lowell, Mich. He has more than 40 years of experience in engineering, manufacturing and consulting with more than 400 companies. He is a Six Sigma Master Blackbelt, Jonah (Goldratt Institute, Theory of Constraints) and Lean Master, with more than 60 kaizen events completed.