In today’s ultra-competitive business environment, companies must improve their operations constantly in order to survive. Those that don’t pursue continuous improvement of business processes end up with reduced profits, higher costs, and lower satisfaction from both customers and employees.
This is why Business Process Management (BPM)—the improvement and automation of business processes in line with corporate goals[i]—has become an indispensable tool for companies seeking to achieve full operational efficiency.
Indeed, the demands of today’s business environment have increased BPM uptake among companies,[ii] as more of them embrace digital transformation to keep pace with their competitors.[iii] BPM has become an indispensable part of the digital transformation toolkit: a technology-based solution that answers a wide range of problems.
Here are some operational areas in your business that may benefit from BPM:
- Collaboration. Technology tends to increasingly separate different departments and functions into separate “siloes”,[iv] each of which may be 60% less efficient when isolated from its peers.[v] BPM can reverse that by establishing a common communication channel between IT and operations, allowing colleagues with different skill sets and perspectives to collaborate on business issues based on a single model.[vi]
- Management oversight. BPM platforms facilitate the analysis, design and implementation of business processes—improving managers’ ability to improve overall performance. Corporate decision makers can thus more quickly respond to business opportunities and challenges; an insurance company reported slashing processing times by 50 percent, from 4 to 2 days, after implementing BPM in their processes.[vii]
- Customer relations. BPM platforms can help individual service components work more closely to deliver a better customer experience. “BPM [facilitates] cross-channel collaboration among employees, customers, partners, and 'things,'" explains Rob Koplowitz, Forrester Research principal analyst.[viii] In a RedHat survey, 65% of respondents agreed that BPM processes had helped improve customer satisfaction levels.[ix]
- Efficiency. BPM helps managers zero in on productivity issues, such as redundancies that can be eliminated; and manual tasks that can be automated to minimise human error. In a case study within the financial industry, BPM introduced into a workflow process reduced cycle time by 50 percent, with up to 85 percent of accounts cases handled without manual intervention.[x] BPM also dovetails with process improvement methodologies such as Lean and Six Sigma.
Is BPM in your company’s future? Yes, if you need improvement in any of the areas listed above. But it’s not a silver bullet: carelessly done, BPM only amplifies any existing issues in your company’s processes.
An experienced BPM service provider (like FUJIFILM Business Innovation Hong Kong) can determine the right solution that meets your company’s needs. They’ll first identify your core processes that can best benefit from BPM, then craft a digital roadmap that serves as the basis for BPM solutions that work seamlessly with the company’s operations.
As you consider integrating BPM into your company’s operations, remember that the trick isn’t just in getting it done; it’s getting it done right.
Reference
[ii] "Business Process Management Market Research Report – Global Forecast 2023." Market Research Future. WantStats Research & Media Pvt Ltd., 2018. https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/business-process-management-market-3408.
[iii] Boulton, Clint. "What is digital transformation? A necessary disruption." CIO. IDG Communications, Inc., May 31, 2019. https://www.cio.com/article/3211428/what-is-digital-transformation-a-necessary-disruption.html.
[iv] Beal, Vangie. "Information silo." Webopedia. Webopedia, 2019. https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/I/information_silo.html.
[v] "Cross-departmental BPM solution vs. Organizational silos." DZone. Devada Media, December 29, 2013. https://dzone.com/articles/cross-departmental-bpm.
[vi] Bidgoli, Hossein. The Handbook of Technology Management, Supply Chain Management, Marketing and Advertising, and Global Management, Vol. 2. John Wiley & Sons, 2010. https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=EKNoKQ1L4CoC.
[vii] "Insurance Business Process Management (BPM) Improves Operational Efficiency and Reduces Cost." Virtusa. Virtusa, 2020. https://www.virtusa.com/success-story/a-leading-insurance-provider-improves-operational-efficiency-and-reduces-cost-with-business-process-management/#story-3.
[viii] Koplowitz, Rob. "Vendor Landscape: BPM Platforms For Digital Automation." Forrester Research. Forrester Research, February 10, 2017. https://emea.k2.com/assets/files/whitepapers/Vendor_Landscape_BPM_Platforms_For_Digital_Automation.pdf.
[ix] "The State of Business Process Management 2018." BPTrends.com. Business Process Trends, 2018. https://www.redhat.com/cms/managed-files/mi-bptrends-state-of-bpm-2018-survey-analyst-paper-201803-en.pdf.
[x] Hyötyläinen, Tahvo. Steps to Improved Firm Performance with Business Process Management. Springer Gabler. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 2015, p. 193. https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=Bu7SBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA193&lpg=PA193&dq=bpm+improves+performance+percent&source=bl&ots=uB-eIhvWoz&sig=ACfU3U32S2Q25-WhGX7SueyeOE9GY_JHyA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjTq7ib_MvnAhVhzDgGHcIOD9MQ6AEwAHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=bpm%20improves%20performance%20percent&f=false.
Patrick Leung
Director, Marketing
FUJIFILM Business Innovation Hong Kong Ltd
A seasoned and forward-thinking marketer specializing in digital transformation and marketing with extensive regional experience.
Tech-savvy, innovative, and witty, he is apt to planning and implementing new tactics and steering away from traditional marketing in the digital era. Helps companies and clients achieve business goals and works alongside them on their digital transformation journey. His role is to strengthen the position of FUJIFILM Business Innovation Hong Kong as a leading ICT agency in Hong Kong, which is committed to enabling clients’ business success through game-changing technologies such as AI (artificial intelligence) and RPA (robotic process automation).