Proven Methods to Improve Efficiency in Business Processes

Efficiency is the cornerstone of a successful company. Therefore, running a successful business relies on streamlined and efficient processes. When processes are streamlined and tasks are accomplished with minimal waste, companies are more successful at maximizing their efficiency and delivering more value to customers. In this article, we’ll explore a number of proven methods to increase business process efficiency. By applying these techniques, leaders can achieve opportunities such as providing positive change, ensuring employee participation and achieving long-term success.

Here are the methods that companies can apply to increase efficiency in their business processes:

• Apply Standard Operation

One of the main ways to increase business process efficiency is to implement a standard operating system. Standard work requires documenting best practices for every process or task and that every process operator consistently follows these standards. Involving the people who do the work to establish these standards allows companies to better understand the current situation and achieve repeatable and predictable results.

Standard operation enables process operators to apply additional improvements. By constantly improving and updating standards, companies implement continuous improvement and further raise their productivity levels.

• Insist on Change Control

After standard work practice, companies should look for other opportunities to improve it. However, it is very important to approach changes in the process with caution and care. The PDSA (Plan, Do, Work and Act) improvement cycle is a widely used approach for companies just starting their process efficiency journey.

PDSA (Plan, Do, Work and Act)

PDSA (Plan, Do, Work and Act), also known as the Shewhart Cycle, is a four-stage cycle used in quality improvement processes.

Plan: In the first step, companies determine the goals, objectives, desired results, resources needed and create a detailed action plan.

Implement: In the second step, companies implement the action plan they developed in the first step. It performs the actions and changes determined in the plan and initiates the process or problem.

Work: in the third step, companies analyze and evaluate the data and results obtained during the implementation phase. The purpose of this step is to measure the results and compare them with the expected results. This analysis helps identify deviations, successes or areas for improvement.

Take Action: in the fourth step, companies take appropriate steps to adjust, correct or further improve the process based on the findings from the study phase. This includes improving the existing plan, making additional changes, or identifying and implementing an entirely new plan.

• Identify Root Causes

In process improvement efforts, where it is important to address root causes rather than merely curing symptoms when solving problems, organizations make permanent changes to uncover the exact causes of process failure or inefficiency. The “5 reasons” problem-solving technique helps companies identify the root causes of process failure.

8 Why Companies Should Beware of Waste

Companies can increase productivity by educating their employees about waste types with the Lean business management methodology. With this training, employees can identify waste elements and reduce the amount of waste in their processes. These costs are as follows:

• Overproduction: Producing more than necessary or producing beyond demand causes excess inventory, storage costs, and potential obsolescence.
• Waiting: Idle time or delays in the production process due to inefficient workflow, resource shortages or bottlenecks lead to wasted waiting.
• Transportation: Unnecessary transportation of materials or products from one place to another without adding value to the final product is a waste of transportation.
• Inventory: Having more stock or inventory than necessary leads to increased shipping costs and potential quality issues.
• Movement: Any unnecessary action that does not contribute to the value creation process of employees and causes waste of time causes movement waste.
• Overprocessing: Adding features to a product or service that the customer does not value leads to excessive processing waste.
• Defects: Quality problems that cause products to be reworked or scrapped, require additional costs and reduce customer satisfaction are called defects.
• Human Potential: Not fully utilizing the knowledge, skills, ideas and potentials of employees leads to wasted time, low morale and missed development opportunities.

By informing their employees to be aware of these wastes, companies help them increase their productivity levels and support them to adopt a culture of continuous improvement.

Continuous Improvement for Long-Term Success

Increasing business process efficiency is an ongoing journey. By applying these proven methods, companies achieve long-term success through continuous improvement.

Continuous Improvement Solution is a solution designed to facilitate companies’ improvement processes and increase their productivity. The solution has four different modules: Suggestion System, Kaizen, 5S Audit and Near Miss Reporting.

Employee Suggestion System Module: It allows businesses to collect, analyze and apply ideas and feedback from frontline employees to improve and develop their processes.

Kaizen Module: It provides a digital platform that enables the life cycle of improvement processes to be followed in a systematic and measurable format. The platform also allows responsible persons to easily measure the cost and expected outputs of improvement processes.

Near Miss Module: It is an Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) solution that helps employees report potential hazards quickly and easily. By reporting near misses, employees help identify and eliminate hazards before they cause an accident.

5S Audit Management Module: is a digital tool that helps businesses plan, monitor and report 5S control steps. The solution includes features for inspection, maintenance, cleaning and action planning, making it a comprehensive tool for improving workplace organization and productivity.

Kübra Taşcı

Digital Marketing Specialist