Process analysis method

Every company consists of many interlinked processes. The quest for ever leaner and more efficient processes will continue unabated. The optimization potential in this area is large, but usually not visible at first glance. Input and output are often known, the processes in between often turn out to be a black box. The process analysis method is the key to more efficient processes. The process analysis method brings light into the darkness. To close the information gap, the method (process analysis) is currently performed by a process engineer. During the process analysis method, the process is observed, recorded and analyzed. The process during the process analysis method, in which employees record times with a clipboard, pencil and stopwatch, for example, involves considerable manual effort and is therefore carried out far too infrequently in practice. As a result, rationalization, optimization, but also ergonomic potentials in industrial work processes often remain unused.

New process-oriented approaches are essential in today’s world in the context of the global complexity of modern business processes. Companies and institutions that have achieved at least an approximate integration in this regard are still a rarity. With the help of a process analysis method, manufacturing, sales and logistics processes are now optimally designed primarily with regard to costs and throughput times. Areas that have softer key performance indicators (KPI), in which the human factor is directly involved, are still rarely mapped in a process-oriented manner and are only rarely the subject of process optimization and process analysis methods. This can be attributed not least to the fact that such methods (process analysis) with regard to the value-added processes, due to their specific characteristics, often cannot be carried out adequately with the software tools available today, and these cannot be fully examined and optimized.

The method (process analysis) means the targeted consideration of processes and the breakdown into their individual components, with the aim of understanding the process and identifying weak points and potential for optimization. In the method / process analysis, a distinction is made between different types of processes, including business processes and technical processes. The method / process analysis forms the basis for process optimization in the company. In business-oriented companies, process optimization helps to continuously improve the efficiency and effectiveness of existing work, business, production and development processes with the help of (method) process analysis and to use the resources required for these purposes. Affected organizations are for example public administrations, social institutions or other companies. The process analysis method and subsequent process optimization serve to ensure that the goals are achieved. In the past, process optimization was considered a quality management task, but it is now understood as part of a comprehensive, integrated process management of companies and institutions. The method of process analysis and the optimization of processes as a prerequisite for effective basic business management have become an integral part of modern corporate management when it comes to being able to act successfully in national and international competition.

Our Motion Mining® technology can help with process optimization and process analysis methods. For the process analysis method, mobile sensors (wearables) and micro-radio transmitters (beacons) are used in this technology to record the processes while they are running. By equipping the employees with wearables and the environment with beacons, process data are determined during the process analysis method, on the basis of which process optimization can take place. In the meantime we are able to differentiate between approx. 60 different movements during the method / process analysis. In addition to walking and running, the movements also include overhead handling, unhealthy bending, sitting for long periods, bending over from the back, carrying, lifting and holding. From the identified potentials during the process analysis method, we work with the customer to develop individual measures for process optimization and thus show ways towards more efficient and ergonomic work processes. In detail, the individual work steps are automatically reconstructed from the process data determined in the method / process analysis with the help of a self-developed pattern recognition solution based on deep learning and made accessible for further analysis. For this purpose, the movements, body postures and the work situation are detected and assigned to the activities in the work process. Compared to manual analysis methods, a 40 to 80 times larger database can be used for process optimization, which is generated without physical observation of the employees. The scope of the GDPR is also not opened due to the extensive anonymization of the data and various organizational measures. Process owners are enabled by our motion mining technology to carry out a process analysis method more frequently, over a longer period of time and with several employees at the same time.

The Motion-Mining® method (process analysis) is currently mainly carried out in the production and logistics sectors. In the health care sector, we have also taken the first steps with pilot projects with regard to process optimization. The method / process analysis is carried out with regard to the recording of internal material flows, maintenance activities and their documentation.

Improvement potential and starting points for the method (process analysis) can be found in almost every process in a company. A first step in assessing whether and for which process the method (process analysis) is appropriate and has sufficient potential, is precise knowledge of the individual processes and accurate documentation of all procedures. The process analysis method reveals existing risks and inefficiencies. In order to achieve the optimization potential, it is important to analyze the initial situation correctly and to initiate the appropriate steps with the right process analysis methods. When using the process analysis method, one should know how it works and what can be achieved with it. Only the exact knowledge of the process analysis method and its potential enables it to be used correctly. Unfortunately, it often happens that the process analysis method is not properly understood. But the fateful comes later, because then the functioning of the process analysis methods was ignored. A process analysis method and the resulting process optimization methods develop their full potential only in combination with other process optimization methods or approaches. The use of a single process optimization recommendation from the process analysis method without understanding these relationships inevitably leads to failure of the efforts. Success is achieved by those who apply the knowledge of experts correctly and correctly use the process optimization methods obtained from the process analysis method. With MotionMiners GmbH, you not only have a powerful tool at hand with Motion Mining, which analyzes a process analysis method with little effort, but also experienced process engineers who support you in process optimization according to the method (process analysis).