Combinando BPM y Six Sigma

Simply put, LSS focuses on understanding and analyzing the differences between processes, detecting and exposing potential flaws and analyzing how they impact the ability to achieve objectives. BPM focuses on automating process control and collecting data regarding process performance and efficiency.

One of the challenges of LSS is to accurately gather information about process control, which is one of the direct benefits of implementing BPM. On the other hand, it is crucial for BPM to understand which processes have the highest priority, and to determine for each process what the main threats are. SLL can provide a lot in this regard, especially through tools such as Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) and Value Stream Mapping (VSM). The former focuses on representing failure models, and the latter on making value streams explicit, enhancing those processes that are of interest for the final product.

Success Stories
In [1] an interesting example is mentioned that illustrates the fusion between LSS and Six Sigma. Suppose a company wants to stand out from the competition by having the best delivery time for its products. Using LSS techniques, the value analysis of processes (VSM) can be identified and thus identify the key components and metrics that contribute to the delivery time. Then, this value analysis is broken down to the lowest level processes, where the team recognizes the most important failure points that must be attacked to improve the delivery process. At this point, BPM techniques can be used to implement the processes and control over the processes involved in the failures. The information that BPM provides to improve the efficiency of these processes will result in the reduction of the delivery time, which was the business objective sought.

The commonalities between LSS and Six Sigma [1 and 2] can be grouped into the following aspects. First, and as mentioned above, the LSS strategy of weighing and valuing tasks helps BPM to identify key processes.

Secondly, process simulations in BPM provide extremely useful input for LSS estimations. Additionally, these data help to validate LSS models.

Thirdly, it can be mentioned that the focus of BPM on the control of information flows in processes is very helpful when determining possible failures in structures generated by LSS.

The next point relates to implementing business strategies and executing them with strategic objectives. This allows the team to identify gaps between the present state and the desired future. Once these gaps are identified, they can be modeled with LSS.

Fifth, the union between BPM and LSS makes it possible to focus on business processes in a proactive manner. These activities allow anticipating potential customer complaints and improving tasks that are not yet fully adjusted.

Finally, an important point to mention is that the use of metrics throughout the entire cycle, both in BPM and LSS, allows the estimated gains to be kept under observation, ensuring that the benefits of the project are maintained beyond the life of the project.

To conclude, in [3] a business success case is detailed where LSS and BPM were merged. Using the BPM implementation of a provider (Lombardi Software Business Process Management ) they were able to enhance features of the LSS implementation. In particular, they were able to improve the design and execution of processes, the application of metrics, the exploitation of visual tools, and the exhaustive monitoring of each interaction between processes. An interesting item in this case is that it was possible to discover that it is not always convenient to automate the interfaces that link services. The combination of LSS and BPM detected that many connections were rejected due to an underestimation of the complexity of the interfaces, and that their automation brought more problems than solutions.

References:
[1] http://www.bptrends.com/publicationfiles/04-07-ART-ThePowerofTwo-GibbsShea-Final.pdf

[2] http://web.austral.edu.ar/descargas/australis/nov_01_09/medios-bpm-six-sigma-dos-metodologias.pdf

[3] http://www.bptrends.com/publicationfiles/10-04%20WP%20Leveraging%20BPM%20and%20Six%20Sigma%20-%20Breyfogle.pdf