Business Management Systems

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BMS can assist you with your “day to day” operations. 

Business Operations in Different Industries

The operations of a business vary across industries, and they are structured according to the requirements of the specific industries. Mastering the operations of a specific industry can help the business achieve success. Here is an analysis of business operations in different industries:

How to Improve Business Operations

The following are some suggestions that businesses can use to improve business operations:

1. Measure performance

A business should come up with realistic and actionable means of measuring its business milestones. The process of measuring performance starts from the goal-setting stage. The business’s management should set achievable objectives with clear targets. For example, the goal of achieving a 30% increase in revenues is more actionable than setting a goal to make more money in the next financial period. The business should then implement a measurement system that determines how well the company is doing against the goal targets.

2. Keep up with the latest trends

A business should stay up to date with what happens in the industry to get ideas on how to get better than the competition. Trends can take the form of new innovation, changing state and federal laws, or changes in the local economy. Knowing the latest trends and changes in operations can help the company find new systems that improve performance and cut costs, or that help the company stay compliant with new regulations.

3. Streamline processes

Another way of improving business operations is to evolve with changes in the industry to increase productivity. The management should continually be on the lookout for new tools, software,  and equipment that improve and ease critical processes.

Another way of increasing efficiency is by collaborating the different tools such as apps, websites, and systems that the company uses. The company’s management should continually monitor internal and external processes to spot any glitches and address these issues quickly.

BMS can conduct your Business Analysis.

Business analysis is a research discipline of identifying your business needs and determining solutions to your business problems. (Solutions consist of your process improvement, organizational change or strategic planning and policy development).  

Seven steps for business analysis: 

• Familiarization with processes
• Discover the primary business objectives
• Defining the Scope
• Formulate the business analysis plan
• Define detailed requirements
• Support the implementation
• Help your business implement the solution

It can be a exhausting and frustrating job to manage and maintain multiple locations.

When it comes to running a business, organization is central to productivity and overall efficiency.

This is especially true when you’re running multiple locations.

While you may have gotten away with a certain degree of disorganization as a business, this sort of thing doesn’t work when it comes to running multiple locations.

The old adage is that systems run businesses, and people run systems. We must have systems in place to be able to standardize the quality of your communications, products, services and results.

Focus on Communication

Systems are a must, technology is important tool however, none of these will work with out real communication.

• Keep policies, procedures and systems consistent
• Establish full team weekly staff meetings via phone or webinar  to get your whole group together (If possible, have web cams  so your team members can see each other)
• Delegate and communicate the day to day operations to employees
• Build a strong management team
• Make each physical site responsible for a specific type of work, rather then assign random tasks associated with a central project
• When doable, have the CEO or management members personally visit each remote site on a scheduled basis, every month, for instance
• If possible, get your whole team together once or twice a year for staff meetings, brainstorming and team building

Several challenges of Managing Multiple Locations

• Lack of organizational and standardized operating policies and procedures
• Insufficient activities of utilizing suppliers
• Lack of competent managers at the locations and concerns over general supervision
•  Out-of-site-out-of-mind syndrome  
• Poor and loss of spontaneous communications
• Attenuated logistics
• Complicated work assignments
• Lack of team cohesiveness

BMS can help you develop Documentation 

• Manuals 
• Procedures 
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) / Work Instructions 
• Supplier Business / Quality Manual
• Supplier Certification Manual
• System Documentation
• Transactional Documentation
• Users guide
• Analytical Reports
• Business Plans 
• Company and Customer Quality Plans 
• Functional Requirements Documents
• Informational Reports
• Scope Diagrams
• Special Technical Reports
• Various types of Forms and Manuals
• Much more ….

BMS can manage Special Projects for your business.

Special Projects - Are activities being consistent within a specific scope of activities.  

These may include organizing, leading, and assisting to execute specific projects that may fall outside the scope of the regular duties of management. 

The specific responsibilities and purpose of projects vary, depending on the industry and type of business.

Benefits of BMS managing your special projects

• Conduct your special projects without hiring additional employees
• Enhanced efficiency and effectiveness in delivering products and services
• Improved, Increased and enhanced customer satisfaction
• Improved growth and development within your team
• Greater standing and competitive edge
• Opportunities to expand your products and services
• Better flexibility
• Increased risk assessment
• Increase in quality
• Increase in quantity

Operational excellence is a philosophy of your workplace where problem-solving, teamwork, and leadership results in the ongoing improvement in your organization or company. The process involves focusing on your customer’s needs, expectations, keeping employees positive and empowered, and continually improving the current activities in the workplace. 

Ten core principles for achieving Operational Excellence

• Create value for the customer
• Think systematically
• Focus on the process
• Seek perfection
• Assure quality at the source
• Create constancy of purpose
• Flow and pull value (principle under the continuous improvement)
• Respect every individual
• Lead by humility
• Embrace scientific thinking

Operational Excellence Methodologies

Through operational excellence, an organization can improve its company culture and performance, which leads to long-term sustainable growth. Your business should consider looking past the traditional one-time event and move toward a more long-term system for change. Over the years, numerous methodologies have been introduced to the mainstream business culture as a method of achieving operational excellence. 

BMS can perform and manage your Project Management activities for your business.

Project management is one of the most critical components of your successful business. It affects revenues and liabilities, and it ultimately interacts with your customer or client satisfaction and retention. Your business might have only one project in the works at a time, while other larger corporations and entities might juggle several projects at once. By their very nature, projects are temporary.

Project Management is temporary in that it has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources.

Project Management is unique in that it is not a routine operation, but a specific set of operations designed to accomplish a singular goal. So, a project team often includes people who don’t usually work together – sometimes from different organizations and across multiple geographies.

Project Management processes fall into five groups

• Initiating
• Planning
• Executing
• Monitoring and controlling
• Closing

Project Management knowledge draws on ten areas

• Integration
• Scope
• Time
•  Cost
• Quality
• Procurement
• Human resources
• Communications
• Risk mitigation
• Stockholder management

Our Quality Engineering services provide technical leadership and support in pre-, mid-, and post-production environments at any point in the global supply chain. 

This ensures full alignment with client strategy and goals for supplier quality – not just the activity at hand.  

Key Benefits: 

• Industry experts to suit your needs
• Short- or long-term availability 
• Global presence, local position 
• Fully supported by BMS and administrative program management resources  

We can provide full Quality Engineering services through the entire manufacturing life cycle. 

Capabilities include: 

Pre-Production 

• Reliability Engineering 
• Risk Management 
• Production Control Planning 
• Set up 
• Prototype Run Verification 
• First Article Development
• Supplier Improvement Roadmap Setup 

Production 

• Process Control Validation
• Measurement System Analysis
• Receiving In-Process and Final Inspection Assessments 
• Sample Plan Set up 
• Production line Improvements 
• Six Sigma Projects
• Quality – and Production – related Gap Analysis 

Post-Production

• Dock to Stock Program
• Supplier Inspection Training
• Final Rejection Product
• Troubleshooting 
• Warehouse Product Quality
• Screening Program Setup

Corrective Actions and Preventative Actions (CAPA) 

Managing corrective and preventative actions (CAPAs) can be challenging and time consuming. 

Corrective Actions: ISO Definition: The organization shall take action to eliminate the causes of nonconformities in order to prevent a recurrence.” Corrective action is realizing and defining a problem, determining its cause, and taking appropriate measures to prevent it from happening again.

They require constant monitoring, follow-up, and review from several different stakeholders inside and outside your organization. Our proven process for taking supplier CAPAs from acknowledgement to evidence of effective closure has proven to be faster and less expensive than using precious in-house resources. 

Corrective Action Process: ISO 9001 based: 

Seven-Step Corrective Action Process: 

• Define the problem. Describe the problem. Make sure the problem is, in fact, a real problem and not a perceived problem. Explain the who, what, when, where, and why. Describe the expected outcome and how the issue can be resolved.
• Define the scope. Make sure you understand how big the problem to be addressed is. Give context to the size of the problem. Is it happening every day? Does it happen only for a particular product or transaction or customer, etc.? 
• Containment Actions. Make a short-term fix to stop the problem while searching for the ultimate cause and fix. This is about immediate checks or stop-gap measures that will catch the issue again if it recurs while you are finding the root cause. 
• Identify the Root Cause. Identifying the root cause is not always easy. There are specific root cause analysis techniques available to assist with this. The objective is to find the underlying cause and not just the perceived problem. 
• Plan a Corrective Action. Create measurable, achievable solutions with realistic deadlines that focus on the root cause. It needs to include the necessary steps to eliminate the root cause. Depending on the size problem, it may require cost and return on investment analysis, with formal management approval to proceed.
• Implement the Corrective Action. Implement your actions and manage those actions to completion. It could be as simple as making changes to the software or changes in the database. It could be an investment in new equipment in a manufacturing environment because the old equipment is no longer capable of meeting tolerance requirements.
• Follow up to make sure the Plan worked. Document and close out the process with a debrief to determine what was done and inform the team of the changes. Give sufficient time to ensure that the problem does not manifest again. Capture any lessons learned. Finally, ensure record keeping has been done at an adequate level of detail.  

Preventive Action Processes ISO Definition: The organization shall determine action to eliminate the causes of potential nonconformities in order to prevent their occurrence.” 

The preventive action process is as follows: 

• Map Out Potential Nonconformities: The first step is to identify potential problems that could occur in your process or product. This can be done through various methods, such as brainstorming or FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis).
• Create an Action Plan: Take proactive steps in creating an action plan for the possible nonconformities.
  • Documented management procedures
  • Clearer working instructions
  • Process Audits 
  • Constant communication between involved teams/departments.
  • Additional training.
  • Management review 

Proactive actions, such as risk assessments, failure modes and effects analysis, must be taken to identify potential non-conformities. 

The development of work instructions, documented procedures, training are examples of actions that are performed to prevent non-conformities. 

Other activities that are regularly carried out and are part of the preventive action process are audits, management reviews and inspections. 

What Preventive Action Should You Take? 

Preventive actions are very similar to preventive healthcare procedures. Both cost money, neither are fun, and they both provide long-term value if you pay the short-term cost of long-term stability. With that said, here are some examples of preventive actions that can potentially help prevent nonconformity issues: 

• Auditing suppliers and the goods/materials they provide.
• Routine inspection and maintenance of equipment to ensure proper calibration. 
• Incorporating alarms into processes in the form of monitoring statistics or control charts. 
• Comprehensive training programs with employee feedback.
• Collecting process reviews from line workers

Strategic analysis refers to the process of conducting research on a company and its operating environment to formulate a strategy. The definition of strategic analysis may differ from an academic or business perspective, but the process involves several common factors:

• Identifying and evaluating data relevant to the company's strategy. 
• Defining the internal and external environments to be analyzed
• Using several analytic methods such as Porter’s five forces analysis, SWOT analysis, and value chain analysis

To develop a business strategy, a company needs a very well-defined understanding of what it is and what it represents. 

Strategists need to look at the following:

• Vision: What it wants to achieve in the future (5-10 years)
• Mission Statement: What business a company is in and how it rallies people
• Values: The fundamental beliefs of an organization reflecting its commitments and ethics

After gaining a deep understanding of the company’s vision, mission, and values, strategists can help the business undergo a strategic analysis. The purpose of a strategic analysis is to analyze an organization’s external and internal environment, assess current strategies, and generate and evaluate the most successful strategic alternatives.

Strategic Analysis Process

The following demonstrates the strategic analysis process:

Perform an environmental analysis of current strategies

Starting from the beginning, a company needs to complete an environmental analysis of its current strategies. Internal environment considerations include issues such as operational inefficiencies, employee morale, and constraints from financial issues. External environment considerations include political trends, economic shifts, and changes in consumer tastes.

Determine the effectiveness of existing strategies

A key purpose of a strategic analysis is to determine the effectiveness of the current strategy amid the prevailing business environment. Strategists must ask themselves questions such as: Is our strategy failing or succeeding? Will we meet our stated goals? Does our strategy align with our vision, mission, and values?

Formulate plans

If the answer to the questions posed in the assessment stage is “No” or “Unsure,” we undergo a planning stage where the company proposes strategic alternatives. Strategists may propose ways to keep costs low and operations leaner. Potential strategic alternatives include changes in capital structure, changes in supply chain management, or any other alternative to a business process.

Recommend and implement the most viable strategy

Lastly, after assessing strategies and proposing alternatives, we reach a recommendation. After assessing all possible strategic alternatives, we choose to implement the most viable and quantitatively profitable strategy. After producing a recommendation, we iteratively repeat the entire process. Strategies must be implemented, assessed, and re-assessed. They must change because business environments are not static.

Levels of Strategy

Strategic plans involve three levels in terms of scope:

Corporate-level (Portfolio)

At the highest level, corporate strategy, involves high-level strategic decisions that will help a company sustain a competitive advantage and remain profitable in the foreseeable future. Corporate-level decisions are all-encompassing of a company.

Business-level

At the median level of strategy are business-level decisions. The business-level strategy focuses on market position to help the company gain a competitive advantage in its own industry or other industries.

Functional-level

At the lowest level are functional-level decisions. They focus on activities within and between different functions, aimed at improving the efficiency of the overall business. These strategies are focused on particular functions and groups.

Risk management is the identification, evaluation, and prioritization of risks to minimize, monitor, and control the probability or impact of unfortunate events.

Risks can come from various sources

• Natural causes and disasters
• Deliberate attack from adversary
• Unplanned events 
• Financial markets
• Threats from project failures  
• Legal liabilities
• Accidents
• Unpredictable root cause

In practice the process of assessing overall risk can be difficult, and balancing resources used to mitigate between risks with a high probability of occurrence but lower loss versus a risk with high loss but lower probability of occurrence can often be mishandled. 

Processes of Risk Management Method

• Identify the risks or threats
• Prioritize the risks (handle risks with greatest loss,  impact or probability first)
• Assess the vulnerability of critical assets to specific threats
• Determine the risks- Identify ways to reduce or eliminate those risks
• Prioritize risk reduction or elimination measures

Principles

• Create value
• Be an integral part of organizational processes
• Be part of the decision-making process
• Explicitly address uncertainty and assumptions
• Be a systematic and structured process
• Be based on the best available information
• Be tailor-able
• Take human factors into account
• Be transparent and inclusive
• Be dynamic, iterative and responsive to change
• Be capable of continual improvement and enhancement
• Be continually or periodically re-assessed

Establish the context

• Observing the context
• Defining a framework for activities and an agenda for identification
• Developing an analysis of risks involved in the process
• Mitigation or solution of risks using available technological, human and organizational resources

Identification

• Source analysis
• Problem analysis
• Objectives-based risk identification
• Scenario-based risk identification
• Common-risk checking
• Risk charting

Assessment

• Assess as to potential severity of impact
• Negative impact, such as loss or damage

Potential risk treatments

• Avoidance 
• Reduction 
• Sharing 
• Retention

Risk management planning

Select appropriate controls or countermeasures to mitigate each risk. Risk mitigation needs to be approved by the appropriate level of management. For instance, a risk concerning the image of the organization should have top management decision behind it. 

The risk management plan should propose applicable and effective security controls for managing the risks. For example, an observed high risk of computer viruses could be mitigated by acquiring and implementing antivirus software. A good risk management plan should contain a schedule for control implementation and responsible persons for those actions.

Implementation

Implementation follows all of the planned methods for mitigating the effect of the risks. Purchase insurance policies for the risks that it has been decided to transferred to an insurer, avoid all risks that can be avoided without sacrificing the entity's goals, reduce others, and retain the rest.

Review and evaluation of the plan

Initial risk management plans will never be perfect. Practice, experience, and actual loss results will necessitate changes in the plan and contribute information to allow possible different decisions to be made in dealing with the risks being faced. Risk analysis results and management plans should be updated periodically.