We will start the analysis with the Concepts of Improvement, Redesign and Reengineering
- IMPROVEMENT: Action and effect of improving; progress or increase of something that is in a precarious condition, that is, improvement of things or people in its constitution. REDESIGN: It must be taken into account that the concept of redesign is not part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE). Anyway, the inclusion of the prefix re- indicates that a redesign is the result of redesigning something, it can also imply a change in intangible things, for example developing a strategy. REENGINEERING- Consists of fundamental overhaul and radical redesign of processes to achieve dramatic improvements in contemporary and critical performance measures such as cost, quality, service and speed.
Erroneously, at some point we could confuse them, using them as synonyms, but upon reading the definitions in detail, we realize that they do not refer to the same process; All three refer to renovating something that already exists, but we can deduce that at different scales or levels of depth and risk, with “improvement” being the simplest and easiest level to carry out since it does not require a project as such, we can Talk about improving standards, improving quality and productivity, standardizing processes, etc., until achieving continuous process improvement.
In order for there to be a redesign, it is necessary to “improve” some aspects of the organization, that is, that to reach this point we must include the first level and do something else, in other words, the proposed result of the redesign is to obtain several improvements but the The process is not radical, here we consider medium-term changes, renewal of the current systems and it is about finding a reasonable balance of cost / benefit. But talking about reengineering is talking about major processes, we can see that in its definition it includes the two previous terms (improvement and redesign), I understand that this means that it involves a large number of processes, it is as if a company needed to redesign its production process, another to redesign its distribution processes, another to improve the quality of its products, another to train its personnel,But practically when we say that we will apply a reengineering process to a company, we are saying that all of the above will be developed in the same entity.
What is sought in a reengineering process is the application of scientific knowledge to the invention, improvement and use of industrial technique; reviewing the processes, in order to make them much more effective; it is the rapid and radical redesign of strategic value-added processes, systems, policies and organizational structures. It also allows applying all knowledge in the company in order to achieve:
- Faster; Higher quality; Greater quantity; Lower costs; Greater profits.
I consider that the client is the most important factor, since this is the one that will inject the cash to the companies, although we know that reengineering is also applicable to political, sports and governmental institutions of all kinds, but this time we will focus especially those of a lucrative nature, whether they are stagnant and troubled or are doing well, but management is ambitious to go further. As there is competition in the market, companies are forced to reach higher standards than those present, for this they need to review their processes from start to finish and make efficient use of technology (as much as possible).
Apparently the concept is well understood, but its application is not entirely easy, since it is not a matter of patching inefficient processes, even sometimes the expected results never come because executives failed to understand the methodology that would have already been applied Despite having made the revisions, there is not a good enough technique, or because just when everything has been rethought and launched, the market takes a tremendous unexpected turn and once again the ship is adrift.
When the best alternatives have been chosen, the results are seen in all areas of the organization and great benefits are obtained, the main ones could be:
- Formalize regulations Offer maximum institutionality Establish a single information bank Contemplate activities that add value to the process 100% cover needs: Auditable process Processes that allow minimal movement of personnel and information Able to apply both internally and externally
After having analyzed the key points of the three concepts mentioned at the beginning, we can conclude that at some point every organization needs to innovate its processes, but that depending on the magnitude of the problem, the turn of the company, the vision of management, the Available resources and market competition will have to be decided if strategies are used to improve some points, redesign some methods and departments of the company, or a radical and critical change is implemented with a reengineering process.
