by 
Process innovation, as the name suggests, is a different and better way to carry out a process as a whole, bringing changes that generate greater benefits, which in turn can be felt in the short and long terms. This type of innovation does not alter the product or service itself but makes the existing steps happen much more efficiently.
Have you ever thought that the activities performed within your company could be carried out in a way that is much more prone to success? We will show you the importance of process innovation and which tools can help you with that.
What Process Innovation encompasses
Process innovation often refers to the implementation or improvement of the platforms that a company uses to improve internal areas, such as the production process, logistics, approval of registrations, purchase requests, and supplier contact, among others. Some tools are fundamental to increasing productivity and the quality of provided services.
It operates in different aspects, being variable and adapted to the needs of each company; after all, each enterprise is unique and has its own demands. As innovation is a set of long-term actions, it’s necessary to recognize and value each small step, so that in the end, the desired result is achieved.
It is worth pointing out that these changes may occur in the way the company produces, but they do not directly affect the final consumer. What happens is that innovation brings more agility and security, improves performance, and uses resources in a more appropriate way, allowing employees to focus on the company’s strategic issues, which may lead to new products or services.
The importance of innovating processes
As the changes in the market are constant and increasingly fast, innovating processes generates competitive differentials, and can bring benefits to all areas of a company, whether in the short, medium or long term.
When your company is able to execute a process in less time, for example, it can develop new products or services to meet demand, and stand out on the market. Likewise, when your employees stop performing repetitive work, they feel valued and are able to focus on creating alternatives that will further improve the company.
Thus, even if indirectly, innovating processes is beneficial and ends up being perceived by the final consumer. In a broader sense, process innovation favors access to new markets, uses technology to prepare the company for the future, and is a bias for new partnerships and knowledge.
Looking internally, where the benefits of process innovation are more easily perceived, we can list:
- Time savings – innovation generates time optimization. The faster and less bureaucratic a process is, the higher the productivity and performance of the entire chain;
- Lower error rate – directly related to the automation of processes, repetitive jobs are executed with software and digital solutions, having a much lower error rate than when they are executed manually.
- New ways to perform tasks – when you insert technology and process automation software, you can analyze all the steps belonging, having more data and information to improve and find new and better ways to perform the flow of tasks and activities.
- Increased profitability – if there is error reduction, cost reduction, time savings, access to new markets, and new ways to perform the processes, it becomes possible to increase production or service delivery, increasing proportionally the revenues and profit margin obtained.
Process Innovation and Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement in this context consists of a culture of constantly enhancing processes, which analyses current activities and tasks, as well as the way they occur internally, to verify necessary changes and future improvement possibilities, especially regarding issues such as inefficiency, bottlenecks, waste or delays.
Thus, this process is uninterrupted and cyclical, being an ally to innovation, since the analyses aim at actions that will optimize and automate tasks, including the implementation of platforms that can help in the management.
When this culture exists within your company, it becomes noticeable that a process is improved several times over time. This happens because of new insights, analyses, practices, and technologies are capable of providing a better experience and contributing, even more, to generating competitive advantages emerge.
Methodologies such as BPM and design thinking are commonly applied to study and plan which and how the changes should happen, creating possible scenarios and adapting the activities so that everything can be executed in a way that generates better results.
Facilitate process innovation with BPM
BPM, Business Process Management, is an adjustable management discipline that aims to organize and facilitate existing organizational processes in order to achieve the company’s objectives. BPM allows you to understand the ins and outs of each process, and it’s this understanding that will make innovation happen.
Thus, you probably already realized how process innovation is facilitated with this discipline that can be used in several processes, from the simplest to the most complex, covering all sectors, and that provides a collaborative vision, traceability, efficiency, information accuracy, and, consequently, better results.
To use BPM within companies, implement a BPMS tool capable of automating and executing your processes in a more coordinated, fast, safe, and effective manner.
In this case study we see how Imaginarium managed to improve and innovate its processes by implementing Fusion Platform, a complete platform for adapting internal processes and generating data for monitoring and analyzing operations. It’s also possible to query data, analyze requirements and indicators with it, and the software is customizable and easy to update.
Need a little help to innovate your processes? Test Fusion Platform for free for 15 days!
Have you participated or plan to participate in any process innovation initiative? Tell us about your experience here in the comments.
