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» Rationalize your organization;
» Quantify your procedures;
» Apply operational research;
» Define your e-process model;
» Audit your proposed solutions and e-models;
» Avoid the legacy issue syndrome;
» Use performance analytics to refine operations;
» Monitor customer data and line performance;
» Understand ‘‘friction;’’ and
» Keep an eye on the global dimension.
1. RATIONALIZE YOUR ORGANIZATION
E-operations promise to streamline the manufacturing process, but
the process needs to be rational. Bolting e-processes onto existing
processes is the path to failure, since the existing process may be the
fruit of historical developments and not necessarily the fruit of rational
design. An e-process-activated company therefore needs to understand
what it is that is being manufactured, and the most rational way to
manufacture that product, both in a classic sense and an Internetenabled
sense. Only then can the appropriate organizational process
be designed.
2. QUANTIFY YOUR PROCEDURES
Assembling various players who will interact means defining manufacturing
and management operations. Whilst admittedly subjective,
it is crucial that all aspects of the manufacturing and organizational
processes be quantified so that they can be measured and managed.
This in turn promises the ability to use e-process control mechanisms
to monitor and manage the process.
3. APPLY OPERATIONAL RESEARCH
Whilst the roots of operational research date back over 50 years, it really
is at the core of e-processes: mathematical modeling at the service of
operational objectives. Operational research offers the possibility of
quantifying and structuring manufacturing, logistics, and reporting
processes. Since e-processes are a new field of manufacturing, operational
research can assist in designing optimal new structures for the
e-enabled company. It is essential, however, that the modeling is done
with input from industry experts cognizant of the particularities of
their specific market sector.
4. DEFINE YOUR E-PROCESS MODEL
It is essential that the e-process model is at the service of the
manufacturing process or service being provided. Therefore, before
implementing procedures and processes into the e-process-enabled
company, it is essential that the model is constructed using principles
of operational research and PERT management, and logistics planning.
Only then can the components (hardware, software, and Web architectures)
be designed to support those processes. This needs to be
coordinated by requisite IT staff, but also by business and sales staff
who understand the nature of the market being targeted. There is a
tendency for IT staff to build technologically elegant and expensive
solutions which may not dovetail precisely with the business requirements.
The extremely exacting and costly nature of building such
systems means that careful thought about the model needs to be given
at the beginning. Approximate or ‘‘tinkered’’ solutions are a harbinger
of failure.
5. AUDIT YOUR PROPOSED SOLUTIONS AND
E-MODELS
An audit of the proposed solution and model can be useful in providing
initial benchmarks for performance audits. Such an audit can be revelatory
in identifying production bottlenecks of deficiencies in data
processing andmanagement reports, and further refining of the process
before full implementation. IT consultants and systems integrators such
as Logica or PWC can provide input into this process but need to be
managed carefully from the start if control of the agenda is not to slip
entirely to them.
6. AVOID THE LEGACY ISSUE SYNDROME
There is a tendency to stick with the tried and true, and those considering
the implementation of an e-process-enabled company will not be
exempt from this most human of tendencies. It is important therefore
to be fully aware of the fact that e-processes are not a bolt-on layer
of processes to be placed over an existing process. This approach is
wholly incorrect, in that it is perverting the nature of the Internet and
e-processes to an architecture designed in a different era with a wholly
different paradigm. Instead, it is crucial first to define the goal and
then the means to achieve that goal. In other words, define the goal
and understand how and what are the capabilities of e-technology and
e-processes and how they can be harnessed to support the manufacturing
process.
7. USE PERFORMANCE ANALYTICS TO REFINE
OPERATIONS
Once operations are under way, ensure that the data feeds can be
extracted in such a manner as to enable management to monitor
operations and adopt corrective measures if required. This means that
management information reporting criteria need to be defined clearly at
the outset of the design process (of e-processes) so that the subsequent
elements of the e-process model can be configured accordingly. This
will primarily relate to the data capture sequences involved in the
marketing as well as the manufacturing process, and the use of that
information to compile reports enabling management to monitor and
manage the marketing and production process.
8. MONITOR CUSTOMER DATA AND LINE
PERFORMANCE
Customer data will prove to be crucial in enabling management to
identify profitable lines of business. E-processes promise to enable the
monitoring of these processes fully, in an Internet-enabled company,
by feeding through data flows into appropriate customer behavior
monitoring reports. Such reports will enable management to identify
profitable lines of business by product line as well as by other criteria
such as customer segment, geographic zone, or even industry sector.
The result is that the company will be able to tailor manufacturing
output in accordance with its most profitable lines of business.
9. UNDERSTAND ‘‘FRICTION’’
In any new business model, especially one relying on new technology,
it is inevitable that processes and procedures will not be implemented
as easily as might be initially expected. Indeed, the difference can be
as great as 100% in terms of budgets and implementation. Moreover,
with this new technology, there will be a painful learning curve which
will make successful implementation more difficult than originally
envisaged. This is why it is essential to give a full audit consideration
to the design process at the outset to understand where exactly the
difficulties are so they can be pinpointed. There will also be friction
in implementation, as implementation means that existing business
processes and organizational models are threatened with change.
10. KEEP AN EYE ON THE GLOBAL DIMENSION
Wrapped up in the intricacies of the implementation, it is often too
easy to forget that e-operations are a means to an end and not an end
in themselves. It is therefore crucial to ensure that the technology
implementation is driven by business requirements and not vice versa.
Moreover, such an internal organizational issue is by nature introspective,
and it is altogether too easy to become involved in navel-gazing. It is
therefore crucial to take a step or two back and look at the global dimension
– how are other companies and competitors behaving, which ones
are successful in their use (and extent of use) of technology, and what
are their successful criteria? What new and unforeseen developments
are being adopted by other players? Keeping an eye on the global
dimension will enable you to make a more objective assessment of the
success of your e-processes project.
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