- Result of the engagement
- Services
The process had 17 steps. Ten were enough for the result needed
A services company wanted to automate the preparation of order documentation. The initial list covered 17 activities. The team assumed each one had to be moved into the new solution. Only when the final result was agreed did it become clear which steps were actually needed.
Problem
The company wanted to automate order documentation. The initial list covered 17 activities, and the team assumed each had to be moved into the new solution.
The change
The workshop started by agreeing what the person approving an order must receive. Employees walked through 12 completed cases and identified the steps that only re-entered data.
Effect
The target process covered 10 activities and five acceptance conditions. A test on the next 12 cases met all of them.
- Key result
- The process narrowed from 17 to 10 activities, and a test on 12 cases met all five acceptance conditions. The time of routine delivery has not been measured yet.
Measurement
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steps in the process | 17 | 10 | −7 |
| Agreed acceptance conditions | — | 5 | |
| Cases with missing information | 4 of 12 | 0 of 12 |
Basis of measurement: A review of 12 previously completed cases before the change and a test on another 12 cases after the target process was agreed. The time of routine delivery has not been measured, so no percentage time saving is attributed to the change.
What we changed
The workshop started by defining what the person approving an order must receive. Five acceptance conditions were agreed: completeness of data, currency of attachments, correct values, identification of sources, and flagging matters that need a human decision.
Employees then walked through 12 previously completed cases. In four of them they found missing information that the existing process description did not catch. At the same time they established that six steps only re-entered data, and that two further checks could be merged into one. The target process covered 10 activities.
Measurement and results
A test on another 12 cases showed the agreed acceptance conditions were met in every instance. That result applies only to the sample tested. The time of routine delivery has not been measured yet, so no percentage time saving is attributed to the change.
What the owner gets
The owner received a scope for the next decision: 10 needed steps, five acceptance criteria and a split of responsibility. Only such a description was used for pricing and for preparing a prototype. Reducing the number of steps from 17 to 10 did not automatically mean the same drop in build cost, because the activities differed in difficulty.
- Conclusion
- Reducing the number of steps from 17 to 10 did not automatically mean the same drop in build cost, because the activities differed in difficulty.