There is a bunch of techniques for analysing processes.  Here are some;

1. Colour code them according to who values the step (eg blue for the customer, green for the company, yellow for regulatory, grey for unknown.)  Then think about whether things are really as they should be.  Where can you cut costs by reducing steps.

2. Swim lanes show handovers – a red flag for problems.  You can get bottlenecks when capacity issues arise, you can get rework as the downstream team reject the upstream team’s work and you can get things lost or just put aside as handovers (and priorities) change.

3. Break out the process boxes into descriptions under headings like [Input > Process steps > Failure conditions > Exit criteria]  Then go back and make sure the input and exit criteria reconcile – and that there is a next step for all the failure modes.  Look for opportunities to simplify failure/exception handling.

Frank,

Craig has provided several great methods for analyzing a process flow for areas that may required some improvement.  This type of analysis is an important step.

Just from what you have told me we can take a look at the variation of managers picking the material to rush an order.  Typically a manager's time is worth far more than a standards worker's time, so if we can find a way to expedite or rush an order while using the workers that might be ideal.  Is there any prioritizing mechanism or process for the orders that arrive at the office?

While were at it, I want to add that you may find that there is little meanful improvement that you can make to a documented process.  This doesn't mean that taking the time to document the process was wasted.  Having a set of process flows that model your business (often call the business architecture model) is useful for several reasons.

1. You can use the process flow to teach and train new employees or employees that are taking on new responsiblities.
2. If another process changes you may need to re-analyze this process to determine if there is any impact.
3. If the goal of the business, or what is important to the customer changes then processes may need to be revisited.

In short, the act of documenting you business processes in graphical form allow everyone in the business to understand the business operations, agree upon exactly how they are done, and suggest changes as necessary.

Chris

Thanks guys.  This has been very helpful.  I'm thinking about moving on and modeling another one of our processes here soon.  In the mean time does anyone have any more advice for me when it comes to the path I should be taking to break into the BA field?  To update you I'm still in the process of reading through the IIBA Body of Knowledge and I've read the Introduction to BPMN paper.