Business process mapping provides an easy-to-read view of your company’s business processes. These maps need to be organized so they can be understood at a high level by top management, but also provide the detail that is needed for business process review and analysis.
We enrich all of our business process improvement engagements with our in-depth business process mapping methodology.
How to Structure Business Process Mapping
Your business process maps should be broken down into levels:
Top Level
This level identifies the major functions and processes of the business. This map can be thought of as a high-level “value stream” map.
Business Process Categories
These categories are in place to identify all major business process categories.
Category Map
This level identifies all categories of business processes in a swim-lane map showing the connectivity of information between departments.
Process Map
The process map identifies the business process steps that define inputs, processes performed on inputs, and outputs.
Many companies believe their International Organization for Standardization (ISO) documentation can aid in this process. This is true to a certain extent. While it can aid in the initial review of the processes, it does not go down to the level you need to identify problems and waste.
A Breakdown of Common Business Processes
A typical manufacturing company will have upwards of 200 to 300 processes in the following areas:
- Marketing
- Sales
- Engineering
- Customer service
- Supply chain management
- Manufacturing planning
- Production
- Quality
- Service
- Accounting
- Human resources
Business process mapping become a valuable component in a business process improvement project, enterprise software selection project, and ERP implementation project.