iDatix PEX Week Workshop Part 1

1. Synchronizing People, Processes
& Information for Automating
Operational Effectiveness
Enabling collective awareness for better decision making

2. Presenters
 Jeremiah Mapes
Process Improvement Consultant
 Steve Lincoln
Process Improvement Consultant
 Shanna Dulong
Product Manager & Process
Improvement Consultant
 Martin Levesque
Director of Professional Services

3. Session Breakdown & Agenda
 General Intro & ClosetMaid (15 min)
 Session 1
●
Common Errors in Analysis - Introduction (10 min)
● Process Description & Role-play Scenario Video (5min)
● Group Participation (45 min)
● Corrective Action Review (15 min)
 BREAK (10 min)
 Session 2
●
Design Pitfalls Introduction (15 min)
● Group Participation (25 min)
● Corrective Action Review (15 min)
 Session 3
●
Continuous Improvement Discussion (15 min)
● Wrap Up / Q&A (5 min)

4. Their Mission for Reducing DSO’s
Harnessing tribal knowledge and eliminating routine decisions to
dramatically improve response times.
Martin Levesque
Director of Professional Services
www.iDatix.com

5. Reducing DSO Through Automation
 Automate Routine Decisions to Accelerate Processing for Each
Type of Credit being Issued by ClosetMaid to their Client Base in
the U.S, Canada and Mexico
(Defective products, Shortages, Promo incentives)
 Develop a Platform that Brings Together the 3 Elements of their
Business: People, Processes and Information
 Use Existing Legacy AS400 System Events and Logic to Drive
Workflow
 Automate Escalation and Sign Off of Approvals via Dollar
Amount/Regional Exec.
 Provide New Human Centric Process Metrics

6. Manual DSO Process
Three Major Areas of the Credit & Collections Process
Initial Claim Review
Escalation of Approvals
Final Review & Release
Using these component areas as a reference, let’s look at how they are represented in
our automated workflow.

7. Combining People, Process and Information
 Data from retailers is sent to Closetmaid through EDI Transfer
 Enters local database server
●
Credit memo documents are created from raw data
● Document is stored in iSynergy where it enters workflow
 Automatic escalation based on debit code
Credit Memos Are
Automatically Created
Wal-mart
Update DM
Transactions
EDI Transfer
Home
Depot
Target
Outsourced
DE Team
Escalate
Local
AS400
Process
Release

8. Eliminating Routine Decisions
Automated
Routing Review
Walmart
EDI
Automated
Escalation of Approvals
VP Review
Create Credit Memo
AS400
Claim Code
Routing
Supporting Docs
Associated for Review
OVER $10,000?
Manager
Review
Facilitated
Final Review
Verify Valid Signatures,
Claim code.
Balance Credit in
workflow with AS400
Accounting Review
Credit Released in AS400
and Exits Workflow

9. Ready to begin Session 1!

10. Session 1 of 3
Pitfalls Of Analysis
Identifying and avoiding common errors found in the discovery process

11. Objectives
 Pitfall #1: Client Self Diagnosis
 Pitfall #2: Focusing on Exceptions
 Pitfall #3: Not Getting all Perspectives

12. Pitfall #1: Client Self Diagnosis
 Indicator: Process sequence is ignored
●
Only describes actions that involve execution of work
● Omits what triggers work to begin and how it completes
● Routine tasks are left out of the process
 Indicator: Being stubborn about solving X (my problem)
●
Frustration is top of mind
● Ideal current state is not part of the conversation
● My problem is paramount to all others
 Indicator: Provided a vague vision, goals, objectives
●
The exec sponsor wants the process to “work better”
● The mid-manager wants to deal with fewer problems
● The knowledge worker is overwhelmed

13. Pitfall #2: Focusing on Exceptions
 Indicator: Problems hide the core process
●
Criteria for how and why something happens is missed
● Relationship of exception to the core process is assumed
● Solving for a specific issue defines how work is performed
 Indicator: Frequency is not discussed
●
High impact, high frequency
● Low impact, high frequency
● High impact, low frequency
● Low impact, low frequency
 Indicator: Impact to business is not
considered
●
Describing departmental impact as rare
● Inter-departmental impact is too politically sensitive to discuss
● Organizational impact often involves external factors

14. Pitfall #3: Not Getting all Perspectives

15. Pitfall #3: Not Getting all Perspectives
 Indicator: Total faith in one source
●
Talking to the process owner is not possible
● Information gatekeepers are afraid to reveal anything
● KPI’s are used to tell the whole story
 Indicator: Trusting an issue is real
●
A vocal process critic is assumed to be right
● Process description has words like always and never
● Details about tasks not associated with the core
process
 Indicator: Process description is
assumed consistent
●
Gaining consensus is not part of the methodology
● Process discrepancies and gaps remain unclear
● The entire process is loosely defined, but clear to
everyone.

16. Meet Craft Brew Co.
 Craft Brew Co. is a microbrewery
 Will be studying their Material Fulfillment & Payment process
●
Brewers submit material (ingredient) requisitions for individual batches of
beer that they are tasked with brewing
 Personnel available for interview
●
●
●
●
Brewmaster
Accounting Manager
AP Clerk
Receiving Agent

17. Hands On Activity
 Get in groups of 15.
 We will rotate between groups as you perform the business
analysis on our roles in the process.
 Your task is to identify the pitfall and take some notes on how
your group either corrected the pitfall or would correct the pitfall.
 Each round of questioning will last 8 minutes.

18. Analysis Pitfall Review
 The hands on activity is over
 Review Each Pitfall to decide which role(s)
were exemplifying the behavior
 Pitfall Corrective Action
●
How did you correct each identified pitfall?

19. General Review
 Ask a question, and then ask it again
 Ideally you would interview people involved in the order they
interact with the process
●
●
Not practical for workshop due to time constraints
Can’t always get access to people you need at a given time
 Recommended to revisit interviewees to reconfirm after
interviews covering the same process steps especially for
discussions that occur out of order

20. Self Diagnosis: My Problem Demonstrated
 Brewmaster
●
Partial orders affecting profits
 We could better track when each brew is able start
●
Late payments
 Costing us penalty fees
 Causing delays in delivery of subsequent orders
●
Receiving not notifying the brewers
 Accounting Manager
●
Receiving unnecessary invoices for approval
● Not receiving invoices for approval that I should be receiving
 Receiving Agent
●
Blame game from Accounting
● Brewers make us do multiple trips back and forth because they forget items
● Receive POs for items with distant deliveries mixed in with current deliveries

21. Self Diagnosis: Vague Vision Demonstrated
 Brewmaster
●
I want to become the number 1 craft
brewery!
●
We need better scheduling so that we
can increase profits
●
If we can increase profits, we could brew
at higher volumes

22. Self Diagnosis – Corrective Action
 Self Diagnosis
●
Provide a framework for the interviewee to follow how to describe the
process in terms of people, actions and artifacts needed to execute
 Middle of the Process
●
●
Define Starting Point – How do you know you have something to do in this
process? What triggers you to take action? What are the expected inputs
and outputs of this role?
Define ideal completion point and high frequency, high impact exceptions
 My Problem
●
Investigate stated external factors negatively impacting the role separately
 Vague Vision
●
●
●
Recognize that vague visions lead to vague results
Use the vision as a starting point
Zoom into details of the vision

23. Focus on Exceptions Demonstrated
 AP Clerk
●
Vendor Documentation Exceptions
 Barley Breeze – different invoice format every time
 Duplicated invoices spanning multiple purchase orders
●
International Vendor Exceptions
 Currency issues causing additional work for international orders
●
Personnel Issues
 Brewers forgetting add all ingredients needed on the initial order
 Orders missing paperwork – requires redo of Purchase Orders

24. Focusing on Exceptions – Corrective Action
 Exceptions Dominate the Interview
●
●
●
Maintain focus on Core Process
Recognize when the discussion is getting off track
Reset the conversation to focus on the ideal state of the process
 Frequency is Ambiguous
●
●
●
Ask about Frequency
How Often does this happen? How bad does it affect us?
(Event Impact) X (Frequency) = total business impact
 Impact to the Business is not Covered
●
Investigate stated external factors negatively impacting the role separately

25. Exceptions – Impact versus Frequency
Business Impact
Moderate
Interest
High
Interest
Exception
Rule
Frequency
Low
Interest
Moderate
Interest
Exception
Rule

26. Not Getting All Perspectives Demonstrated
 Approval levels
●
●
AP Clerk say values are $250 for Accounting Manager review and $1000 for
Brewmaster review.
Accounting Manager & Brewmaster says values are $500 for Accounting
Manager review and $5000 for Brewmaster review.
 Production Goals
●
●
Brewmaster wants to increase production rates by 15% by decreasing the
overall cycle time from requisition to batch completion.
AP Clerk delays orders by 5 days due to brewers frequently submitting
incomplete requisitions

27. Not Getting All Perspectives – Corrective Action
 Trust but verify the information provided is accurate
●
●
Follow up with all resources involved with the process
Maintain an environment of confidentiality
 Validate stated issues are experienced by others
●
●
Revisit and observe end users for demonstrated behavior
Collect feedback on possible solutions
 Gaining Consensus is Key
●
When differences are identified, bring the team back together and
establish a common understanding of the process.

28. Up Next: Session 2
Common Design Pitfalls