A service process mapping is a visual aid for picturing the inputs, activities, outputs, people and resources involved in satisfying a customer’s need for your product or service. It acts as a tangible blueprint to assess exactly how efficient or inefficient the customer is being served. Relative to strategy, a service process map gives you a quantifiable way to determine where and in what amount current resources are being allocated. Once you know exactly how your current resources are being used, you can optimally allocate resources in the future.
Origin of Process Mapping
Process mapping emerged in the 1980s and was initially developed by General Electric. GE used the concept in their “Workouts,” “Best Practices,” and “Number One or Two” programs to significantly improve their business performance. Due in large part to their commitment to these programs, GE grew their market value from $13 billion in 1981 to $162 billion in 1996. The concept of process mapping was first applied to the manufacturing and production areas. Toyota used process mapping to identify waste in their production systems and ensure that each aspect of their processes added value to the system. Companies such as GE then began applying process mapping to the service side of their business—hence the term “service process mapping.”
Just as GE was able to use process mapping to provide service standards for their multitude of business units and locations, you have this same opportunity. Service process maps have become popular because there are usually four variants of every service process at any time:
1. Process that is recorded in a manual.
2. Process that everyone thinks exists.
3. Process that actually exists.
4. Process that should exist.
Service process maps are essential as customers in all industries have come to expect more, expect it faster and expect to pay less for it.
Features of a Service Process Map
A service process map starts