MediaFLO’s strategy was to implement business process modeling as an effective and innovative approach to QMS and ISO. The business process excellence group sought to define and implement an effective QMS that:
• Creates value and is relevant to the business.
• Allows flexibility and scalability—enabling changes to be implemented rapidly.
• Ensures regulatory and standards compliance (ISO and SOX).
• Leverages industry best practices.
• Satisfies internal customer requirements.
• Involves process users, process owners and executives.
• Aligns with corporate QMS and IT business process modeling strategies.
When the team leader demonstrated the benefits that could be achieved with a comprehensive approach that went beyond defining processes just for the purpose of ISO, they easily obtained executive sponsorship and stake holder buy-in.
The BPM software tool was chosen as MediaFLO’s enterprise modeling solution, based on the business excellence team leader’s positive experience with it in her previous position at another company. The business process excellence team then began a five-phase deployment process.
In phase one, the team conducted a proof of concept by modeling and simulating the Return Material Authorization process. This process involves hardware that has been shipped to network broadcast sites, but then needs to be returned to the supplier for a replacement. As the process was modeled in the software, the team was impressed with the outcome. By having process owners and subject matter experts collaborate, they were able to clearly depict responsibilities and identify issues such as redundancies, process gaps and inefficient handoffs. Definitions of deliverables and common terminology were agreed upon, as well.
Following the proof of concept, MediaFLO launched phase two of the business process modeling initiative—establishing a deployment strategy. In this phase, the team defined the Business Interaction Model (BIM) and Organization Model, as well as prioritized key processes in the value chain.
Up next was phase three, in which as-is processes were developed using workflow models and key processes were prioritized. Modeling in the BPM software allowed the process owners to define the processes at the right level of detail (high or down to the work instruction) to drive process understanding and consistency. Process health metrics, business goals, ISO requirements, and SOX risks and controls also were associated and incorporated during this phase.
In phase four, the team conducted process improvement activities. Opportunities for improvement were identified, process simulation was conducted, and improvement initiatives were prioritized based on the impact to the business.
Continuous process improvement and automation is phase five. Through its ongoing work, the team has identified many disconnected/non-functional processes that would otherwise have gone undiscovered. The initiative ensures MediaFLO can focus on what its processes are and should be, and it fosters understanding between internal functions and partner organizations.
