Process and Production / Manufacturing Process Analysis

Process analysis is important not only in operations or production management but also in managing and running a business. If managers and staff do not understand an organization or value adding process it is very difficult to both manage and run them to their most efficient level and attain a sustainable competitive advantage. Knowing a process well will give business owners and mangers a clear and precise idea of manufacturing costs, inventory costs, use of company assets, capacity utilization and the different processes currently in place to produce the outputs required. It can also provide an insight into cost saving and efficiency opportunities to reduce the overall cost base without any impact on product quality and customer satisfaction, and provide the data to set the operations strategy for the organization.

So what is a process one might ask? A process in this sense is referred to a series of steps in a supply chain or value stream which transform raw materials and inputs such as labour into finished goods in customer’s hands. Any subset of this process can also be a stand alone process, depending on its nature and complexity. These can include service processes such as providing a hotel room for a night or a manufacturing process.

Process analysis can also set the base for which the process can be modelled under different or future circumstances in order to answer management questions on how will the processes react, handle or the cost base change under the new conditions.

Process analysis consists of several steps and can be achieved with the use of different tools and concepts.