Operations and process improvement means making a specific piece of work flow from start to finish with less waiting, fewer handoffs and fewer corrections. We work one workflow at a time, measure it before changing anything, and redesign it alongside the people who do it. The goal is measurable: fewer labour hours per job, a lower rework rate and shorter elapsed time, with the same or better quality.
What it is
Process improvement is the disciplined version of "there must be a better way to do this." It starts with a map of what actually happens, not what the manual says, and it puts a number on each kind of waste.
The work typically covers:
- Mapping a workflow from the customer's request to the final invoice, step by step, including who touches it and where it waits.
- Measuring touch time (hands-on work) against elapsed time, and counting how often work is sent back.
- Costing the waste, so that a 15% rework rate becomes a dollar figure the owner can weigh.
- Redesigning the sequence, the handoffs and the information each step needs.
- Documenting the new way as one-page procedures and checklists.
Who it is for
This service suits businesses where people are busy all day yet output is flat, where quality issues keep coming back, or where adding staff has not added capacity. It fits service firms, distributors, light manufacturers, field-service operations and professional practices alike, because the method is the same: follow the work.
It is not a fit when the main problem is demand. If the schedule has gaps, look first at growth strategy.
What's included
A standard operations project includes:
- Scoping session to pick the workflow and agree the measures.
- Observation and interviews with each role in the workflow, online by video call or in person on site.
- Current-state map with touch time, waiting time and rework points marked.
- Cost of waste calculation for the current state.
- Redesign workshop with your team, producing the future-state map.
- Pilot plan for one team or one period, with a simple before-and-after measure.
- Procedures pack: one-page instructions, checklists and a handoff standard.
A worked example
Suppose a 14-person service company completes 160 jobs a month, and 18% of them need a return visit or a corrected report. If each correction takes 2.5 hours at a loaded labour cost of $58 an hour, rework costs 160 × 18% × 2.5 × $58, or about $4,176 a month, roughly $50,000 a year.
If a better intake checklist and a single handoff standard bring the correction rate to 7%, the monthly cost falls to about $1,624. That is roughly $30,600 a year back, plus around 44 technician hours a month freed for paid work. Our guide to process mapping and rework cost walks through the same calculation for your own data.
Timeline
A single-workflow project typically runs four to eight weeks: one to two weeks of mapping and measurement, one week of redesign, and two to four weeks of piloting and documentation. Multi-site or multi-team workflows take longer and are phased.
How results are measured
We agree three measures at the start and record their current values: labour hours per job or order, rework rate, and elapsed time from request to completion. The pilot is judged against those numbers. If you want them tracked after the project, they go onto your KPI scorecard, or into a monthly steering review under implementation support.
Mistakes to avoid
- Mapping the ideal instead of the real. Draw what happened to the last ten jobs, not the official procedure.
- Buying software first. A new system on top of an unclear process adds licence costs to the same delays.
- Redesigning without the front line. The people doing the work know where it breaks, and they will run the new version.
- Writing a binder. Procedures longer than a page rarely get read. A checklist that fits on a clipboard does.
- Skipping the pilot. Test on one team for two to four weeks before changing the whole company.
Start here
If a particular workflow is costing you hours, text (604) 632-4959 or email Ali@Sedighi.ca with a sentence on what goes wrong and how often. The free initial consultation will tell us whether to start with a diagnostic or go straight to this project. Price ranges are on the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
Which process should we start with?
Start with the workflow that touches the most revenue and generates the most complaints or corrections. In many businesses that is quote-to-invoice or order-to-delivery. The diagnostic usually identifies it, but an owner who already knows can start there directly.
Do you recommend software?
Only after the process is redesigned, and only where a tool removes a real step. Automating a broken workflow just produces errors faster. When software is needed, you buy it directly from the vendor and we help define what it must do.
Will this disrupt the team?
Some interview and observation time is needed, usually a few hours per person involved. Changes are piloted on one team or one week of work before rolling out, so the business keeps running while the new way is tested.
How is the project priced?
As a defined project within the $3,500 to $25,000 range, plus GST/HST based on your province. The main cost drivers are the number of workflows, locations and teams involved.