Vital Signs

Most companies today are looking to tighten the integration of their business processes and activities starting with lead generation, all the way through invoice collection. Integration across business processes is now the #1-priority – especially among manufacturing companies that make-to-order — due the enormous costs of waste, errors, and delays.

Solutions are often difficult and expensive, because many smaller manufacturers have little experience with systems integration, which also makes it hard for them to project a return on investment. How much effect will these changes really have on the bottom line? Larger investments typically involve an ROI analysis prior to funding, however putting value on some investments is much more difficult.

The Vital Signs survey process provides a framework for collecting critical statistics about how information flows throughout an organization.
Vital Signs is a simple and quick way for a company to “drive a stake in the ground”, clearly defining the current status of both: business processes and information flow. Armed with that assessment, the specific improvements become easier to visualize with a clear ROI.

Vital Signs uses a unique approach that reveals constraints in information flow — through the entire business — employing a three-stage process that:

1. Begins at your facility, with interviews of all the key managers and workers, following order flow from front to back.
2. The survey data is then compiled into a detailed report that describes each current process and how they all interact.
3. After management has reviewed the report, a follow up conference will answer questions and explore options that address each of the issues.