How can you identify the key business processes in your organization?

Identifying the key business processes in your organization is essential for implementing and optimizing an ERP system. A business process is a set of interrelated activities that create value for customers, suppliers, and stakeholders. By mapping and analyzing your business processes, you can align them with your strategic goals, improve efficiency and quality, and customize your ERP system to fit your needs. In this article, we will show you how to identify the key business processes in your organization using a simple four-step method.

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1 Step 1: Define your scope

The first step is to define the scope of your business process identification project. This means deciding which functions, departments, locations, and products or services you want to include in your analysis. You can start with a high-level overview of your organization and its main value streams, or focus on a specific area that needs improvement. You should also consider the level of detail and complexity you want to achieve in your process mapping and documentation.

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Victor Pang Kin Lan, MBA, MEng

Retired Manager & Lecturer
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A comprehensive scope for an ERP project includes functions like finance and accounting, logistics (procurement, inventory management, warehousing and transportation), marketing and sales, after sale service, human resource management and manufacturing if the ERP client has a factory. Business processes like order-to-cash and procure-to-pay are cross-functional. The single version of truth is the common ERP database accessed and updated by all these functions which enables their collaboration and decision making based on accurate, consistent and real-time data.

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2 Step 2: Gather information

The second step is to gather information about your current business processes from various sources. You can use existing documents, such as policies, procedures, manuals, reports, and diagrams, to get a general understanding of how things work. However, you should also interview and observe the people who perform the processes, as they can provide valuable insights and feedback on the actual tasks, roles, inputs, outputs, and challenges. You can use tools like surveys, questionnaires, workshops, and focus groups to collect data from different perspectives and levels.

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3 Step 3: Map your processes

The third step is to map your business processes using a visual representation that shows the sequence of activities, decisions, and flows. You can use different methods and tools to create your process maps, such as flowcharts, swimlane diagrams, value stream maps, or business process modeling notation (BPMN). The main purpose of process mapping is to identify the key steps, inputs, outputs, resources, and stakeholders involved in each process, as well as the dependencies, variations, and exceptions. You should also indicate the performance measures, such as time, cost, quality, and customer satisfaction, that you use to evaluate each process.

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Victor Pang Kin Lan, MBA, MEng

Retired Manager & Lecturer
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The current processes can be mapped using software tools like ARIS and Lucidchart to draw As-Is BPMN 2.0 process and collaboration diagrams which are easily understood by both business and technical people. After analysis to identify the weaknesses of current processes, improved processes are designed and drawn as To-Be BPMN 2.0 process and collaboration diagrams. The selected or best fit ERP has embedded processes which match or can be configured to match these improved processes.

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4 Step 4: Analyze your processes

The fourth step is to analyze your business processes using the information and maps you have created. The goal of process analysis is to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of each process, and to compare them with your strategic objectives and best practices. You should also look for gaps, inefficiencies, redundancies, errors, and risks that affect your process performance and outcomes. You can use tools like SWOT analysis, gap analysis, root cause analysis, or benchmarking to conduct your process analysis.

By following these four steps, you can identify the key business processes in your organization and prepare for your ERP system customization and configuration. By aligning your business processes with your ERP system, you can achieve higher levels of integration, automation, standardization, and collaboration across your organization.

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5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Victor Pang Kin Lan, MBA, MEng

Retired Manager & Lecturer
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ERP current and historical data can be combined with demographic, weather, social media or other data sources for descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics enhanced by machine learning and generative AI. Analytical insights empower better decision making like proactive customer relations and accurate demand planning.

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How can you identify the key business processes in your organization?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Step 1: Define your scope

2 Step 2: Gather information

3 Step 3: Map your processes

4 Step 4: Analyze your processes

5 Here’s what else to consider

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

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How can you identify the key business processes in your organization?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Step 1: Define your scope

2 Step 2: Gather information

3 Step 3: Map your processes

4 Step 4: Analyze your processes

5 Here’s what else to consider

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Rate this article

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