Process Value Analysis for Business Process Re-engineering

Two decades of studies about Business Process Re-engineering have proposed several strategies for the reorganization of a production process aimed at costs savings and wastes reduction. Nevertheless, there is still a substantial lack of suitable means to measure if and how much the production phases contribute to deliver value, i.e. satisfaction, to the end user. The present paper proposes a methodology aimed at supporting business process re-engineering activities by taking into account the impact each phase of a process has on the value perceived by the customers. The methodology swivels on Process Value Analysis, that is performed through the evaluation of both the customer perceived benefits originated from the process phases, and the resources spent in the same phases. On the basis of customer satisfaction requirements, guidelines are defined in order to identify both process evolution strategies and resource reorganization activities allowing to preserve and improve market competitiveness of products and/or services the process sells. The methodology has been applied to a case of study in the field of the Italian footwear industry in order to assess its efficiency.