Every business is made up of a series of processes and daily tasks that ideally lead to value for the customer. The more efficiently these processes run, the more likely the effort will be profitable. Conversely, when there are defects or waste, customers are disappointed, employees become disengaged, and profits disappear. That's why it is essential to focus on improving productivity and learn how to streamline processes no matter what type of organization you manage.

What does business process efficiency mean? Efficiency is the ratio of the effective or useful output to the total input in any system. In other words, efficient processes produce the desired customer value with the least amount of effort, resources, and time. For example, if one person can make 50 pancakes in an hour, their process is more efficient than a team of three that makes 40 pancakes an hour.

Every leader would like to improve business process efficiency, but how do they do it? Fortunately, some fundamental techniques, many borrowed from the Lean and Six Sigma management methodologies, can be applied in almost any organization. We've outlined a few of the most powerful.

Standard work is the current best process for any activity or task. It forms the basis from which improvement is measured. When most people think about standard work, they think about process operators, but what about leaders?

The fundamental principles behind standard work can be applied to supervisors' activities, and managers engage in them every day. It doesn't get as much attention as many other continuous improvement techniques, but it is often a game-changing shift that results in accelerated positive change.

Here are some of the questions we are asked most often about leader standard work.

While most people agree that process operations should be standardized as much as possible, the topic of standardizing leadership comes up less frequently. That's unfortunate because standardizing leadership is a crucial element of building a culture of improvement. It is the surest way to sustain improvement and build an organization with strong problem-solving muscles.

The 5S workplace organization technique is a prevalent methodology that companies can use to improve operations. The intent is to improve efficiency, minimize waste, and generally optimize how things are run. The 5S technique is most often used in manufacturing and warehousing organizations, but it can significantly benefit almost any industry. Learning the principles of 5S will help your organization gain its benefits and implement it with great success.

Manufacturing organizations undertake process improvement efforts to improve quality, reduce costs, and meet ever-evolving customer demands. Many manufacturing leaders turn to specific quality improvement methodologies such as Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma, while others take a less formal approach. In either case, there are some core principles of process improvement that form the foundation for positive change. Here are 10 that will improve the probability of achieving the goals of your projects.

The Lean and Six Sigma business methodologies have deep roots in the automotive manufacturing sector. One of the reasons they are so popular in the auto industry is that they bring a set of techniques and tools designed to help organizations achieve continuous improvement and a seamless flow of value to the customer.

Fortunately for today's auto manufacturers, software is available to support Lean Six Sigma efforts and streamline the road to improvement and waste reduction. The best Lean Six Sigma software solutions for automobile manufacturers and suppliers have features to enhance multiple Lean Six Sigma techniques in a single platform that becomes the repository for all improvement knowledge and work.

Here are seven popular auto industry Lean Six Sigma tools that can be better supported by software.

It is difficult to underestimate the potential to transform your organization through a dedicated effort to achieve continuous improvement. Of course, that’s much easier said than done, but with leadership and consistency, the possibilities are limitless.

Whether you are just getting started with continuous improvement or need to get more out of an existing program, these six tips can help you get more people engaged, complete more projects, and demonstrate significant impact.

We are lucky to have the chance to work with many companies looking for ways to deploy, enhance, and maintain a continuous improvement model for their organization. Many companies come to us with the same group of basic questions, so we thought it might help to share the answers to those we are asked most often.

What is the way of thinking behind continuous improvement?

The continuous improvement model is based on an idea called Kaizen. It is the philosophy of always looking for ways to improve operations and, therefore, results. Central to the approach is the belief that every part of an organization’s operations and processes can be improved and that the workers who are most closely involved are best positioned to identify opportunities for improvement.

If you are new to the idea of a structured approach to continuous improvement, this post is perfect for you. We will lay out the basics of some of the most common tools used to grease the skids for improvement efforts. We'll also include links to more complete content on each one, so you can dig in more to the ones that catch your attention. There are no rules about what tools you must use, and not every tool is right for the job, but this overview should help you get started finding out what will work best for your organization.

Standard Work is a simple, yet powerful process management technique. The current best practice for an operation or task is documented and followed until an improvement opportunity is discovered. Simple, right? In reality, it is a little more complicated than it sounds. We work with leaders who are implementing a host of improvement techniques, including Standard Work. We’ve seen it done very well, but we’ve also seen some ways it can go awry. Here are some of the most common errors we see organizations make when it comes to Standard Work.