The addition of lean tags facilitates true continuous process improvement

Thursday, 15 June 2017

Promapp, a leading provider of cloud-based business process management software, has extended its feature functionality with the launch of Lean Tagging ensuring that organisations can integrate lean improvement initiatives into day-to-day business operations.

Aligned with continuous improvement methodologies, including Lean, Kaizen and Six Sigma, Promapp’s Lean Tagging enables teams to identify inefficiencies within processes, prioritise the reduction of non-value-add activities and waste, and track, manage and report on opportunities for improvement.

Lean techniques have traditionally been a popular choice for organisations seeking to work smarter and improve efficiency. However, organisations that want a truly lean organisation need to be able to translate ideas into everyday practices.

“Right now, there is a disconnect between business improvement and lean thinking.

We have these terms and labels that we apply to improvement but they are passive language only,” says Ivan Seselj, CEO, Promapp. Lean thinking needs to be totally engaged with process, it needs to be visual and it needs to be easy to use so that organisations can drive innovation and continuous improvement, and then promote track, identify and report on improvement opportunities and benefits.”

Lean Tagging now enables organisations to achieve the true benefits of lean with value-add and waste reduction ideas uncovered in lean projects or workshops successfully embedded into the day-to-day operations of the business.

Users can take the ideas scribbled on Post-it notes or whiteboards in workshops and incorporate them into easy-to-follow business processes which can then be used by teams to bridge the gap between lean initiatives and business as usual.

Seselj says, “The hunt for continual improvement encourages everyone to identify new ways to reduce resource usage, develop and deliver products faster, at a higher quality and at a lower cost. At the same time, it encourages creative input from the people responsible for carrying out the work with a management process which engenders improvement.

“All of this means that within lean organisations, processes cannot be static. They are dynamic, constantly changing and therefore, must be managed through lean tagging.”

Getting Started with Lean Tagging

Organisations can deploy Promapp’s Lean Tagging by initially establishing a common set of lean tags. These tags can be used to flag non-value-add activities, waste, and opportunities for improvement as well as to identify and categorise opportunities for improvement. These pre-defined tags can be used or created from scratch to suit the terminology used within an organisation whether that be Lean, Kaizen or Six Sigma.

Once a tag is added to a process, it appears as a blue token on the process map and procedure views indicating that the idea is no longer sitting on a Post-it note or whiteboard, but is captured in a central online process repository for everyone to see. This visual cue enables an organisation to turn good ideas into everyday practice and ensures the lessons uncovered in lean projects and workshop outputs are sustained.

Specific tags can also be used to group different types of inefficiencies, waste and opportunities for improvement. This makes it easier to track, manage and report on them. Users can also create a lean map and report on improvement opportunities in real time. Increased transparency enables management, or those responsible for driving lean or business improvement initiatives, to prioritise resources based on where the most gain can be made.

“Our overall aim is to help Promapp users shatter any barriers and maintain a lean conversation en masse across the business. Lean Tagging is straight-forward in function and intuitive by design, yet has the power to make a real difference to the way lean is perceived and engaged with by users across all levels of an organisation.”

Nathaniel Palmer, Editor-in-Chief, BPM.com agrees. “Promapp has proven itself as a platform for democratizing process improvement by capturing insight and optimization opportunities directly from stakeholders. The latest example is the introduction of Lean Tagging, addressing head-on the widespread challenge of losing the context of comments made during process review cycles. The addition of lean tags facilitates true continuous process improvement, by both capturing and managing stakeholder input throughout the complete process lifecycle,” Palmer commented.

About Promapp
Established in 2002, Promapp Solutions Limited works with hundreds of organisations worldwide to foster a thriving business improvement and process management culture.

Promapp’s cloud-based business process management (BPM) software makes it easy to create, navigate, share, and change business processes, enabling quality assurance, risk management, and business continuity. Providing an intuitive online process mapping tool, a cloud-based process repository, and a comprehensive process improvement toolset, Promapp’s proprietary software supports the development of smarter and safer ways to work, while encouraging sharing of information by operational teams rather than limiting it to process analysts and technical specialists.

Promapp’s wide range of public and private sector customers includes: Toyota, McDonald's, Coca-Cola Amatil, Lantec, TeliaSonera, Ricoh Australia, Konica Minolta, Fuji Xerox, Air New Zealand, Audi Australia and the Department of Justice, Victoria.

The company is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, with offices in UK (London), USA (San Francisco, CA) and Australia (Sydney and Melbourne). www.promapp.com

Press Contact: Jane Moores, TTA Communications Tel: 01225 580214
jane.moores@ttacomms.co.uk