Business Process Management II: Using Technology to Enable Business Processes 91 Formerly known as Boeing Airlift and Tankers, Boeing Global Mobility Systems (BGMS) is a division within the Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) arm of the Boeing Company. IDS products include military aircraft (F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, F-15E Eagle, C-17 Globemaster III, AH-64D Apache Longbow, and V-22 Osprey) as well as missiles (Harpoon, SLAM-ER, THAAD), airborne lasers, and Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAV). IDS is the prime contractor for the International Space Station supporting the space shuttle program. IDS also produces communication satellite systems. In 2006, BGMS is working on four programs: C-17, 767 Tankers, Derivative Airplane Programs, and Advanced Mobility Systems. Te stated vision for BGMS is to be “the world’s first choice for innovative mobility solutions—setting the standard for excellence.” To achieve its vision, the division adheres to the following mission statement, “Global Mobility Systems provides solutions that shape the future of mobility for our global military and government customers. We will leverage our strengths, team based culture, supplier partners and customer knowledge to achieve market leadership and provide unprecedented value to all stakeholders.” Values facilitate the achievement of its mission; every employee at the organization is rated on these values: • leadership, • integrity, • customer satisfaction, • quality, • people working together, • a diverse and involved team, • good corporate citizenship, and • enhancing shareholder value. In 2006, Boeing focuses on four growth and productivity initiatives: internal services productivity (involves reducing indirect costs and improving functional productivity), global sourcing (involves moving best practices further into the supply chain), Lean+, and development process excellence (involves improving the effectiveness and productivity of development programs). Each of these initiatives has an executive sponsor and initiative leader. Boeing Global Mobility Systems Boeing Global Mobility Systems92 Business Process Management II: Using Technology to Enable Business Processes STRATEGY Transforming the Enterprise In the early 1990s, the C-17 program was over budget and behind schedule, and the Air Force was threatening to cancel the contract. Tis threat, which would have effectively done away with the program, focused senior management on the need to significantly alter the way it was managing its business. Te C-17 program, and later all of Boeing Global Mobility Systems, committed itself to revising its management system by implementing a management framework based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria, which emphasize six areas: leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, information management, human resources focus, and the management and integration of processes. Te C-17 program’s focus on process management and integration spawned the Process-Based Management (PBM) approach. Process Framework A cultural change with a focus on process improvement ensued. Te organization focused on quality, schedule, and cost—in that order. Te leadership team utilized an integrated planning process based on the Baldrige Award framework (Figure 24), emphasizing leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, information management, human resources, and the management and integration of business processes. Because the change to a process-centric program was driven from the top, leadership support was readily available. Leadership sets the strategic direction based on a 10-step process. According to the organization’s 1998 Baldrige application, leadership has a critical responsibility to define the needs of its customers, workers, suppliers, shareholders, and the local community. Figure 25 provides the leadership system model comprising inter-dependent steps that enhance leadership performance and focus on continuous improvement: 1) set and communicate direction; 2) organize, plan, and align; 3) perform to plan; 4) recognize and reward; and 5) organizational and employee learning. Figure 24 Baldrige Criteria Framework: A Systems Perspective 7 Business Results 1 Leadership 6 Process Management 3 Customer and Market Focus 5 Human Resource Focus 2 Strategic Planning 4 Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management Organizational Profile: Environment, Relationships, and Challenges Boeing Global Mobility SystemsBusiness Process Management II: Using Technology to Enable Business Processes 93 Figure 25 BGMS Leadership System Stakeholder Requirements and Expectations Vision and Principles BE ROLE MODELS EMPOWER TEAMS CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE Set and Communicate Direction Organizational and Employee Learning Recognize and Reward Perform to Plan Organize, Plan, and Align MOTIVATE EMPLOYEES Passionate About Continuous Learning Team Players Customer-Focused Inspire People to Achieve Their Potential Performance-Driven Ethical ANALYZE AND COMPARE INVOLVE A ND COMMUN ICATE • Customer • Work Force • Partners/Team Members • Community • Shareholders PROCESS Managing Business Processes Business process management is consistent with Baldrige Category 6, which examines an organization’s process management, including key product, service, and business processes to create customer and organizational value. By answering questions such as, “What are your key value creation and key support processes and how does your company determine them?” processes can be established. Requirements are defined by stakeholders. Measures are derived from asking what the key indicators are that control and improve processes. Quality is addressed by preventing defects, service errors, and rework. Learning and improvement are achieved by proactively looking for opportunities to improve and capturing lessons learned. Process-Based Management (PBM) is defined as “a management approach that defines an organization as a collection of processes focused on customer satisfaction and waste reduction by defining, measuring, stabilizing and improving processes.” Further, BGMS identifies the following characteristics of process management. • Senior leadership buy-in • View business as a collection of processes. • Strategic plans drive processes. • Clear relationships between processes and key business results and goals • Focus on key customer-driven processes with the customer being defined as a user of the output. • Work teams learn processes. • Process health reporting and review Boeing Global Mobility Systems94 Business Process Management II: Using Technology to Enable Business Processes • Manage by data by reviewing metrics and data trends and listening to voice of the process. • Managerial patience—that is, allowing the team to solve their own problems and being patient for the lag • Emphasis on sustainable improvements by coming up with action plans that will add value in the future or anticipate the future • Improvement in processes across the business • Integrated with other initiatives • Common processes and standardization across users group while dealing with multiple cultures across the organization Te division has eight core process areas: 1. lead the enterprise; 2. manage programs; 3. create, acquire, and grow business; 4. integrate product/service definition; 5. manage suppliers; 6. produce product; 7. support products; and 8. provide enabling infrastructure. Processes in categories 1 and 8 are enabling (support) processes, and categories 2 through 7 are value-creation processes. Te PBM approach assigns process management responsibility to senior executive process owners. Responsibilities are then driven down to subordinate process owners where they are assigned at every level of the process model, resulting in a process-focused culture. Process owners use the process to manage that piece of the business, may be accountable for activities outside functional control, may or may not be a manager, and may own more than just one process. Moreover, process owners are responsible for: • implementing the steps of PBM, • documenting the process, • ensuring process performance, • ensuring both internal and external customer involvement, • involving suppliers of incoming processes, and • improving the process. Additionally, a process owner may manage a process jointly with the government customer and must ensure that associated procedures are followed and current. Process owners use a seven-step methodology, which consists of defining the process, establishing metrics, determining performance, analyzing process stability, setting goals, analyzing and planning, and improvements. Process owners document, define, and determine measurement goals, which are signed off on by the process customer. Documentation is particularly important in that it enables ISO certification. Created in PowerPoint, all processes have flowcharts. Boeing plans to implement a single source of process information (SSPI) tool to use for flowcharting and a new process model, which is Boeing Global Mobility SystemsBusiness Process Management II: Using Technology to Enable Business Processes 95 currently under management review. Infrastructure will be built to meet the requirements of SSPI with an anticipated initial deployment in the first quarter of 2006. SSPI is a custom, homegrown system in which functionality was developed by cross-functional teams within Boeing. SSPI is considered a robust tool in creating process breakdown structures. Measures are found in the control point on the process flowchart. Process owner teams use metric categories to establish measures. Tey begin with reviewing process performance and assessing whether it met or exceeded customer expectations and attaining superior business results. Te key performance categories are quality, timeliness efficiency, and cycle time. Quality measures can be based on the conformance or non-conformance (defects) to requirements or expected performance. Timeliness measures can be based on meeting customer commitments. Efficiency measures are based on the process’ output in relation to costs. Cycle time measures can be based on the time between a customer request and delivery of the product or service to the customer. Process owner discipline is measured through a vision support plan (VSP) otherwise known as the go-flow-up/go-flow-down process within IDS. Te VSP ensures that executive process owners provide recognition to one percent of process owners per month for PBM efforts and attend 75 percent of monthly PBM review meetings with process owners. TECHNOLOGY Integrating Technology and Processes Te process owner will collaborate with IT in problem solving early if it has been decided that an IT solution is required. Moreover, BGMS has implemented a Web-based application that will enable process owners to more easily identify problem-solving tools such as Six Sigma and Lean to improve processes. Process owners currently use various tools such as Pareto charts, Five-whys, FMEA, and causeand-effect (fishbone diagram) to analyze process performance. If an opportunity to improve a process arises, the process owner creates a problem statement and opens up a corrective action plan. Te action plan includes such information as plan originator, process owner, problem statement; and analysis tool utilized, and lists and assigns tasks. Technology Examples Te Process Based Management System (PBMS), an online repository for process management, is structured around the PBM seven-step methodology enforcing PBM business rules through accounts or roles assigned to system users (permissions). Tere are three primary roles: 1. site focal—ensures integrity of the database according to the process; 2. process owner—manages processes through PBM seven-step methodology; and 3. home office—maintains business rules, updates user accounts, and manages PBM infrastructure. Each role in the system is driven by a set of responsibilities. Te PBMS log-in page offers two types of access: a secured site for process owners, site focals, and home offices to manage and revise processes, and a view/print-only site that requires no special access. Tere are three view/print functions in the system: process documentation, performance trend charts, and process reports and lists. A user can view/print their process definition, which includes the flowchart and performance agreement under the process documentation function. Metric charts are also available through the performance trend charts function. Boeing Global Mobility Systems96 Business Process Management II: Using Technology to Enable Business Processes A user of PBMS can also check on the “health” of his or her process through the “Manage My Processes” function of the system. Te program will indicate process health by a color-coded red, yellow, or green scale. Special permissions are necessary to access the “Manage My Process” function. Tis function enables a user to: • define a process, • establish metrics, • determine performance, • analyze process stability, • set goals, • analyze and plan improvement, and • implement improvement. CPAS, the Corrective/Preventive Action System, is an enabling technology that BGMS leverages to manage its quality system. CPAS is an automated and real-time tool allowing management forums to routinely access the system for corrective action review and reference. Te system is used to provide quarterly systemic reviews, which are presented to management forums. Online training is available and accessed to continuously improve root-cause analysis and resultant corrective action plans. Multiple systems feed into the CPAS system to help drive the preventative and corrective action or activity. CPAS came about due to the need to improve and better document corrective action practices. A cause and effect analysis was performed to determine possible reasons. Te main reason identified was that corrective action was not consistently performed and/or documented. A process for corrective/preventive action was defined along with metrics. To identify a CPAS item, the source of the corrective/preventive action must be described; criteria for formal corrective/preventative action must be defined; identification of the process must be made (and tied to the PBM number); and identification of the procedure that governs the source must also be included. Te process detail includes identifying the problem, creating an effective problem statement, evaluating the problem, conducting root-cause analysis, creating and following up on action plans, and verifying and validating action plans. Tere are three principles that provide systematic and consistent application of the system: 1. mandatory use of root-cause analysis (RCA) tool, 2. completed RCA uploaded into CPAS, and 3. corrective/preventive action effectiveness as determined by the customer. Figure 26 shows the CPAS five-step workflow: 1. define, 2. analyze, 3. plan, 4. implement, and 5. verify. Boeing Global Mobility SystemsBusiness Process Management II: Using Technology to Enable Business Processes 97 Some of these steps take 90 days, and some can take up to a year depending on the complexity of the problem. BGMS focuses on timeliness of corrective actions as well as effectiveness of the implemented solution. At each step, specific requirements have been identified for completion before the system will allow proceeding to the next step. Reports providing real-time information are easily available. Functionality includes multiple filtering capability, point-and-click, back-up data to support metrics, and presentation-quality interface. In addition to reporting capabilities, CPAS enables automated real-time metrics (cycle time, quality, and timeliness). Moreover, CPAS enables a systemic review to assure a quality product. Systemic review is an assessment of historic RCA actions to identify trends. Te result of a systemic review is the identification and subsequent strengthening of a process’ weakest links. By leveraging CPAS, BGMS reviews elements of the Quality Management System to ensure that it remains suitable, adequate, and effective to achieve ISO 9001-2000 certification. In order to enable the effective use of the CPAS system, computer-based training (CBT) is available. Te CBT is a comprehensive training tool available via a disk or via Webex. Te training goes through the five-step CPAS process with recorded voice for easy learning and minimized reading. It provides case studies and concludes with a 10-question exam. Additionally, a complete glossary is included along with a program map that provides direct access to all sections of the training module. Boeing Global Mobility Systems CPAS Work Flow DEFINE ANALYZE VERIFY PLAN IMPLEMENTATION Customer Involved Closed-Loop Proce Figure 2698 Business Process Management II: Using Technology to Enable Business Processes Consequently, process management leads to ISO and CMMI success, as the Baldrige categories directly correlate to ISO principles. BGMS notes that the quality of a software product is governed by the quality of the processes used to develop and maintain it. CMMI enables organizations that want to pursue process improvement in multiple functional areas (software, systems, acquisition, security, etc.) to do so with less additional investment for each function. Additionally, CMMI supports process integration and product improvement while integrating multiple disciplines into one process-improvement framework. Achieved on its first application, BGMS is a Level 5 CMMI organization. PEOPLE According to the organization’s 2003 Malcolm Baldrige Application Summary, within Category 5, people are the core of business success, as they are viewed as key contributors. As noted earlier, BGMS utilizes a leadership system comprising the following processes: 1) set and communicate direction; 2) organize, plan, and align; 3) perform to plan; 4) reward and recognize; and 5) organizational and employee learning. Communication, learning, and recognition play an important role in process based management and its enabling technology. LESSONS LEARNED Te process management group at BGMS cites that it has been a long journey to becoming a process-based enterprise. Driven by the functional organizations in collaboration with IT, Boeing seeks to standardize technology and leverage effective processes to continue its performance improvement journey. Boeing Global Mobility Systems