Number 87 – There’s a Process Everywhere

Develop lean models for selling and supplier development.

Practitioners: strategic

I have coined a term, PPX, or Process Performance eXcellence.  My little catch phase is – wherever there’s a process and there’s a process everywhere.  Naturally, we should broaden our perspective beyond the constraints of lean manufacturing.  Some of my peers in the world of lean or operational excellence has even begun to suggest that there is more opportunity outside the manufacturing processes than we have already released from within.  The deeper I dive into the transactional and administrative processes, the more I have come to believe this.

Selling is a process.  Within the supply chain function, we find many processes.  Supplier development is just one of many.  What I have experienced when applying operational excellence outside of the lean manufacturing boundaries is a struggle in translation.  For example, when we bring the concept of lead time into the selling process, we can become confused if we try to carry it over from the manufacturing world.  The concept still applies, the context requires us to adjust. 

What is safety in terms of supplier development.  Those of us from the manufacturing world see safety as an injury to a team member.  If we broaden the idea to risk, we have a much easier time applying the idea to the supplier development process we might be developing.  Can you see why this is a strategic practitioner’s responsibility?

There’s a process everywhere

If we take S, Q, D, P into any process, I am expecting the sponsor, the owner of the strategic imperative, to begin by defining the way in which we measure success in delivering any outcome.  S, Q, D, P is meant to guide the definition of the measures of success.  The strategic responsibilities begin with measures and flow into accountability.  There are some who believe the P – productivity – should be replaced with C – cost.  I find this to be an enormous error.  You see the equation S+Q+D+P=C means a great deal to me.  But that conversation is for another day.

Suffice it to say, ‘everywhere there’s a process and there’s a process everywhere’ includes selling and supplier development and human resources and marketing and . . . . .

Questions For Your Consideration

What benefit comes from clearly defining the S, Q, D, P for our processes?

What processes do you think would benefit from the application of Operational Excellence?

Do you think there are processes that are exempt from Operational Excellence?

If you do, why do you think they are exempt?