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Measuring your Operations Capability
Focusing on Operational Process
Beyond Outsourcing
is the only South African company that focuses exclusively on end to end Sustainable
Operations Process outsourcing. The company prides itself on being an `Operations
Implementation` company delivering performance improvement; `Predictable Outcomes™`
and year on year `Continuous Improvement in Process`.
The results for all Beyond
Outsourcing` customers are quantifiable and significant productivity improvements,
world-class quality, reduced change life cycles and improved return on investment.
Most of us are aware of the adage - `it`s not how good the idea is but how well
the idea is implemented that counts` - and nearly all of us believe it.
However
in nearly all companies the investment in operations process is secondary to market
or product innovation In previous decades there existed the opportunity for the
operations departments to `get it right over time`. Process was rarely documented,
training was on the job and management of performance was at the departmental level
and individual procedure was often left to the operator.
Consequently operational
performance was variable at best and the results or outcomes far short of our expectations.
The pressure on our operations process has increased dramatically however. The speed
of innovation, fuelled by technology, in strategy and product now require us to
implement change in operational process on an almost continuous basis.
At the same
time the quality of service, that our customers expect, has increased. There is
no longer any room to `get it right over time`. We need to implement process quickly,
effectively and know that the outcome of each operation will reach the desired level.
Furthermore the pressures in the competitive environment now mean that we can`t
stand back and admire our work.
We need to move on quickly and drive improvements
in productivity, quality and service into our operations on a continuous basis.
The Capability Maturity Model The software industry has already faced this challenge.
Many software companies now measure themselves against a `Capability Maturity Model`
(CMM) that is designed to show where they stand on a scale of performance.
At Beyond
Outsourcing although we have taken the conventional route and gained our ISO 9002
certification and ensured it was of an international standard by achieving the British
Standards Institute (DQS) standard we wanted to push ourselves harder. To that end
we tailored the concepts behind CMM to fit with operations process and implementation.
The diagram below shows the CMM Model for Operations:
In the diagram Beyond Outsourcing`s
maturity increases from level 1 upwards to level 5.
• Level 1 describes an organization
where the staff are left to operate on their own initiative responding to each requirement
individually.
• In level 2 a basic process exists and a rudimentary management process
is in place to deal with the results of operations process.
• When an operations
department has documented its processes and all operators are required to operate
the process in the same manner then that organization will have reached level 3
on the model.
• Where defined process is married with a system that reports on the
results of each process alerting management to individual process failure then level
4 has been reached.
• Level 5, the most mature level, has been reached when there
is continual and regular evaluation of all processes with a view to improvement
and therefore optimisation of the process. Independently measured, most company`s
operations group`s sit somewhere within levels 1 or 2.
In many cases because of
the individual quality of key personnel the results are good. However even the best
`operators` are now pressured by the speed of change and the need to reduce costs.
Improvements in the ability to implement changes (Continuous Improvement) to operations
process and then run them effectively (Predictable Outcomes™) are required.
Where
does Beyond Outsourcing fit
Beyond Outsourcing has spent years developing and refining
its `operations process capability` so that it can offer a world-class Operations
Outsourcing service to its customers.
For ALL customer operations every process,
policy and procedure is:
• documented,
• included within an induction & training
module,
• implemented and reviewed at each operator level,
• measured, at the individual
level, by systems,
• evaluated on a regular basis for potential improvement.
• We
believe that Beyond Outsourcing sits somewhere between levels 4 and 5 on the CMM
for Operations.
Therefore we can take a company`s good ideas and offer an outsourcing
service that ensures that they are implemented and operated correctly delivering
the desired business results. Generating compelling results for Customers Over the
years we have seen dramatic results, all measurable, for our customers.
With confidence
we now believe that by implementing the Beyond Outsourcing operations process we
can in an operation:
• Reduce costs by over 30%,
• Remove over 50% of the errors,
• Increase by 400% the number of changes that can be effectively introduced,
• Increase
by 1000% the chance to secure the planned return on investment.
• This is not an
indictment of a customer`s current operation or operations staff.
It is a consequence
of Beyond Outsourcing` exclusive focus on operations capability and the development
of bespoke technology solutions to automate, simplify and measure process. With
each customer Beyond Outsourcing has been able to deliver planned, predictable improvements
year-on-year in their operation`s performance.
With each customer Beyond Outsourcing
has been able to meet the contracted predicted outcomes expected of all processes.
We have a passion for operations and we want to translate that into improved business
results for each customer
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