Embracing AI for Business Process Improvement| General Electric Shows Us Why Process Understanding Comes First

From inventing the LED lightbulb to becoming a leader in Aerospace, Energy, Healthcare and Finance, GE provides a clear example of how embracing Lean is the first step to Operational Excellence. (Photo by The Creativv on Unsplash)

In today’s dynamic business environment, leveraging AI for business process improvement is more topical and important than ever. However, before diving into AI, it’s crucial to have a deep understanding of your processes and foster a Lean culture. Let’s explore why starting with the basics is key to achieving the full potential of AI in your organisation.

In this article, we cover DMAIC, a core Lean Sigma improvement framework and the real-life success story of General Electric, sprinkled with tips on how AI could make for even better results.

If you want to jump straight to using DMAIC for operational excellence in your organisation, you can access our free DMAIC Playbook here. It gives you a step-by-step walk-through to implement the framework.

Why Understanding Your Business Processes is Crucial

Understanding your business processes leads to wide-ranging positive benefits including efficiencies, cost savings, improved quality and agility. (Photo by Stephen Dawson on Unsplash)

• Boosts Efficiency| By thoroughly understanding your processes, you can identify and eliminate bottlenecks, ensuring smoother and faster operations
• Cost Savings| Clear process insights help pinpoint areas where resources are being wasted, leading to significant cost reductions
• Improved Quality| Well-defined processes reduce errors and inconsistencies, resulting in higher quality outputs and increased customer satisfaction
• Enhanced Agility| In a rapidly changing market, a solid grasp of your processes allows for quicker adaptation and implementation of necessary changes.

The Importance of Implementing a Lean Culture

A Lean culture ensures you can continuously improve across multiple areas of your business, by enabling your people to pinpoint key areas for improvement and making change happen! (Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash)

Before integrating AI, cultivating a Lean culture is essential. Lean principles focus on maximising value by minimising waste, which creates a solid foundation for AI to build upon. Here’s why Lean culture is crucial:

• Focus on Value| Lean helps identify what truly adds value to your customers, ensuring that AI enhancements are aligned with delivering this value
• Continuous Improvement| Lean encourages a mindset of ongoing improvement, making your organisation more receptive to AI-driven process enhancements
• Employee Engagement| Lean fosters a culture of employee involvement and empowerment, crucial for successful AI adoption and utilisation
• Sustainable Practices| Lean processes are inherently efficient and sustainable, providing a strong base for AI to amplify improvements without excess waste.

Integrating AI with DMAIC for Optimal Results

Gone are the days of AI being a sci-fi fantasy. We have the capability in real life — today! (Photo by Gerard Siderius on Unsplash)

The DMAIC framework (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control) is a powerful tool for process improvement. Integrating AI into each phase of DMAIC can significantly enhance its effectiveness:

• Define| Use AI to help identify and define problem areas by analysing data from various sources, pinpointing where improvements are needed
• Measure| AI tools can automate the collection and measurement of data, providing accurate and real-time metrics to assess process performance
• Analyse| Advanced AI algorithms can analyse the collected data to uncover root causes of issues, offering deeper insights that might be missed by human analysis
• Improve| AI can suggest and even implement improvements based on the analysis, testing different scenarios to find the optimal solution
• Control| AI systems can continuously monitor the improved processes to ensure they remain efficient and effective, alerting managers to any deviations.

A Real-Life Success Story| General Electric (GE) — Reducing Defect Rates in Manufacturing

Case study inspiration! GE used DMAIC to deeply understand and improve its business processes, with wide-ranging and lasting impact — AI can build upon this for enhanced Continuous Improvement and Operational Excellence. (Photo by AbsolutVision on Unsplash)

Let’s take a look at how GE used DMAIC to achieve Operational Excellence, along the way we’ve highlighted how AI could help streamline data, analyses and reporting for Continuous Improvement.

1. Define| GE identified high defect rates in their manufacturing process.

• AI Application: AI-powered analytics tools help identify patterns in defect occurrence from historical data, highlighting specific areas or conditions leading to defects.

2. Measure| They collected data on defects and production times.

• AI Application: Machine learning algorithms process vast amounts of sensor data from production lines, providing real-time measurements and identifying deviations from standard operating conditions.

3. Analyse| By analysing the data, they found that certain machine setups were causing the majority of defects.

• AI Application: Advanced AI models perform root cause analysis by correlating machine setup configurations with defect rates, revealing complex interdependencies that manual analysis might miss.

4. Improve| They implemented new machine setup procedures and trained employees on best practices.

• AI Application: AI-driven simulations test various setup configurations to determine the most effective procedures. Additionally, AI-powered training platforms offer personalised learning experiences for employees based on their interaction data.

5. Control| GE used statistical process control to monitor the process and ensure the improvements were maintained.

• AI Application: AI continuously monitors the production process, using predictive analytics to foresee potential deviations and recommend pre-emptive actions to maintain quality standards.

The Result?

Results from the proper application of DMAIC for a Lean culture of Operational Excellence can seem like magic, but it’s all just process really (Photo by Riccardo Annandale on Unsplash)

Application of Lean and DMAIC at GE famously resulted in a multitude of benefits for the organisation including:

• financial impact ($12bn saved between 1995–2000)
• productivity improvements (e.g. appliance division reduced defects by 10x and cycle times by over 50%)
• customer satisfaction (due to faster and more reliable service)
• operational efficiency (manufacturing cycle time reduced by 68%) and
• a cultural shift where every employee is trained, committed and empowered to enact continuous improvement in their daily work!

All this, without the benefits of the powerful AI tools we have today. GE and many other examples show us what is possible given the right approach. With clear sight of their processes, AI can be integrated to effectively improve insights and workflows. In the case of Business Process Improvement and Operational Excellence, we recommend Lean Sigma and DMAIC as a go-to!

Ready to Transform Your Business?

Access the CCS DMAIC Playbook for a step-by-step guide on how to implement DMAIC for Continuous Improvement and Operational Excellence in your organisation (cover of DMAIC Playbook by Change Consulting Scotland)

Take the first step towards revolutionising your business processes. Sign up for the free CCS DMAIC Playbook and begin your business process improvement journey. Our playbook provides step-by-step guidance on using the DMAIC framework, complete with practical tips for leveraging AI to drive efficiency, cut costs, and enhance quality.

Follow this link to access your DMAIC Playbook and start your journey towards operational excellence.

“Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today” — Benjamin Franklin