Just Don't Call it LEAN

A Lean Transformation using BPM

Jonathan Candari

Executive Director of Process Improvement & Projects

Tarrant County College District

Fort Worth TX 76177

Objective

To provide answers and solutions to these problems:

1) Why is adoption of LEAN in Higher Education slow?

• Introduced as a process improvement method only.

• Associated heavily with “elimination of non-value added steps”.

2) Why many LEAN implementations are not sustained?

• Lean competes with other initiatives.

• Not aligned with business process automation.

2

Lean Timeline

1913 1940 1945 1990 20001962

Ford Mass

Production

Training

Within

Industry

Toyota

Just in Time

Lean

Manufacturing

Adoption

spreading in

Government,

Healthcare,

Construction

QC Circles Six SigmaLean Six

Sigma

Business

Process

Management

2012

TCC

launched

LEAN

program

3

Start

Dean

reviews request

Faculty decides to

apply for fellowship

funds and

completes request

form located on

Sharepoint

Faculty submits

form to Dept Chair

for review

Yes

No

Faculty Academy

distributes

approved

application to

Faculty Review

Committee

Faculty Review

Committee reviews

and ranks

applications

Faculty Review

Committee enters

ranking into Google

Doc form

Faculty Academy

notifies applicant

of application

status

Approved

Reject

End End

Yes

Dept Chair reviews

request

VPAA

reviews request

Yes

Pres

reviews request

LEAN Project Analysis of an “As Is” ProcessProcess: Faculty Travel Fund Application

Step 2

Identify Value-Add

and Non-Value

Added steps using

the 7 Types of

Waste as a guide.

This process takes forever… and we don’t know the

status until the last minute.

Step 1

Conduct Voice of

the Customer

analysis to know

what’s important

and what’s

causing them

pain?

Yes4

Start

Faculty Academy

sends

communication to

deans, faculty and

adjuncts reminding

them of upcoming

faculty stipend

processing dates

Faculty submits

completed

professional

development courses

to Chair

Chair

reviews

submitted

information

Dean

reviews

submitted

information

Dean accesses

form via

intranet,

populates and

submits to

Faculty

Academy for

review approval

Faculty Academy

reviews, approves

and submits to HR

Benefits & Comp

EndApproved

Reject

LEAN Project ImprovementProcess: Faculty Travel Fund Application

Step 1

If possible,

eliminate the non-

value added steps

Step 2

Automate the

workflow to speed

up the process

We addressed the problem… but… the

new process created a bottleneck

Approved

5

Impact in Time and Resource AvailabilityProcess: Faculty Travel Fund Application

Performance As Is To Be

# Completed 8 17

Wait Time 475 638

Cycle Time 776 742

Work Time 301 104

Resource Utilization (%) As Is To Be

Faculty 99.9 9.7

Dept. Chair 99.3 36

Faculty Academy 97 99.9

Dean 80 11.5

VPAA 65

President 51

Committee 38

Performance was improved and cycle

time was slightly reduced, but...

bottlenecks (a type of muda) were

created and resources were

overburdened (muri) due to

unevenness (mura) of the process.

Petri Net of the “As Is” Process Petri Net of the “To Be” Process

6

Forgotten Lessons

• Six Sigma: Stabilize then optimize

• LEAN: Standardize then improve

• LEAN has two pillars: JIT and Jidoka

• LEAN is not just about improvement projects i.e. making a process lean

• LEAN’s primary intent is to create a culture of Continuous Improvement

• We didn’t get the memo that Womack changed the approach from “Muda, Mura, Muri” to “Mura, Muri, Muda”1

1 Womack. 2006

LEAN is more than just a project or a tool. If you have an improvement project,

just don’t call it LEAN.

7

Framework Development

Source: ISO 9001:2015

Source: ISO 9001:20158

Lean BPM Framework

LEAN

Principles

Improvement

BPM

Process

Selection

Process

Inventory

Co

nte

xt o

f th

e O

rga

niz

ati

on

Operations

Pe

rform

an

ce a

nd

Eva

lua

tion

Performance DataVoC

D M A I C

Business Management Model

Six Sigma

Process

Lea

de

rsh

ipP

lan

nin

gS

up

po

rtThis framework is based

from ISO 9001:2015. The

outer loop can be

replaced with the

elements (requirements)

of MBNQA, EFQM, CMMI,

OMG BPMM, AQIP, QEP or

any other quality or

excellence frameworks.

9

Creating the Process Inventory

Define

Requirements of

Stakeholders and

Interested Parties

Identify Risks and

Opportunities

Define StrategyDefine Business

Objectives

Create Process

Inventory1

Define the

Organizational

Context

1 Zheltonogov, et. al. 2015. p762 Sweet. 2014

Faculty Academy Macro Map2

10

Select Process to Improve

Conduct Voice of

the Customer

Analysis

Evaluate the

Process

Performance and

Importance

9-Box Matrix1

Select

Process

Evaluate

Performance Data

1 Adapted from GE-McKinsey Nine-Box Matrix

Recognize excellence

Travel Funding

TrainingCustomized Training

Coomunicating New Initiative

Strat Plan

Guidelines (SOP)

Customer Process

Data Management

Access to Mgt/Strat Decisions

Committee Participation

Faculty Study Application

Buddget Process

Access to Data

Communication Process

Performance

Imp

ort

an

ce

From the Macro Map,

processes where evaluated in

terms of Performance and

Importance, then the process

to improve was selected.

11

Lean BPM Process Improvement

ExampleProvide UI for the

customer to directly enter the order.

DEFINE MEASURE ANALYZE IMPROVE CONTROL

Objective

“As-Is” Process

Problem/ Opportunity

Process Behavior

Current Capability

IdentifiedCauses

LEANPrinciples

Design “To Be”

Model Process

Execute

Monitor

Optimize

Business Process Best

Practices

Dashboard

ExamplePrinciple: Create Continuous Flow

ExampleBPM Best Practice: Focus on improving

contacts with customers. Reduce the number of

contacts with customers.

ExampleCustomer

Service takes order and enters

in the system.

BPM Cycle

12

Using LEAN Principles to Analyze an “As Is” ProcessProcess: Faculty Study ApplicationFaculty Study Program – As Is

Facu

lty

On

line

Syst

emFa

cult

y A

cad

emy

Acc

ou

nti

ng

Reporting PhaseApplication Phase Reimbursement Phase

SubmittedApplication

Process Submitted Application

Receive application

Approved?Review

application

Request for Additional

InformationSend Email

Send EmailAll ok

Provide Required

Information

StartNew

Application

Receive EmailSubmit

Reimbursement Request

Receive Reimbursement Request

Review Reimbursement

Request

Checklist

Approved?

Contact the Employee

NO

Receive request for additional

information

End

Not Pursued

Provide requested for additional information

Receive requested for

additional information

Within 45 Days?

Process the Reimbursement

YESSend Packet (Interoffice

Mail)

Receive Packet

(Interoffice Mail)

Copy

Payment Processing

End

YES

Inform the Student

Yes

Prepare Report

Process within 10 days

TPS Process Principles1

2. Create a continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface.

3. Use ‘pull’ systems to avoid overproduction.

4. Level out the workload (work like the tortoise, not the hare).

5. Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.

6. Standardized tasks and processes are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment.

7. Use visual controls so no problems are hidden.

8. Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and process.

Bottleneck point.

Lean Process

principle #, level the

workload

1 Liker, 2004 13

Using BPM Best Practices to Develop the “To Be” ProcessProcess: Faculty Study Application

Faculty Study Program – To Be

Facu

lty

On

line

Syst

emFa

cult

y A

cad

emy

Reporting PhaseApplication Phase Reimbursement Phase

Start

Validate the Application

Eligble?

Send Email

NOT YES

Submit Reimbursement

Request

Receive Reimbursement Request

Review Reimbursement

Request

Checklist

Approved?

Contact the Employee

NO

Receive request for additional

information

End

Not Pursued

Provide requested for additional information

Receive requested for

additional information

YES

Inform the Student

Yes

Prepare Report

EligibilityTables

Notify the Applicant

Archive the Applicantion

Progress Dashboard

Receive Notification of New Application

Need additionalinformation

Review Red Flag of New Application

Provide decision

Notify the Applicant

YES

Send email

Login in an UI

Instruction

BPM Practice“Integration: Consider the integration with a businessprocess of the customer or a supplier. This best practicecan be seen as exploiting the supply-chain conceptknown in production. In general, integrated businessprocesses should render a more efficient execution, bothfrom a time and cost perspective. The drawback ofintegration is that mutual dependence grows and,therefore, flexibility may decrease.”1

Time

Quality

Flexibility

Cost

Control relocation

Contract reduction

Integration

1 Reijersa, 2004. p296 14

Impact in Time and Resource AvailabilityProcess: Faculty Study Application

Performance As Is To Be# Completed 63 147Wait Time (min) 692 658Cycle Time (min) 727 669Work Time (min) 36 11

Resource Utilization (%) As Is To BeFaculty 100 99.9Faculty Academy 99.3 1.4Online System 4.7 9.9

Petri Net of the “As Is” Process

Resources are not over-

burdened. Bottleneck and

potential deadlocks were

addressed.

Petri Net of the “To Be” Process

15

Project Focus

Process Improvement Method

Employees

Leadership and Management System

Transformation Journey

BurningPlatform1

ProjectPrioritization

Project PortfolioOptimization

Six Sigma Lean Six Sigma Lean BPM

Awareness Involvement inProjects

ActivelyEngaged

Charter Approval& Toll Gate Review

Project Selection

ProjectGovernance

0-9 Months

Stabilized

3-12 Months

Standardized

9-18 Months

Optimized

1 George, 2009 16

Conclusion

• Transformative improvement starts with value clarification (what problem are we trying to solve?)1.

• Focus on the overall transformation while improving the actual work.

• Develop the capability of the employees to create a culture of improvement.

• Provide project governance and strategic direction to sustain improvements.

1 Adapted from LEI Lean Transformation Framework. Reference. Rapoza, 2014 17

References

George, M. L. (2009). Lean Six Sigma for service how to use lean speed and Six Sigma quality to improve services and transactions. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Liker, J. (2004). The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer. McGraw-Hill.

McKinsey & Company (2008). Enduring Ideas: The GE–McKinsey nine-box matrix. Retrieved June 04, 2017, from http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/enduring-ideas-the-ge-and-mckinsey-nine-box-matrix

Rapoza, Joshua. (2014). A Lean Transformation Model Everyone Can Use. Retrieved June 01, 2017, from https://www.lean.org/LeanPost/Posting.cfm?LeanPostId=135

Reijersa, H.A., Mansar, S. L. (2004). Best Practices in Business Process Redesign: An Overview and Qualitative Evaluation of Successful Redesign Heuristics. ScienceDirect.

Sweet, S. (2014). The BPI blueprint: A Step-by-Step Guide to Make Your Business Process Improvement Projects Simple, Structured and Successful. Altadena, CA: Cody-Cassidy Press.

Vyacheslav Zheltonogov, J. Keith Wood, Philipp Schume, Magnus Borgenstrand, Nakul Bharade, Dr. Ali Arsanjani. (2015). Business Process Management Design Guide: Using IBM Business Process Manager. IBM

Womack, Jim. (2006). Mura, Muri, Muda?. Retrieved June 01, 2017, from https://www.lean.org/womack/DisplayObject.cfm?o=743

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