Business Process Improvement

Accelerated Change Events (ACE)

When kicking off a transformational project, DuraBante recommends holding an Accelerated Change Event (ACE). In its purest form, these continuous improvement efforts are usually seen as small, often imperceptible changes over time that add up to significant changes over the longer term without having to go through potentially disruptive events. The purpose of an ACE is to bring about improvement on a high priority topic quickly by bringing all of the necessary decision makers together and gain alignment during facilitated discussions.

Hear more about the benefits an ACE from our President and CEO, Scott Thompson:

 

 

For more about our ACEs, check out our article here.

3-Day Assessment

Every organization has a finite number of resources with which to conduct process improvements – and for many companies, their greatest challenge is selecting the right improvement projects that garner the greatest benefits.  Assessments eliminate this ambiguity by offering organizations a structured approach for project identification and selection that aligns their improvement efforts with the company’s overall strategic objectives. This focused approach maximizes a company’s Return on Investment (ROI), leverages existing resources and uses the expertise of knowledgeable professionals to identify opportunities in a systemized fashion.  Assessments are often initiated when an organization either launches a new Process Excellence initiative or revitalizes an existing one.

DuraBante uses as many as 10 different approaches (see bullets below) to conduct Assessments, each of which help companies develop opportunities into launched projects and Accelerated Change Event (ACE) events.

In most cases, DuraBante will not recommend all ten approaches for every client but choose the most appropriate Assessment methods based on the type of business, desired speed to implementation and resources available. Assessment methods range from “Strategic Goal Flow Down” to “Financial Analysis” to “Innovation Analysis” and all follow DuraBante’s opportunity development cycle.

End-to-End Value Stream Assessment

This assessment provides a structured approach for evaluating an entire process from start to finish. The objective of this type of evaluation is to identify where processes may be broken or where defects or barriers occur, and to document them using different value streams. A value stream is all of the steps that go into the creation of a product, good or service.

The End-to-End Value Stream Assessment approach has many significant benefits including:

• It gains input from all levels of associates
• It allows you to see the entire process rather than a mix of unrelated opportunities
• It is visual and can be easily communicated back to the organization
• It helps you to assign a relative level of priority to each opportunity
• It creates the foundations of multiple charters lending to speed of improvement

Perhaps the most significant benefit is that assessments go beyond simply offering the “opinion of a consultant” or of a singular vocal group inside the business. By having the involvement of the site leadership team and relevant associates, it brings the consensus view to the forefront.

When should an organization conduct an End–to-End Assessment?

The best time to conduct this type of Assessment is when your organization needs to reinvigorate its opportunity pipeline or when you are initiating a new improvement methodology.  Because the opportunity pipeline development process is ongoing, improvements generally lead to further ideas, but sometimes the creativity or vigor behind the collection of these opportunities can diminish.  A good End-to-End Assessment will add that needed vitality.

Additionally, as new improvement methodologies are being added such as Six Sigma, Lean, Innovation Acceleration programs or others, it is important to re-look at old problems in new ways.  An End-to-End Assessment will create the opportunity for your team to reassess which tools or methodologies will be most effective in defeating organizational problems.  For example, it is generally a great idea to conduct an Assessment prior to launching a series of Kaizen ACE blitzes.

What preparation is needed prior to an End-to-End Assessment?

The organization should be prepared to select which products, goods, services or departments that need to be evaluated.  Often, if products follow the same basic value creation steps then they can be assessed as a Product Family.  Eventually all processes and products can be assessed, but the organization should generally begin with the areas that are responsible for 80% of the product flow or cost.

To get started, the organization must select a solid cross functional team of 3 -10 people who are available and committed to attending a three-day hosted session where they will discuss all aspects of the value stream.  This group should come from different levels of the organization and be open to discussing the issues of the organization honestly.  The purpose of this work will be to give a clear picture of the actual current state and the gap from that current state to where organization needs to be.

During the assessment, a substantial list of improvement opportunities will be generated. These opportunities will have to be prioritized utilizing a Cause and Effect Matrix. If possible, the assessment team should develop ahead of time, appropriate comparison scales for use in the Cause and Effect Matrix.

Looking for information on Training to support your transformational goals?

DuraBante offers several training classes geared towards process improvement as well as individual leadership skill improvement.  These classes have been proven to have a positive impact on the business and promote individual as well as departmental growth.  For more detailed information, check out the section on Training.