Technology is a broad concept which came as a result of the success of science and technology; this breakthrough allowed a better automated solution. One of the noticeable gains of technology is in the business sector to increase productivity. Business redesign process is a business management tactic, which points to the analysis and the structure of workflows and business procedures within an organization.
This write-up seeks to inform you on the relationship between information technologies and business redesign processes.
Roles of information technology generally
IT has performed a vital part in redesigning concept in time pass; some see it as the main enablement for new forms of working and collaboration within an organizational system.
These are some roles information technology (IT) has played:
- Share database, by making information present at many places
- Expert know-how, performing specialist tasks
- Telecommunication networks give a chance for the centralization and decentralization of an organization.
- Allowing decision to follow across all areas
- Wireless communication and flexible computers, allowing personnel to be independent
- Automatic identification and tracking system. Letting materials to tell you where they are rather than looking for them yourself
- High capacity performing computers
The importance of information technology and business redesign process is well known to industrial engineers. IT is used in industrial engineering as a tool for analysis and modeling. It has led information technology to the manufacturing scene
The uses of information technology in manufacturing are:
- Production scheduling
- Control
- Modeling
- Logistics
- Materials organization processes
From various researches, it has been finalized that IT is a more useful tool in business processes.
How does information technology support business?
Today’s cooperation does not have the comfort of stability, in other words, most organizations have struggled with instability. Recently, the task is often spread across individuals rather than assigning it to a particular person. Industries find it necessary to build more diversity, teamwork, coordinative ability and inter-communication in working capacity. It is more preferable to maximize connection of several activities across the whole areas of the company rather than the utilization of the performance of a single person or business function. This gives a new look to the trade process for the proper management of the firm. IT is promising in the business world.
What are these business processes?
Business processes are systematic methods used to carry out tasks to achieve a defined business outcome or endpoint. Also it the consistent management of people, materials, equipment, energy, and procedures into production activities which are fashioned to generate an accurate result.
Several processes form a business system, the process to which various units’ activities are done in the organization. There are two vital nature of business processes:
- They have customers; the customers receive the result of any of the business outcome. These clients could be either internal or external to this organization.
- The process crosses another group; it usually occurs across or between cooperation sub-divisions. These processes are always independent of another team process.
The various methods are:
- Building new products
- Request for goods from the manufacturer
- Creating a marketing design
- Processing and payment of insurance claim
- Documentation of proposal for government contracts
What are the benefits of technology to business process?
Automation
Technology has helped businesses to automate certain processes that ordinarily it requires manual handling. For instance handling software application like circuit board design software, which helps in multi-sheets design. The sales and booking functions are automated. Businesses now have the ease of importing design to circuit board design tool/software.
One of such IT design tools for introducing design is gEDA: it’s on Linux and generates models which are used in electrical circuit design, schematic grab, simulation, prototyping, and production. gEDA projects offer a weighty suite of free software applications for an electronic design, which involves schematic capture, feature management, bill of materials production, digital and analog simulation and PCB (printed circuit board) design layout. Prototyping business design process becomes easy and automated.
Speed and accuracy
For businesses to compete with their competitors, for them to thrive there is a need to involve technological initiative, to increase their processes speed and improve their business accuracy. This would help them expand the business to several other geographical locations and broaden their horizon.
Better storage
The technology eliminates double or triple entry systems and minimizes the significant amount of paperwork. So, therefore, customers’ details and informative are stored in a data system and can be reached in few seconds. It destroys irrelevant rented storage spaces.
Enhancement of information storage
Technology allows proper dispersal of information at all the levels in the organization. A lot of information can be shared using lesser resources. Information can be sent to millions of customers via the internet, who ready to buy. Businesses can carry out online learning for their employee to break distance barrier.
Five steps that involve the use of information technology to redesign business processes
When organization processes are lacking efficacy, how can they use IT to redesign the process? There are five steps to carry out directly.
#1. Developing business dream and process aims
To successfully redesign your business processes, you must first have a broad strategic vision in which the process design can significantly fit in. Each of this dream has aims. The aims are:
- Minimization of cost
- Time reduction
- Output quality
- Empowerment and quality of life
#2. Identification of the various processes needed to be designed
The key problem is to identify the various processes which need to be created. This is commonly a headache for most managers because they don’t think their business operates through the process. There are two ways to handle this:-
- The exhaustive approach; which locates all the processes
- The high-impact approach; which traces the most vital processes
#3. Understand and analyze the exciting process
There are two main reasons to understand and analyze the existing processes by the redesign. The problems are needed to be learned first so that it won’t happen again. And secondly, there must be accurate analysis as the basis for further improvement.
#4. Identify IT levers
The employment of the intelligence in information technology usage should be the first line of action to determine the business requirements of a function, process, and other business variable and then build a system that will work.
#5. Create and design a prototype of the process
This is the final step of the design process. There are fundamental factors in the determination in the process design and prototype creation; it involves using IT design tools.
