BPM in manufacturing … what’s the enterprise level opportunity?

The generic and flexible nature of a BPM solution makes it a good fit for almost any sector. The current business climate and global pressure to improve safety, compliance, quality, productivity and cost are forcing companies to evaluate and improve their operations.

In this regard the Manufacturing sector is no different.

BPM and workflow software help support business critical outcomes providing a range of enablers for customers in the manufacturing space.  Pre-configured scenarios and solutions, built on a strong BPM platform allow workflow enabling of manufacturing solutions. Embedded workflows are a natural extension of application & technical integration allowing participation in and with enterprise and other collaborative workflow processes.

But is there a BPM opportunity specific to Manufacturing?

With rising energy costs, ageing infrastructure, obligation to shareholders and a highly competitive environment within the Manufacturing sector, enterprise integration and operational efficiency have taken on fresh relevance as the key factors to organizational success.  BPM can address, with measurable results, operational and business challenges at the Enterprise level in Manufacturing.

While at the plant level workflow software integrates with a range of plant systems and streamlines execution, automating manufacturing specific processes such as change management, SLA management, Design review processes & compliance management lend several business efficiencies at the enterprise level.  

For BPM to work end to end, it needs to be embedded into manufacturing systems, filling the gaps and completing the chain from enterprise to plant floor. BPM’s process modeling, managing, analyzing and optimization capabilities ensure continuous improvement for:

1. Corrective and preventive action (CAPA)
2. Driving lean manufacturing                                                            
3. Turning best practices into standard operating procedures      
4. Increased plant productivity                                                           
5. Accelerated project delivery                                                                                    
6. Real time interoperability between enterprise applications                  

In our next post, a detailed analysis of BPM as an enterprise application in manufacturing. 

Have a great week!