By John Mark V. Tuazon

Established companies who have long been in the industry have not only amassed profits from providing products and services. In the course of their company’s run, they have likewise collected a host of bad practices which, in the wake of revolutionary technologies, are unfortunately contributing to the slowdown of their growth.

For Lourdes Guzman, president of Global Procure-it, Inc., a supply management provider, the road to efficiency is taken by espousing best industry practices that promote the best use of resources. “The only way your company can benefit from new processes is by adopting only the best practices, and tested technologies that have been used by the industry are considered best practices,” she said during her talk in Computerworld Philippines’ executive briefing on “Improving Business Processes.”

Guzman emphasized how these technologies put away bad practices by changing the very logic businesses do their work. “Some employees want to have their own way of doing things, sometimes reverting back to old inefficient habits that have entrenched themselves in the system,” she remarked. “When you have a standard technology that can’t be easily changed, you promote the use of best practices and, eventually, drive efficiency to your company.”

Optimizing to compete
But technology is just one facet that should be worked on, Guzman said. In order to fully experience a more efficient workflow, Guzman proposes the adoption of Business Process Optimization (BPO). “Optimizing business processes include aligning, reviewing and validating processes with the company’s goals for total functional integration,” she said.

In aligning processes with the company’s mission and vision, Guzman urged companies to do away with things that are irrelevant to company operations. “Non-value-adding activities don’t add anything significant to customers, which are the company’s end-users,” she said. “They are merely costs that should be eliminated.”

Aside from re-aligning processes vis-à-vis company goals, Guzman said enterprises should also look for gaps and areas of improvement in their business practices, and measuring their current level of operations efficiency. “Because what you do not measure, you cannot improve,” she remarked, adding that measurement ensures there is accountability in the workplace.

This way, Guzman said, companies won’t fall into the trap of an age-old adage of “garbage in, garbage out,” all while keeping productivity in check.

Acquiring a fully-integrated machine
To keep things rolling towards better work practices, Guzman advices companies to acquire only solutions that integrate people, technology and processes around the company’s central business strategy, where “everything is linked, from suppliers all the way to consumers.”

Simon Gainsford, president of Advanced Synergies Philippines (ASP), presented such an all-in solution that addresses workplace inefficiency called Quik3. The economic crisis poses an opportunity for corporations, Gainsford said, because “companies can devote time to implementing solutions and can squeeze something significant out of software vendors.”

Quik3, an Enterprise Resource Package (ERP) pooled by ASP, includes an ERP software from Infor called SyteLine, an IBM SystemX 3500 server provided by Technopaq Inc., and 4-man months Business Consultant support from Global Procure-it with only a 3-month completion plan.

According to Gil Garaci, ASP’s prodessional services director, SyteLine can be localized to fit certain needs of companies from various industries. “SyteLine provides companies with necessary and on-time information—such as financial data—to better aid businesses with their transactions.”

For his part, Technopaq Inc.’s system engineer Rodolfo Hizon emphasized the need for a reliable server in business operations, stressing the capabilities of the IBM rack to reduce downtimes through redundant mechanisms.

Meanwhile, Don Heraña, territory manager for enterprise mobility, Motorola, pointed out that firms should also pay attention to their operations’ front-end. “With enterprise mobility solutions, you are assured of accurate acquisition of information from the front-end, helping your business filter out unnecessary info which can help improve business practices,” he said, adding that real-time information through wireless communication provides companies an advantage over competitors.

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