Continuous Process Improvement (CPI): Definition, Methodology, Techniques, and Benefits

Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) is used to ensure the survival of your business and attempts in the long-term. By consistently re-evaluating and developing business processes, your organizations will be more resourceful, advanced and responsive.

Observe all the big or successful companies today, you are rarely going to find a company that doesn’t audit and analyze the processes or products thoroughly and systematically.

Continuous improvement, is often called continual improvement. It is the continuous and repeating improvement processes for products, services or processes through increasing and innovative improvements. These efforts seek either “incremental” improvement over time or “breakthrough” improvement all at once.

What is Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) ? | Definition

Continuous process improvement (CPI) definition is the process used to implement improvements to a product, service or process. These changes can either be incremental (over time) or breakthrough (all at once).

The main keyword to focus here is ‘continuous’ – CPI is not a one-time work. It is not like an activity that you perform once and pat your back, calling it a day. If you succeed in the process improvement initiative, you will have to periodically look back and check if there are any amends that could be made.

What is Continuous Process Improvement Model? | Methodology and Techniques

1. PDCA Cycle

The four-step quality assurance method—the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle is among the most popular methods to build continuous process improvement model:

1. Plan: Identify and spot opportunities and plans for change.
2. Do: Implement the changes on a small scale as a test run.

• Check: Use data and metrics to analyze the results of the change and determine whether it made a difference.

1. Act: If the changes made prove to be fruitful, implement it on a broader scale and monitor the outcomes continuously. Assess and analyze your results carefully. If the change didn’t yield better results, start the cycle all over again.
2. Business Process Mapping

Business Process mapping is a way by which collection of activities in a process that transforms one or more inputs into one or more outputs are put together. This business process mapping definition provides a minimalist view of what a process map does.

A process map gives us a way of visualizing what a business does by taking into account roles, responsibilities and standards. Through process mapping, one can determine the function of a business entity, responsible authorities, the standard of a business process, and ultimately how the success of a business process can be determined.

3. Business Process Management Software

Business Process Management is a management approach to align organization vision, strategies, business objectives to its business processes. It defines critical business process KPIs which are essential to focus on to control the business and delivers the promise.

BPM is a means to improve business performance outcomes and responsiveness of operations. Business Process Management is collective methods used for managing a company’s business processes. It is basically operations management. Business process management strategy involves:

• Techniques to discover,
• Model,
• Evaluate,
• Measure,
• Improve,
• Optimize,
• And automate business processes.

It is considered the best business practice comprising various techniques and structured methodologies. It is often confused to be a technology whereas, it is basically strategic tactics to get your work done efficiently.

Other widely used methods for continuous improvements are: Six Sigma, lean, and total quality management, emphasize employee involvement and teamwork so measurement of processes can be done, and minimize the changes, defects, and cycle times.

What are the Benefits of Continuous Process Improvement? | Benefits

With time and practice, organizations learn the ways to work in an organized and effective manner internally. They work for the identification of opportunities, and making amends accordingly. They also learn the ways locate the areas where additional value can be added, where value is not present, and the ways to get rid of invaluable waste.

A manufacturer adopting the continuous improvement approach will observe the following tangible benefits, that includes:

• Productivity enhancement
• Quality improvements
• Cost reductions
• Delivery time reduction
• Employee satisfaction/morale improvement
• Employee turnover rate reduction

Conclusion

Many organizations don’t take continuous process improvement seriously at all levels of the organization, and it has very less chances to be effective. The overall result of the Continuous Improvement exercises or projects should be framed within the management system itself. This ensures driving new, improved working ways, else it remains as yet another good idea that is implicit in nature and only known by word of mouth.

Still there are business that follow text-based procedures and call these “processes.” Unfortunately, procedures like these are can’t fall under critical analysis. Process-based continuous improvement gives a clear mapping idea, visualization and understanding of various processes.

Ultimately, how fruitful can continuous improvement be if you don’t have a good understanding of your processes in the beginning itself? Use process mapping to visualize:

• Who is accountable and responsible for a process?
• What does he do exactly?
• Where is the task performed?
• And when is the task performed?

It helps you understand the “as is” model and how the “to be” model is going to be like. You get the action clarity that is essential for the improvement of processes, removal of waste, redundancy and duplication, and all the general inefficiencies. And this just requires you to some basic knowledge and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to do it.

What is Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) ?

Continuous process improvement (CPI) definition is the process used to implement improvements to a product, service or process. These changes can either be incremental (over time) or breakthrough (all at once).

The main keyword to focus here is ‘continuous’ – CPI is not a one-time work. It is not like an activity that you perform once and pat your back, calling it a day. If you succeed in the process improvement initiative, you will have to periodically look back and check if there are any amends that could be made.

What are the Benefits of Continuous Process Improvement ?

A manufacturer adopting the continuous improvement approach will observe the following tangible benefits, that includes:

• Productivity enhancement
• Quality improvements
• Cost reductions
• Delivery time reduction
• Employee satisfaction/morale improvement
• Employee turnover rate reduction

What are the techniques for Continuous Process Improvement ?

The major techniques used for Continuous Process Improvement are:

1. PDCA Cycle
2. Business Process Mapping
3. Business Process Management Software

Other widely used methods for continuous improvements are: Six Sigma, lean, and total quality management, emphasize employee involvement and teamwork so measurement of processes can be done, and minimize the changes, defects, and cycle times.

Key Highlights

1. Robotic Process Automation
   
2. Business Process Architecture
3. Business Process Analysis
   
4. Business Process Re-engineering
5. Business Process Transformation

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