Why Process Models and Value Chains Are Critical to Success

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APQC asked process management experts about the importance of value chain in process improvements, and tactics to create sustainable improvements. These experts will be speaking at APQC’s Process & Performance Management Conference October 1-5.


Doug Palmer Vice President, Product & Process Quality, ARRIS

Ronald Ross, Business Rule Solutions LLC

Roy Barnes, Blue Space Consulting Group

How do smart organizations incorporate the value chain in their process improvement efforts?

Doug Palmer: One of the first things I ask a business, when working in a process improvement capacity, is what is their value chain map? Specifically, do they have a map that depicts the end-to-end flow of panama mobile numbers list materials, parts, information, products, and services from their vendors, through their business, and out to their customers. If they don’t have one—and many don’t–we create it on the spot. It’s that important. This ‘big picture’ map lets you see the ‘forest’ and further map time, cost, effort, pain points, and opportunities in specific areas. All of which makes it a great communication and analysis tool. It’s main benefit, however, is helping guide the right mix of (horizontal) end-to-end process improvements versus (vertical) local process improvements to ensure optimum business performance.

Ronald Ross: Most organizations today are not just working in functional silos, but semantic ones as well. A value chain model allows you to see the big picture of how customer value is created across organizational functions. We recommend creating a common concept model across the value chain to ensure business vocabulary is consistent and unambiguous. A key goal in value chain thinking is to de-silo current processes. And there is no way that can happen if miscommunication and misalignment remain. Getting people on the same page conceptually is a key step for enterprise-level process improvement.