2. Business Process Management in the Manufacturing Industry
Jörg Becker, Nico Clever, Justus Holler, Maria Neumann

3. INTRODUCTION

4. Introduction
Medium-sized family-owned manufacturing company in the area of Computer Numeric Control (CNC) underwent change of management
Dynamic market environment and increasing competition required improvement of production processes as well as compliance with modern quality standards
Support in structuring and organizing modernization activities needed
Identification and documentation of existing business processes to initially manage the complexity of these activities

5. SITUATION FACED

6. Situation faced
Number of problems uncovered during transfer of management from one generation to the other
Prevalence of tacit knowledge
Inefficient decision-making
Outdated IT system support
Need for certification of production processes according to quality-assurance standards (ISO 9001)
Thorough documentation of as-is business processes to guide improvement activities needed

7. ACTIONS TAKEN

8. Action taken
Modeling of company’s process landscape during initial workshop to ensure valid communication medium character of the models
Semi-structured interviews with employees in all departments of the company
Incorporation of process weaknesses and potential improvements during the interviews
Depiction of as-is and to-be process models with the help of the icebricks modeling method and the corresponding tool

9. RESULTS ACHIEVED

10. Results achieved
Explication of the company’s knowledge and good-practice processes during modeling phase
Process landscape as basis for well-informed decisions regarding implementation options of a new ERP system (SAP Business One)
ISO 9001 recertification of production processes

11. LESSONS LEARNED

12. Lessons learned
Simple deployment of process models in the company’s intranet not necessarily leading to desired comprehension and use
Employees need to be trained to use process models as means of communication and that these are subject to change
Definition of process owners necessary to take responsibility for adjustments to the process environment beyond such a project’s lifecycle
Appropriateness of the icebricks modeling method and tool for the manufacturing domain although originally designed for the retail industry