This question is the topic of a series of articles in the coming weeks around the theme of having your “House in Order”.
A couple of weeks ago we published a second article that focused on the tenet “First organize, then Automate”. This article will further zoom in on having your “House in Order” regarding data and business processes.
Not having your data and business processes in order often leads to a loss of business opportunities which eventually results in lower profits.
But why is this the case? And for what reasons should companies have their data and business processes in order?
If the data is not in order in a company, it becomes difficult to see where the money is earned. Especially when a company reaches a certain size, simple rules of thumb won´t be sufficient nor efficient. This often leads to a lack of visibility for important key figures. This results in missing business opportunities or worse, thinking you are making money on products or services where you are making a loss.
Business processes that are not in order result in poor efficiency, hence the operation is run at a higher cost than needed. It can also result in slower processes than the competition and this will lead for sure to a loss of business opportunities. The deadly cocktail of poor efficiency and loss of business opportunities don´t need further explanation but this is the least desired situation where you want to have your company.
If it looks like a no-brainer to have your data and processes in order, why are there so many companies that don´t do this and if they do, why is it such a struggle to get this done?
There are two main reasons for this:
1. In many companies, data and process improvement is seen as a hassle, something that is difficult and requires lots of effort while having only small benefits. It is often not done because people tell each other stories about how difficult it is when in fact they lack the knowledge to execute such improvements.
2. The improvement potential in companies is often not explored well enough. In most companies, there are knowledgeable people scattered in the organization that would know very well how to improve. But often, these people don´t get the chance, are either not motivated by the management or even not identified. The principle of “the best consultants are your own employees” is not used.
Both topics are difficult topics to address. It requires experience to address them properly. Q7 Consulting has this experience and can help you to start improving your data and business processes.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for the next articles regarding “House in Order”.
IT for Modern Manufacturing