55 Process Improvement Case Studies & Project Results
Business leaders know that process improvement reduces costs and increases customer satisfaction. Yet, it can be difficult for process experts and business analysts to understand the different process improvement approaches and process analysis tools.
Explore typical process improvement project results, case studies and benchmarks to set targets for your improvement initiatives.
What are the typical project results?
Process improvement solutions help businesses define weaknesses and take action to solve these problems. In the case studies we collected, the most common project results that we came across are as follows:
1- Improved efficiency: Most businesses increase the efficiency of their processes by adapting process improvement methodologies. After defining their problems, companies eliminate unnecessary steps in processes, reduce their costs, and shorten process times. As a result, they achieve faster processes and higher quality output with fewer resources.
For example, in a process mining case study, a manufacturer leveraged a process mining software to analyze the procure-to-pay processes. It is claimed that the manufacturer could:
- Reduce maverick buying and saved $60,000 in reworking cost by detecting and managing deviations, mismatches and early payments.
- Improve purchase order and invoice processes by automating 75% of line creation and delivery activities. As a result, the company decreased the invoice registration and approval time.
2- Enhanced customer satisfaction: The increasing quality of output and faster processes can also reflect on customer satisfaction. Process improvement solutions help businesses reduce waiting time and focus on customer value. For example, it is claimed that by adopting the Kaizen methodology, Tata Steel has shortened its response time and delivered more on-time orders to its customers.1
3- Harmonization of different teams/processes: For large companies, handling different processes simultaneously can be a big challenge. Teams should be informed about what others do, and processes need to work in sync to avoid problems. With process improvement solutions, businesses can have a full understanding of all their companies and align different processes successfully.
Here is an extended list of case studies which are collected from different resources. You can filter the list by the process improvement solution, service provider, industry, or process and investigate the achieved results.
Company | Country | Solution | Vendor | Industry | Process | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3M | United States | Lean Six Sigma | Manufacturing | Manufacturing | • Saved approximately $30 million per year by redesigning, or recycling and reusing waste materials | |
Aegon | UK | Lean Six Sigma | Catalyst Consulting | Insurance | Customer services | • Stopped the annual cost of £20M on external contract resource • Paid back the cost in training investment within the first six months |
Afrisam | South Africa | Process Mining | QPR | Construction & Materials | Risk management | • Improved overall process efficiency • Identification and better visualization of risks • Real-time performance montioring |
Akzonobel | Netherlands | Process Mining | Celonis | Chemicals | Purchase-to-Pay, Accounts Payable, and Order-to-Cash | • Identified that 18% of process have manual changes • Improved SRM efficiency from 40% to 70% in one year • Reduced costs |
Alliander | Netherlands | Process Mining | Lexmark | Utilities | Purchasing | • Gained insights into the complexity of the process • Elimination of unnecessary steps • Standardization of the process • Discovery of the need of staff re-training |
Allianz Indonesia | Indonesia | BPM | Camunda | Insurance | Legacy applications processes | • Successful support in 6 different time zones • Harmonization of different processes |
Amag | Switzerland | Process Mining | QPR | Automative | Finance & controlling | • Improved KPI measures • Improved operating efficiency by focusing on underperforming targets |
Ana Aeroports de Portugal | Portugal | Process Mining | Process Sphere | Travel & Leisure | Service process management | • Identification of unoptimized steps • Elimination of non-value-add tasks which speeds up the process • Quick identification of problems and improvement opportunities |
An automobile manufacturer | Japan | RPA | Argos Labs | Manufacturing | Online app testing and monitoring | • Reduced quality assurance effort |
Bancolombia | Colombia | RPA | Automation Anywhere | Financial Services | Back office processes | • Reduction of labor and errors |
Further Reading
If you want to learn more on process improvement, these articles can also interest you:
Check out comprehensive and constantly updated list of process mining case studies to process mining real-life examples and compare them to process improvement case studies.
If you want to manage and improve your processes, check out our data-driven and up-to-date list of vendors for:
- Workflow management software
- Business process management software
- Low-code/No-code development platform
- Onboarding software
- Process mining
- Business process automation software
If you still have questions about process improvement, we would like to help:
Find the Right VendorsReference Links
Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE and NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and resources that referenced AIMultiple.
Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised enterprises on their technology decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.
He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.
Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.
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Hi Cem, Thank you ver much for your interesting article. I am interested in getting a deeper look into some of the case studies: How exactly did they approach the problem? ….Would it be possible to get a closer look at the case studies? Thanks in advance. Adrian
Hi Adrian, please feel free to get in touch with us via info@aimultiple.com. Happy to discuss these in more detail once we know which types of case studies you are interested in Thank you,