Key Points

• BPR addresses inefficiencies and can yield fantastic results on the whole.
• You need to think outside of the box to truly succeed with a BPR project; sticking to your guns isn’t going to work.
• BPR projects can be bolstered by the advent of technology, which can directly impact your customer satisfaction.

BPR projects can be daunting at first glance, as you’re fundamentally changing the way you work. However, it might not be tenable to continue with work as it sits; processes might be inefficient, wasteful, and prone to costly errors. BPR isn’t something that happens in a vacuum, and understanding how it affects any business can inform us of whether it’s worth pursuing.

So, with that in mind, let’s look a little more closely at some of the major businesses that’ve reengineered their processes over the years. Radically changing processes can have great results. What you’ll notice with everyone listed today is a willingness to stick the landing.

Ford

During the 1980s, Ford was faced with a massive accounts payable department. Invoices were handled by hand, and a corporation like Ford has no shortage of suppliers and manufacturers under it. To this end, Ford employed hundreds of people, resulting in a snarl of paperwork that was prone to costly errors when correcting purchase orders and matching them to invoices.

As such, the American auto giant decided to embark on a BPR project to completely revamp the way it handled accounts payable. Suppliers and vendors would enter their data directly into Ford’s database, which would then match purchase orders with what was received. Payments were handled automatically after the information was verified.

This had a substantial impact on Ford, who was able to reduce the accounts payable department by about 75%. It subsequently saw fewer wasted funds, as those errors weren’t piling up. Ford was able to strengthen its relationship with its suppliers and vendors. Such a drastic redesign of a core process resulted in substantial and dramatic gains in terms of efficiency and profit.

IBM Financing

Big Blue handles more than computers, with financing and lines of credit available for businesses looking to handle the integration of advanced technology. This came to a head when the corporation noticed that computer sales flagged, often due to slow processing of credit applications. Customers would get fed up and seek computers from another vendor, which meant lost sales. Credit applications were taking upwards of weeks to even get processed before customers heard anything back.

Naturally, IBM decided it was time for a drastic BPR project. The many departments that comprised the entire process were consolidated into a deal structuring role. One person would handle a single application, while leveraging some advanced tech to handle the paperwork, and was responsible for it from start to finish.

Consolidating these roles into a singular department had a profound effect on IBM Financing’s customer satisfaction ratings. Deals could be approved in a matter of hours, instead of weeks of lag time. As you might imagine, this also had a massive impact on total revenue, as more sales were being completed in a timely fashion.

Taco Bell

Food service is a tricky industry to succeed in, as you have customer satisfaction to worry about. The average customer is after clean, sanitary food, and that’s one area where Taco Bell was struggling with. Food was made on-site, which isn’t a bad thing, but consistency was all over the place. Given the variable nature of the staff at every Taco Bell location, you could have vastly different wait times for your order as well.

Something had to change, and Taco Bell’s BPR project is a fascinating one to consider. To boost the efficiency, sanitation, and speed of the food prep, everything was prepared at a central location. Ingredients would then be shipped out to franchise locations across the country, ready for assembly based on the menu items available.

While this took out the handmade feel of the food itself, it had a substantial effect on Taco Bell. The brand went from being a rather middling fast food retailer valued at around $500 million to a $3 billion industry giant in no time flat. Preparing everything and shipping it to franchise locations saw a massive increase in efficiency, customer satisfaction, and overall consistency, something the brand was struggling to maintain in the first place.

Amazon

Amazon’s pivot into the e-commerce space beyond books is something to admire. The retail giant was faced with a massive problem in sorting, preparing, and shipping orders. As sales volume exploded, Amazon was struggling to maintain a consistent pace in order fulfillment. Something needed to change, and that’s where the conglomerate embarked on its own BPR project.

To enhance the speed and efficacy of its warehouses, Amazon invested heavily in automation and advanced robotics. These machines helped cut down on the time spent combing through the warehouse looking for specific items. Instead, robots would simply bring the items needed to a human picker who would then prepare the order for shipping.

As a BPR project, this is one for the record books. Amazon was able to turn its shipping time around for days into a matter of hours in some cases. No matter where you are, the retail giant guarantees it’ll deliver your package in two days with a Prime subscription. The investment in automation and robotics is a costly endeavor, but it was a gamble that ultimately paid handsomely in the end.

T-Mobile

Telecommunications requires swift service, especially when it comes to mobile phone providers. T-Mobile was struggling to meet customer demands thanks to a complex system that saw users often transferred multiple times to different departments to address questions. When issues arose, the resolution time was often quite lengthy, resulting in dissatisfied customers and an overall loss for the company.

To this end, T-Mobile started employing TEX, or Team of Experts, a cross-functional team meant to handle all customer service requests. Team members could handle multiple issues from start to finish, often negating the need to transfer customers to another department. This BPR project began focusing not on calls completed, but rather on how many resolutions it could provide in a period.

This transformed the company’s customer service apparatus, seeing a 13% reduction in cost-to-serve and a 21% reduction in calls per account. It also served to bolster customer satisfaction and loyalty, as users were more likely to stay with the carrier. This decidedly different approach to customer service has helped to elevate T-Mobile above its competition.

British Airways

British Airways is a storied company, with a long and rich history. However, even they fell victim to inefficiencies in their processes. Flight operations and customer service alike were struggling. Issues with scheduling, baggage processing, and booking flights had the company struggling to compete with others in the same market segment.

Its BPR project saw a complete restructuring of how it handled flight operations. More comprehensive and intuitive digital interfaces were developed for customers. Scheduling was streamlined and optimized to reduce errors. Baggage processing also saw a much-needed overhaul.

This is one project that has paid off massively. British Airways has remained a competitive force in the aviation industry. Thanks to an exhaustive reworking of its processes, the organization is far more agile. Customer satisfaction is up too, thanks in part to the enhancements made to the efforts made by the company.

Other Useful Tools and Concepts

Looking for something else to read while you get ready for work? You might want to see how some organizations are leveraging Six Sigma in healthcare. While not a natural fit at first glance, Six Sigma is an industry-agnostic methodology and can be readily applied to healthcare with ease.

Additionally, you might want to take a closer look at how Scrum has revolutionized project management. While designed originally for software development, this approach is steadily gaining ground in non-tech-related sectors. Getting to the bottom of how it works could yield fantastic results for your organization.

Conclusion

BPR projects are quite the undertaking. However, when looking at the examples left by the businesses covered today, you can see why a drastic restructuring of workflows might be necessary. These companies suffered through inefficiencies and profit loss before making a change for the better.