The objective:
how to easily get a quick understanding of the information flows in an organisation
The goal:
- to know what kind of information is required and where it can be obtained
- no technical stuff
How:
- model the information flows using only 2 things
- an actor (requestor / provider of information)
- a message (information transmission)
Benefit:
- you know exactly where information is needed, how it is distributed
- in case there’s a disruption, you are able to mitigate much faster
Example: the process procure to pay
Between each actor (Requestor, Purchasing, Supplier, Distributor, Logistics) detail the information at 2 levels:
1) the deliverable
example: we received an order confirmation
2) the message
example:
- the status of the confirmation : Accepted / Rejected
- Accepted with Changes
- All line items accepted, change freight or cash terms (i.e., header level changes only)
- Change or reject one or more line items, no header-level changes
- Header-level changes, and one or more line items changed or rejected
And run through all process steps to get this overview: information flows process procure to pay made simple (click here)
Remark: the report is the outcome of a BPMS, collecting all previous data and delivering the structured report.
This enables:
- to have an in depth understanding of the information exchanged between all actors
- to determine the pitfalls (where the information not is “flowing”)
- to quickly verify the information where it encounters difficulties
Having done this you are ready to map this onto your ICT – solutions and improve towards Industry 4.0. Setup the service catalog : service / information requesting versus provisioning.
Patrick Roose 