What is Process Improvement?

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Process improvement is an approach focused on step-by-step changes or solutions that will eliminate or reduce defects, costs, cycle time or simply make a business process perform better. Process improvement could involve benchmarking or may simply rely on ideas for improvement which are generated without comparisons to other organizations.

For process improvement to be successful, a business must first understand how it works and why it is important. Organizations are continually reminded of the need to understand their business processes. Competition demands it. Auditors demand it. Governments demand it. Certification agencies demand it.

Process improvement is a proactive task of management which is aimed at the continual monitoring of the processes and outcomes within a business or organization and then developing ways to enhance the future performance of those processes. It is a systematic approach to help any organization make significant changes in the way it does business. The organization may be a for-profit business, a non-profit organization, a government agency, or any other ongoing concern. The goal of process improvement is the radical change in the performance of an organization rather than a series of incremental changes. The process is not meant to require meaningless changes – it’s meant to be progressive.



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