Process Solutions

At RMS, when we refer to Process Solutions, we mean solutions that allow processes, and their enabling automation, to perform at optimal levels. We truly believe that an organization’s processes are the mechanisms that deliver value to customers. As a result, and consistent with our Organizational , Workforce Management Technology Solutions, and Implementation Leadership Solutions, we focus on focus on improving processes to such a level that they continually meet or exceed customer expectations.

Generally, we think of three types of processes that exist with an organization:

  • Core – All the functions and sequence of activities (regardless of where they reside in the organization), management systems, policies, procedures required to meet a marketplace/customer need through a specific strategy (e.g., Fulfill Customer Order);
  • Enabling – A process that has other internal processes as its customers, both core and governing (e.g., Acquire Goods and Services); and,
  • Governing – A process that determines and measures progress toward attaining organizational strategies, goals and objectives (e.g., Determine Annual Performance Objectives).
Any of these types of processes is a potential target for an improvement project.

Identifying Organizational Processes

Many organizations know that they have functioning processes but have never taken the opportunity to identify them and give them the management prominence they deserve. For this reason, we often begin delivering Process Solutions by assisting our clients to identify their processes. This small investment of time and resources yields a concise diagram of the organization’s processes that allow the estimation of performance gaps and subsequent targeting of improvement activities.

Estimating Performance Gaps and Targeting Improvement Activities

There are only so many resources within an organization that are capable of being applied to any project. Process improvement projects are no exception. Therefore, it is important to determine in what order to undertake them.

In order to leverage these scarce resources to the greatest extent possible, we will work with your team to estimate the performance gaps associated with each of your organizational processes. In the event that you have an existing measurement cascade (see the Organizational Solutions page), your performance measures will allow for a more accurate gap analysis. Next, we will work with your team to determine which gap, when closed, will provide the highest strategic impact for your organization. Based on this two-dimensional analysis we will together determine where to invest your resources to get the most improvement impact.

In addition, the size of the gap to be closed will determine how aggressive the improvement project will be. On the less aggressive extreme are continuous improvement methodologies such as Six Sigma and Lean. On the more aggressive extreme are the breakthrough methodologies of process redesign and reengineering.

Continuous Process Improvement

Lean, Six Sigma, Total Quality Management. Which methodology is best? We at RMS feel that there is no one process improvement methodology that is best in all circumstances. For this reason, we have developed a team-based, four-phase approach to incremental improvement that uses the best tools from the available improvement methodologies.
  • Analyze – The team works to develop a deep appreciation for how the process currently performs and customer expectations.
  • Identify – They next determine what actions could be taken to improve the process.
  • Quantify – Based on the identified opportunities, the team estimates the improvement that each possible action identified will yield and determine the interaction (either positive or negative) multiple actions would have.
  • Implement – Finally, the team selects and prioritizes the best actions to be taken and develop a project plan for their implementation.
Throughout the project, RMS will own the "methodology", facilitating the team’s activities as it progresses from Understanding through to Implementation.

Process Redesign and Reengineering



Many organizations will ask, “Why should we redesign or reengineering our process?" It has been our experience that an organization needs these more aggressive approaches to process improvement when
  • Desired performance improvement is significant, more than 10%;
  • Technology has become a disabler of performance and needs to be replaced;
  • New technology (e.g., an ERP system) is being considered; or,
  • Any combination of the three.
Generally, redesign or reengineering teams spend little time analyzing the current state of affairs, instead focusing on developing a sufficient understanding to develop a future, best design for the process. This design, due to the set of presenting circumstances, will drastically change how work is performed inside the process and, as a result, yield a step-wise improvement in performance. Due to the significance of the change associated with this process improvement approach, a great deal of the team’s time is invested in testing the new design before it is implemented and affects customers. Finally, in order to implement the entirety of the design as fast and effectively as possible, this approach does not implement via a project plan, but rather a project road map. The fundamental difference between the two being that a road map focuses on implementing releases that are fully functional "sub-designs" of the end-state process design. In other words, periodically, new versions of the end-to-end process are released in place of the previous release (similar to new versions of software applications). As with Continuous Process Improvement projects, RMS will own the "methodology," facilitating the team’s activities as it progresses from Understanding through to Implementation.

Click here to review our Process Successes.