Map a process end to end (SIPOC)
Put on one page who supplies what to the process, its main steps, what it produces and for whom, before improving it.
The task in figures
- Gives you back
- It does not recur every month
- Elmira today
- Not covered
- Frequency
- Per project
- Who does it today
- Engineer
- Version
- Elmira Junior
What hurts today.
“The process” means something different to each person.
A step gets improved without knowing which customer it serves.
The SIPOC stays on a flip chart after the workshop.
Before improving a process, people have to agree on what it is: where it starts, where it ends, who supplies what to it and whom its output serves. The SIPOC says it on one page, in five columns: suppliers, inputs, process, outputs and customers. It is built in a room with the people who know the process, and it is the first step of a Six Sigma project or a lean mapping. Without it, each person improves a different process.
Done today with
- In-person meeting
- Paper and whiteboard
- Email and chat
- Slides
- Diagramming tool
Each step, today and with Elmira.
She does not: processes come with a later module of Obeyaka, after the launch.
| Step | Today | With Elmira |
|---|---|---|
| Define where the process starts and where it ends | In-person meeting, Paper and whiteboard15 min – 30 min | Still by hand |
| List with the team the suppliers, inputs, steps, outputs and customers | In-person meeting, Paper and whiteboard45 min – 2 h | Still by hand |
| Ask the customer what they need from each output | In-person meeting, Email and chat30 min – 1.5 h | Still by hand |
| Write it up cleanly and share it | Slides, Diagramming tool20 min – 45 min | Still by hand |
| Validate it with the process owner | In-person meeting | Your call |
The conversation
No example conversation: the Obeyaka web app does it, or it comes later.
Does this happen to your team?
Book a demo and we will show you Elmira doing this task.
More cases of processes and standards
- Audit compliance with the standard (layered audits)The results stay on paper nobody adds up.
- Run the 5S audits and follow up their findingsThe order lasts until the next audit.
- Diagram a process’s detailed flow (flowchart or swimlane)The procedure says one thing, and the work is done another way.