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Below is the “Paper” that is entitled as this thread heading. The paper restricts itself to a picture tube factory, yet it’s basis and purpose can easily be transferred to processes of our own industry.
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/smr/past/1999/smr4026.html
Has anyone here who has several employees given any thought to acutally documenting each “process” that we go through in our individual businesses?
My sons just decided to hire a person who takes short hand to document their own process of a typical sale prior to contract signing. Their initial purpose was to create a brochure of sorts to educate the potential client as to the tremendous time, people involved and costs to the company just to get to the point of being able to offer a accurate SCA (Proposal).
This person will literally follow the initial incoming call, to Tom who does the selling, CAD work and estimating with their Superintendent, document their time, conversations, meetings (in person & via the phone) with the client, subs, material suppliers, etc., until all of the needed information have been accumulatedt hat allows them to finally type up a contract.
It should be an interesting revelation, and especially when totaling up the time of everyone involved and the total costs to the company. Considering some people charge for Proposals and some lump that time in their overhead, this will allow my sons to finally determine an accurate dollar amount that can be charged to the typical “sales/design/estimating” process, and while also separating the dollar amount of each of those three individual, yet integrated processes.
This “venture” will be followed by another one for the total cost of the supervision of a typical project by the typical non-working Project Manager, and the PM who does some of the technical trade work, but not including the hours spent on the trade technical work – just the supervisory aspect.
Both ventures will include the cost of any office staff and their involvement in each mini-process aspect.
I expect that they will also learn where waste exists and where time can be made more efficient. Has anyone else here ever done this?
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Below is the "Paper" that is entitled as this thread heading. The paper restricts itself to a picture tube factory, yet it's basis and purpose can easily be transferred to processes of our own industry.
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/smr/past/1999/smr4026.html
Has anyone here who has several employees given any thought to acutally documenting each "process" that we go through in our individual businesses?
My sons just decided to hire a person who takes short hand to document their own process of a typical sale prior to contract signing. Their initial purpose was to create a brochure of sorts to educate the potential client as to the tremendous time, people involved and costs to the company just to get to the point of being able to offer a accurate SCA (Proposal).
This person will literally follow the initial incoming call, to Tom who does the selling, CAD work and estimating with their Superintendent, document their time, conversations, meetings (in person & via the phone) with the client, subs, material suppliers, etc., until all of the needed information have been accumulatedt hat allows them to finally type up a contract.
It should be an interesting revelation, and especially when totaling up the time of everyone involved and the total costs to the company. Considering some people charge for Proposals and some lump that time in their overhead, this will allow my sons to finally determine an accurate dollar amount that can be charged to the typical "sales/design/estimating" process, and while also separating the dollar amount of each of those three individual, yet integrated processes.
This "venture" will be followed by another one for the total cost of the supervision of a typical project by the typical non-working Project Manager, and the PM who does some of the technical trade work, but not including the hours spent on the trade technical work - just the supervisory aspect.
Both ventures will include the cost of any office staff and their involvement in each mini-process aspect.
I expect that they will also learn where waste exists and where time can be made more efficient. Has anyone else here ever done this?