In my blog on April 26^th I reflected on the WTT article In-Plants: “The Times They Are A-Changin’” by Barb Pellow.  In that blog I reflected primarily on the first part of the article on how the market is changing for In-Plants and how BPI can help adjust.  Now I want to discuss the second part of the article “What’s an In-Plant to Do?”   Barb lists six core values that have remained constant for In-Plants, and I look to how Business Process Improvement supports or enhances these values.

The first point is “Responsiveness to Customer Needs.” BPI supports this by focusing on reducing cycle times for business operations, thereby improving the turnaround for customer requests.

The second Value is “Automating Document Process.” Using process mapping tools, In-Plants can show their knowledge in a clear and easily understood graphic approach.  Process mapping will help in identifying key functional responsibilities as well as areas needing automation the most.

The next two Values In-Plants possess are the “Ability to Evolve Effectively Over Time” and “Developing New Areas of Expertise.” BPI is a tool which helps to clearly identify the current state of In-Plant operations and to build a picture of the future state in terms of new process and new capabilities.  BPI can then drive preparation of a roadmap of effort required to evolve to the future state.  By using BPI metrics, In-Plants can track and measure their progress in the evolution, and ROI on new capabilities.

The fifth Value In-Plants also do a superb job at is “Assessing New Technologies”, both in the impact a new technology will have on the business process and the costs and challenges to implement by using BPI.  Combining the knowledge of the technologies and the cross functional stakeholders’ roles, BPI helps the organization to smoothly introduce new technologies in the shortest time and with minimal cost.

In-Plants Value in “Educating Constituents on What You Can Do and What Can Be Done” is improved through the focus on process and cross functional co-operation.  This focus improves the relationships and openness of the constituents by showing the interdependencies of the various constituents.  BPI helps to establish a business culture more open to discussing capabilities and limitations in the operations.

In-Plants position within the organization gives them a full understanding of the corporate cultures and BPI provides a methodology to use that knowledge and unique position to optimize the value In-Plants have for document delivery.

This morning at drupa, Heidelberg announced its third Heidelberg ECO Printing Award, the only international environmental award for sustainable printing in the sheetfed offset sector. The award focuses on the usual —  sustainable use of resources and energy, climate protection, and environmentally aware management practices — all of which are really, really important. Awesome.

However, as I read about the award (entries can be submitted from May 8 to November 30, 2012 and the award be presented in June 2013), I once again felt a level of frustration with the focus on traditional offset. While it’s certainly true that offset deals with environmental issues in terms of process that digital does not (press chemicals and powders, higher levels of emissions), digital provides environmental benefits that traditional offset does not. Why don’t people talk about that more?

This is a drum I’ve been banging for years, and I’m going to continue to bang it. We think about “green” printing in terms of process — substrates, chemicals, alternative energy, and so on.  But how about things like volume reduction through targeting, cleaner databases, and page reduction through personalization? These have real, tangible environmental benefits, too.

When you target using a portion of your database, when you reduce the number of pages in a mailing to only those relevant to the recipient, when you clean and streamline your database to be more effective in your 1:1 efforts,  you are reducing your environmental impact through lower consumables use, lower energy use, and reduction in the use of fossil fuels in the process of transport and mailing at the same time.

As I’ve written in  Greening Print Marketing, these are real environmental benefits. They are immediate environmental benefits. We don’t measure their impact in how much less the environment is suffering down the road. We see it immediately in fewer consumables ordered, less gas purchased, less volume going into a landfill. And while we can certainly do higher volume targeting with sheetfed, these benefits are largely digital.

When will the environmental awards start to reward targeting and personalization as part of the larger move toward sustainability? Hey, Heidelberg! It’s not to late to tweak your criteria!

How does a company’s internal business communication organization, often referred to as “In-Plants”, go about adjusting to “today’s new reality?”  Reading In-Plants: “The Times They Are A-Changin’” by Barb Pellow in the April 12^th “What They Think?” caused me to reflect.  The article did a great job defining the market dynamics that internal business communication organizations must adjust to.  The breadth and detail of the changes seem overwhelming. Furthermore, the details and statistics shown seem to indicate that the in-plants are either resisting, or unable to embrace the changes required.

Business Process Improvement, (BPI), utilized by many outsource and commercial business communication resources to improve their performance and competitiveness, can also help In-Plants by using a structured approach to embracing the changes needed to meet market demands. Taking inventory of the current business process, work flows, and organization’s skills, BPI defines the internal company current state.  Part of this methodology involves engaging the participation of a cross-functional team of internal business customers, from marketing, to IT, and through other critical functions, providing a vehicle to collect valuable inputs to define the requirements and priorities which the in-plant uses to build a future state definition.  Once the future state is drafted, the same cross- functional team provides feedback and suggests changes.  By focusing on the end-to-end process, and not an isolated area or individuals, the methodology is non-threatening and encourages open and candid collaboration.

With the future state clearly defined, the organization can identify gaps and overlaps between current and future state in the process, workflow, and staff skills.  This data can be formatted into a step-by-step plan of action, with priorities and interconnectivities defined for the transition.  BPI can also assist in defining the key metrics to measure ongoing performance progress in making the In-Plants more competitive in capabilities, cycle time, and quality.

Thanks to Barb for the thought provoking article and sobering statistics to help us see the big picture. I hope you all see BPI as I do, as a tool to help respond to the “changin’ times”.

When to use which one, and the need for flexibility!

Every day we hear about tools and programs for improving operating performance. There are many of them, with more versions coming out all the time. They include TOC, Lean, Six Sigma, ISO, CMM and BPI/BPM. Some, such as Six Sigma and ISO, have rigorous training and certification programs which are major projects to undertake in themselves. What is a company to do to understand which to choose, and possibly even when?

The answer to this question requires an organization to clearly define goals, timing, and the rationale for beginning at all. Is there a specific issue, or is there a client/industry mandate, or is the business looking to establish a base for optimizing performance overall? A comprehensive overview is impossible in a short piece such as this, so I anticipate this distillation may provoke some lively feedback and discussion.

TOC – Theory of Constraints

• Focus: identify constraints or limitations for a task or process
• Action: eliminate the constraint
• Results: maximize the throughput
• Limitation: usually targeted to a single task/function

“Build it and they will come.”

LEAN

• Focus: eliminate waste, operate just in time
• Action: make to order, optimize single piece flow
• Results: rework eliminated , reduced inventory, reduced floor space, reduced cycle time
• Limitation: difficult in a project oriented business more effective with ongoing production

“Don’t build it until it is needed.”

SIX SIGMA

• Focus: variation in a process, tracking error/incident statistics and cause
• Action: DMAIC – Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control
• Results: find and eliminate sources of variation, can help with complex problems due to structure
• Limitations: rigorous, statistical intensive approach, can lead to analysis paralysis; cost for six sigma training and certification can be high.

“Build it exactly to customer specification.”

ISO

• Focus: documenting the process
• Action: document the existing process in detail in a structured way, and audit compliance to the documented process
• Results: consistent and repeatable process drives highly repeatable outcomes, improved supplier quality
• Limitations: focus is on documentary evidence, so a poor process can be documented and followed and certification still achieved. Corrective action focuses on the documentation. ISO is a costly system if certification is pursued.

“Document what you do and do what you document.”

BPI/BPM

• Focus: define, analyze, and improve cross-functional business process
• Action: map the existing process, define tasks and inputs and outputs for each, identify and remove gaps and overlaps, manage with metrics and link actions to results
• Results: refined and reengineered process with reduced cycle time and cost, and increased first pass yield.
• Limitations: requires top down support to be truly effective, scope of process needs to be clearly defined, must apply the appropriate problem solving tools and project management skills

“Manage as an enterprise around meeting overall corporate goals; use the right tools as applicable.”

Companies need to have a clear understanding of their goals and needs, and a measure of their tolerance for change. The urgency for improvement is another critical factor. Finally, consider what skills you need to add, and/or assistance you may require to most efficiently and effectively address your needs and the tool you choose. This can reduce the time to achieve results and improve the probability of success.

What is your organization doing to improve its value for the shareholders and stakeholders? Companies in general, and specifically those in the print and communication industry, have been working hard to improve profits and increase EBITDA as the economy continues to be depressed. Our industry not only has the economy to deal with, we are also contending with increased communication options and new technologies. Companies have downsized, right-sized, consolidated, and merged. This has helped maintain profits and EBITDA in the short run, but at what cost to the stakeholders – our customers and staff?

It seems to me it is time for a change from the old method of headcount reduction, restructuring, and lowering prices, to an approach that establishes long term stability, acceleratesidentifying and making the right changes for your business, and results in improved profitability. The tools for this new direction exist in Business Process Improvement (BPI) methodologies. By stepping back to look at the whole business,not just one function or production area, and applying the disciplines of BPI, companies can learn how to do more with existing resources in several ways. By eliminating overlappingor redundant efforts that have crept in silently over time,resources are released from non-value-add tasks to be re-allocated to projects like new technology, or products andservices to meet new client requirements. End to end process evaluation also bridges company silos to assure issues are not just pushed from one area to another, and identifies where there are communication and information gaps or delays which canresult in extra efforts and cost to meet client deliveries.

When is the last time you did a detailed review of your process and workflow across the organization?

Hard numbers and real-life cases exist to show that even after significant labor and cost reductions have been made, a structured BPI approach can increase EBITDA, cash flows, and shareholder/stakeholder value.

Do you know which stock is the top performer of the past 25 years? Guess again. (You said Apple, didn’t you?) After you’ve exhausted your list of high-tech guesses, I will point you in the opposite direction. Think nuts and bolts. Fastenal, a hardware supplier founded in 1967, is up a staggering 38,565 percent since the market crash of 1987. Lagging far behind at 9,906% and 5,542% respectively, are Microsoft and Apple.

So why, in The Digital Nirvana, am I talking about a hardware company? Like the printing companies and mailers of all sizes striving to become “marketing services providers”, Fastenal’s products are not in the least bit exciting, but are necessary, just as printing and mailing are still important components of marketing communications strategies. Unlike many of those printers and mailers, Fastenal, with its low-tech products, is consistently growing revenue and is consistently, respectably, profitable – the stock market does not respond with such enthusiasm to “just okay” companies.

For printers and mailers challenged to transition to being marketing services providers, presumably requiring less big hardware, (and square footage), and more robust software technology and new skills, here is a very successful company to examine and compare to.

If you are unfamiliar with Fastenal, as I was, much of what we believe we know about successful businesses today would compel us to make some assumptions. Surely it is internet-based with strategically placed warehouses and sophisticated inventory and distribution management software and systems, right? The reality is the opposite, at least the “internet-based” part; we’re talking serious brick and mortar – stores in all 50 states and internationally, and several manufacturing sites around the country. The company focuses on the customer, and being close to them. Its innovations, quality, and process improvement efforts are customer-centric. It has enjoyed consistent revenue and profit growth and is as efficient as it’s ever been. The robust continuous improvement culture even includes providing process mapping and process improvement support to customers, as well as being a key part of internal operations.

So, do printers and mailers have to completely abandon their roots in favor of new marketing communication channels in order to be relevant in this age of declining paper-based communications? It would seem not – nuts and bolts are not sexy. But this example would suggest that there must be a continuous commitment to understanding what the customer needs, a vision of solutions to meet those needs, investment in appropriate technology, and a structured ongoing process improvement effort to achieve the necessary efficiencies to be cost competitive and profitable over the long haul.

There are certainly no big surprises here, but it’s good to be reminded that there is no silver bullet, and a successful company is the sum of many parts. Being a process person myself, I was very happy to see how important and integral process improvement appears to be for this company. Process improvement drives efficiency, eliminates waste, streamlines operations, and supports effective integration of new systems and technology, resulting in lower costs. It can be an integral component of greater success for the companies that embrace and commit to it.

Two years later – have you gotten up to speed?

Almost two years ago American Printer published an article titled “Get up to Speed”, written by Kenneth Rizzo at PIA.  This article contained some information that really challenged the status quo within our industry.  What have we learned over the last two years, and where are we today?  I’d like to share some thoughts upon re-reading the article.

Technology and productive innovation have continued to accelerate and are often still perceived or presented as the solution. Operations are still too often treated as process siloes, with metrics based on faulty assumptions or poor data collection and analysis.   In some cases, there are no actionable metrics at all.   The most knowledgeable staff members have dwindled with attempts at cost reduction through downsizing or attrition, and the ones remaining are fighting more fires than ever.  The staff is still often the focus for problem resolution “we’ve gotten more aggressive on writing people up”, is a phrase we heard recently from a manager at the end of his rope.

Mr. Rizzo puts forth several valuable recommendations on skills that printing management must learn to employ to optimize their business performance, which can be found in the article.  My take away from these is that as members of the print industry, we need to optimize the whole process and all the steps involved, from content creation to format to production through delivery in order to have the most efficient and effective offering, versus optimizing the around and for the most expensive technology or an individual function or activity.  The key principles of Business Process Improvement provide a way for each enterprise to analyze, prioritize, and implement process and organizational change, to “Get up to Speed” and be competitive within the industry delivering customer-focused solutions.  When you read this article, what are your thoughts about what has happened in the last two years, your own company’s progress, and where do you need help?  The following link will take you to the original article.

Richard J Losch
Partner, R3D2 Consulting LLC

For the last several weeks, the Business Improvement Group on LinkedIn has had an ongoing discussion on whether the old adage, “If it ain’t broke don’t try to fix it” is still relevant in the contemporary business environment. The full range of viewpoints have been put forth, from “don’t mess with what’s working”, to “don’t settle for the status quo”. The majority seems to weigh in on the side of continuing to improve as a requirement to stay competitive and survive in today’s economy.

Several important points can be extracted from the discussion. The first point is on the definition of “broke”. Do you look at it from the perspective of internal operations, or based on customer requirements and feedback? It would seem that many people who are satisfied status quo do not look outside their organization’s business operations at what is happening in the broader business environment with customer requirements and new technologies. As it relates to our industry, even the best run commercial print operations are struggling due to changes in customer demand and competitive technologies both which are driving down volume and price. The second point that I found in this discussion is that even in companies that understand the importance of change, many of the failures, (and new Coke was used as an example), have to do with not clarifying and documenting the driving forces behind the improvements being sought. Entering into a business improvement project without a clear understanding of the business environment, including business goals, customer needs and technology, is almost certain to fall short of expectations.

A Business Process Improvement methodology can be a helpful tool in deciding whether something is “broke”, and what to do to fix it. BPI provides a framework and structure for answering these questions, and is definitely still relevant to contemporary business and especially our industry, where both customer demands and technology changes are happening at a very rapid pace. Where is your business on the “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” continuum?

I was looking for some inspiration in this New Year; a way to look differently at the world of process improvement that I live in. I especially wanted to make it relate better to those that are often the most difficult to convince of the desirability, even “good-ness” of processes, those in the “front end” of a business: customer service, purchasing, IT, project managers, estimators, salespeople, designers, marketers, etc.

I use some great tools and a great methodology for business process improvement, and the reason that I like them is that they are simple. It does not mean that they don’t take some time and effort to use effectively and gain the maximum benefit. Everything worthwhile takes a certain amount of commitment.

I grabbed a book off my shelf that I had not looked at in a while. It is an old book, in business book terms, but it has not aged. It is called “Simplicity: The New Competitive Advantage in a World of More, Better, Faster”, by Bill Jensen. I randomly opened to one of the many pages with a corner I’d folded over and came across this:

“WHAT DESIGN CHANGED THE HISTORY OF PARIS?

Guess again. Think practical . . . think sewers. Thanks to the Seine, the Romans called Paris Lutetia: City of Mud. French novelist Victor Hugo devoted 15 pages in Les Miserables to Paris’ sewers. Why? More growth, more waste. And at some point, waste removal had as much impact as social, cultural, and political forces.

“. . . At some point, content becomes waste. So content design has to include waste removal. Have you designed a sewer system? Is the process for getting rid of content as easy as flushing a corporate-wide e-toilet? . . . Without hassle-free procedures and tools, you are forcing knowledge workers to swim in their own waste.”

Well, that paints quite a picture for me. In process improvement, efficient elimination, (no pun intended), of the superfluous, outdated, and difficult is as important as the improved process itself. Every day, when they see barriers, people use workarounds to get things done in their jobs. Sometimes these workarounds, shortcuts, and “stealth” actions have become, in fact, the best ways to accomplish certain tasks. It’s up to those of us who facilitate process improvement to recognize and coax these informal improvements out of the shadows in the corners, be happy that improvements are happening around us, and rapidly flush the old processes down the corporate e-toilet.

Processes, done well, simplify.

We all need a jump-start now and then. What are some sources of inspiration for you in driving out waste or improving processes in your area of your company?

Becky Graninger, a professional colleague with whom I’ve worked for years and whom I admire a great deal, recently went to work at Barton-Cotton. With a website tagline that says “momentum makes it happen,” Barton-Cotton is busy executing its “reversal of fortune.” To that end, Becky is part of a group of seasoned direct marketers who are coming on board to keep the momentum flowing. Becky’s title at Barton-Cotton is “strategist.”

First of all, I think “strategist” is a great position — one that deserves a spot in any contemporary marketing department. The title implies researching, noodling, and innovating — in short, “thinking.” In this era of direct marketing confusion, the ability to think isn’t a luxury. As it turns out, somebody has written an ebook on this very topic.

In October, I downloaded a pdf from square2marketing.com. Titled Strategy Before Tactics, this guide for agencies explores “how a killer marketing strategy dramatically improves the performance of inbound marketing.”

The first page of the eBook says, “Recent studies have shown that U.S. consumers are exposed to 3,000 advertisements a day. We are so numb to this constant bombardment that the old outbound marketing model is no longer effective. This is especially for smaller firms who don’t have the advertising budgets of McDonald’s or Apple. There has to be a better way, right? There is.”

Key points from the report:

1. Buyer behavior has changed. Most people don’t want to deal with a traditional salesperson. The most important emotion for marketers to target is safety. Marketers accomplish that by helping customers get to know, like, and trust products and services.

2. The old marketing model (advertising = sales) is broken. Today, advertising, PR, and referrals are used to provide free resources, which in turn build the marketing machine database .. which, in turn, = sales.

3. An effective marketing campaign requires careful planing, research, and a step-by-step approach. In other words, a strategy. “The point is: There are a lot of questions that need to be asked, answered, and discussed before you start any tactical marketing campaign.” Moreover, each solution needs to be “remarkable” [see below].

4. Every marketing strategy must be goal-oriented, quantifiable, able to deliver return on marketing investment, and be unique (remarkable) enough to blow the competition out of the running.

5. Being remarkable translates into interesting stories. “Features, benefits and specifications are complicated and easy to forget. Our brains don’t retain complex details nearly as well as they do a good story. This is the new marketing.”

I couldn’t agree more. I’m pretty sure Becky Graninger and other marketing strategists are looking, right now, for more ways to tell their story. Write on!

p.s. Download the ebook here.

Two things I read last week hit me with a one-two punch: first I read about Warren Buffet’s investment in IBM, and then I read information from a Gartner report on leveraging customer loyalty.

The AP article on Buffet’s investment says: Warren Buffett said Monday that his company has spent $10.7 billion to buy more than 5 percent of IBM’s stock this year, a surprising move by the billionaire investor who has long shied away from investing in high technology companies.”

Why the change is a kicker!
“Buffett has long refused to invest in high-tech companies because he has said it’s too difficult to predict which technology businesses will prosper in the long run.
“But he said he recently realized his view of IBM was wrong based on what he read in the company’s annual reports and what he learned by talking to information-technology departments at Berkshire subsidiaries. He said he should have realized years sooner that hardware is no longer the heart of IBM’s business.
“”Now they’re very much a services company, and they’re very intertwined with their customers,” Buffett said. And he said IBM’s customers are reluctant to change once they start working with IBM.”

Now for the Gartner quote on loyalty and customer experience:
“”I don’t think it’s ever too late,” said Adam Sarner, principal research analyst with Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc. “Long-term loyalty initiatives depend on building trust and affinity. The more relevant you are to the customer, the more likely they will be loyal to you.””

So what does this mean to us in the world of Print, or Print and Mail? What can we learn from these two seemingly unrelated pieces of information?

For some time now, everywhere we turn we see studies, reports, and market recommendations about how moving from a Print Service provider to a Marketing Services provider is the way to expand and grow our business. However, it is certainly a complex transition to make, and maybe even too costly. It is hard to figure out where to begin and even if to begin.

What I take away from the Gartner information is that for our industry, and for us as companies or individuals, to compete and succeed we must stay relevant to our customers. Communication channels and technology are changing fast, and some say Print, and Print and Mail are becoming irrelevant. We need to adopt a customer-centric view and prioritize discovering what our customers need, and change our organizations to meet those needs. We are experiencing changes, but so are our customers. There are new regulations and changing demographics impacting how our customers communicate to their customers. We cannot afford to take a product or technology only view, and ignore the changes impacting our customers. We must stay relevant to them.

My take away from the Buffet article relating to our business and our industry is that some very smart investors have stayed away from high tech companies because of the difficulty in picking a product or technology with long lasting impact. They are instead placing their bets on companies that are service providers because a good service provider becomes very involved with their customers and it becomes difficult for the customer to change. The technologies and the tools supporting our industry in producing communications have never been more widely varied and in flux. However, if we focus on the needs of the clients and their communication requirements with an outside-in view instead of inside-out, we, like the giant IBM, can change how we are perceived and increase our value, longevity, and profitability.

So in the end what does it mean? Listen carefully to the clients, learn and understand their needs and even what is driving those needs, and then no matter what you call it, offer service solutions that meet those needs.

Are you interested in learning how some printing companies have accomplished just this? Visit OceWow to watch best practice videos. Watch as we highlight what makes print operations like i3Logix, Yurchak Printing Inc., and Ideal Printers Inc. successful.

 A New World for Real-Time Metrics

In today’s market, the tools are available to measure, manage, and monitor campaigns in real time. Technology from a number of sources, ranging from Pageflex to MindFireInc., enables marketers to see how people are interacting with campaigns in real-time and allows them to make immediate changes. The service provider can equip marketing professionals with a visual presentation of campaign results with real-time granular detail. The presence of immediate analytics and reports puts service providers and marketing executives in full control. With real-time data, the appropriate adjustments can be made to creative elements, offers, or calls-to-action. The marketing executive can then use the data insight to formulate follow-up campaigns. This leads to higher consumer engagement, more successful campaigns, and improvement in overall ROI.

Service Providers Are Stepping Up to the Plate

Document service providers must position themselves as business partners that can help the marketing department deal with the real-time accountability challenge. Today’s service providers are stepping up to the plate to ensure effective real-time campaign execution. In July 2011, InfoTrends completed a study entitled

Service providers of all types are beginning to take advantage of technological advancements so they can provide marketers with instant gratification on campaign effectiveness. The real-time marketing industry continues to evolve in response to a recent wave of new software technologies and the increasing accessibility of technology, data, analytics, and advanced marketing techniques. The rapid evolution of technology is paving the way for innovative print service providers and data service bureaus to help marketers understand campaign effectiveness and make the appropriate adjustments. Today’s service providers can help marketing executives meet the need for accountability… in real-time!

Visit www.OceWowFactor.com to download the InfoTrends White Paper Cross-Media Takes Hold: Learning From the Leaders.

A New Accountability

Back when the economy tanked, an old word crept back into our lexicon: accountability. Marketers already had plenty of metrics in place, particularly at larger organizations that were well-schooled in tracking sales leads, market share, and CPM. Nevertheless, these pockets of performance measurements didn’t provide the big picture that senior managers are now seeking. What was lacking was a way to measure effectiveness of a campaign real-time and communicate the overall impact of the marketing organization.

So as bottom lines were scrutinized and budgets were slashed, marketing became an easy target because it was the least accountable. Today, there’s a new accountability in marketing that wasn’t there in the past. Companies are beginning to realize that it’s important their marketing strategies be aligned with their business strategies. Businesses must develop a real-time understanding of how well any marketing initiative is working.

In a multi-client research study entitled The Cross-Media Direct Marketing Opportunity, InfoTrends surveyed more than 500 marketing executives. According to our research, over 50% of marketing executives do not measure marketing campaign performance while executing a campaign. This means that the marketing campaign is completed and the budget is spent, even if it proves ineffective.

Check back tomorrow for the rest of this article!

Several years ago, Rob Carter, CIO of FedEx, looked out at the web of mind-numbingly complex systems around the company, and knew they were not sustainable. Some came from mergers and acquisitions, some were developed internally, and all were “necessary” to various business silos around the company. He knew it would be a tough job to demonstrate the seriousness of the problem, gain the support of business executives, and create urgency. In a “Mastermind” interview at last week’s Gartner Symposium ITxpo, Mr. Carter spoke about the transformation of IT at FedEx.

The difficult challenge he faced captured my attention, especially his comment that “I’m a big fan of ugly pictures”, to explain complex problems. From experience, I am a big proponent of mapping processes, (which generally results in a pretty ugly picture), as a basis for identifying and prioritizing opportunities for business improvement, as well as being a catalyst for generating creative solutions and high-level support for resources. Would the “ugly pictures” help Mr. Carter to show all the business executives at this very large organization the ramifications and future consequences of continuing down their silo’d paths?

The “ugly pictures” he created were maps of the spaghetti bowl of the entire FedEx IT infrastructure, including the total counts of all the applications, platforms, databases, HR systems, interfaces, tracking entities . . . you get the idea. He used the attention-getting ugly pictures and compelling stories behind them to get agreement and support from the top that a lot of time and money were necessary investments to avoid the time bomb lurking in the increasing system complexity.

FedEx proceeded to create a completely new IT strategy by “. . . decomposing the business into foundational services. Who is a customer? What is an address?” All the businesses had their ideas of an “address”, and had their own address databases, so instead of “knocking heads” trying to choose which of the existing systems is best, the company started over. They identified and solved for 22 core services, such as label services, address services, and location services, that really matter to the “simple” business of “picking them up and putting them down”, as Mr. Carter described their transportation business. Over time, interfaces fell away, some apps were no longer necessary, and a simpler, services-focused IT infrastructure resulted.

Have you or someone in your company created your own “ugly pictures” to help to re-focus, and simplify systems or processes? What did you focus on? What were the results?