Improving Business Operations with Manuals! Boost Efficiency with Three Approaches

1. What is Business Improvement? The Benefits of Business Improvement

Before introducing the approaches and methods to achieve business improvement, this chapter will first explain what business improvement is. We will also introduce the objectives of business improvement and the benefits that can be obtained.

・What is business improvement in the first place?

Business improvement refers to the activities we undertake on a daily basis to improve our products, services, or processes.
For example, let's say we were producing 10 cars per day. By reviewing our work procedures, we were able to increase production to 11 cars. This is a simple example, but "reviewing work procedures" is considered business improvement.
By making changes to our daily tasks, we can increase productivity.
This is what we call business improvement.

・Purpose of Business Improvement

The purpose of business improvement is to improve productivity. In recent years, there has been a change in awareness towards labor, such as work style reform. As a result, there is a growing momentum for business improvement.

・Effects obtained from business improvement

There are three benefits that can be obtained through business improvement.

1. Improved Productivity

By improving our operations, we can create more and higher quality products and services. This can also lead to increased productivity, creating more time for new challenges that were previously impossible to tackle. These new challenges can further improve productivity and potentially create a positive cycle.

2. Cost Reduction

Improving productivity also leads to cost reduction. A familiar example would be overtime. If productivity increases and overtime decreases, it results in cost savings in terms of labor expenses. Reducing overtime by 2 hours a month would lead to a reduction of 48 hours a year. When multiplied by the number of employees, it becomes a significant figure.

3. Improvement of Working Environment

Business improvement brings significant benefits to workers as well. As mentioned earlier, by increasing productivity, it is possible to reduce overtime. An annual reduction of 48 hours of overtime equates to two full days. The time saved can be used for leisure or self-improvement, which leads to increased motivation.

2. How to Improve Business Processes

In the previous chapter, we introduced what business improvement is and the effects that can be obtained from it. In this chapter, we will introduce the specific steps for implementing business improvement, in three steps.

1. Set the target business

First, let's target the business processes we want to improve. We will conduct an inventory of operations, identify current issues and challenges, and find the business processes that need improvement. You should be able to identify tasks that have become formalized or inefficient. By writing them down on paper such as Excel, it will also be easier to reflect on them later.
There are likely issues and challenges present in varying degrees within each business process. For now, let's focus on identifying them in this phase.

2. Set Priority

Next, let's determine the priority target to work on based on the identified issues and challenges. While we would like to tackle everything, we have limited resources in terms of people and time, so let's prioritize and work on them.
There are two main criteria for prioritization.
The first one is the impact of improvement. We will prioritize based on the effectiveness of solving the issues.
The second one is the difficulty of improvement. Let's consider the total cost and effort, not just the time, for improvement.
We recommend using these two criteria to determine the priority order.

3. Creation of operation manuals, outsourcing, and introduction of tools

After selecting the target business for improvement, the next step is to determine the method for business improvement. There are various approaches to business improvement, such as creating a business manual, outsourcing, and introducing tools, which can be considered as typical examples.
The merits, demerits, and characteristics of each method will be introduced in the next chapter.

3. Does manual creation lead to business improvement?

So far, we have introduced what business improvement is and how to specifically implement it. In this chapter, we will explain whether manual creation leads to business improvement. There are various approaches to business improvement besides manual creation. We will compare and examine these other approaches.

1. Introduction of Systems and Tools

Routine tasks that occur repeatedly, such as daily work, are the strong suit of systems and tools. Therefore, there are means to introduce systems and tools for business improvement.
Considering efficiency, this can be said to be the most impactful means of business improvement.
On the other hand, the introduction incurs enormous costs. In addition to system development and implementation costs, time costs are also incurred for meetings with development vendors.
In recent years, contract forms that make it easier to introduce systems and tools, such as SaaS, have emerged.
Nevertheless, it is still a high hurdle for business improvement methods.
Additionally, it can be said that the operation after implementation is difficult. If the introduction to the field is not smooth, there is a risk that the system itself may not be used.

2. Outsourcing

Next is outsourcing. If the business processes that need improvement can be outsourced, let's make use of it. Especially when tasks that anyone can do are bottlenecks, it is recommended to actively utilize outsourcing.
As demonstrated by the Pareto principle, if you want to achieve better results, it is more efficient to focus on important initiatives.
However, there are mainly two disadvantages of outsourcing.
The first point is that know-how is not accumulated. Knowledge and experience that should be gained through work are lost when outsourced.
The second point is that there may be additional costs. The quality of the outsourcing partner will not meet the desired quality unless properly managed by the client. In cases of low quality, additional corrections may be required, which can lead to higher costs.
Outsourcing requires exploring the balance between outsourcing costs and quality.

3. Creating Operation Manuals

The final step is the creation of operational manuals. We will improve the highlighted issues and incorporate them into the operational manuals. By working together as a company, we can achieve uniformity in work quality and expect an increase in productivity. The more impactful the improvements, the greater the effect when the entire company collaborates.
For example, let's say that the differences in sales performance among individuals in the sales department have become a bottleneck for the company. In such cases, we will take measures to document the know-how of employees with good sales performance into manuals. By incorporating individual sales skills into the manuals, we can achieve uniformity in sales quality. This leads to the resolution of the bottleneck issue, resulting in a significant improvement for the company.

Manual Production Achievements

At Human Science, we have been involved in the creation of manuals related to business improvement for many companies. Here, we would like to introduce some of those production examples.

Tokyu Livable https://www.science.co.jp/case/tokyu_livable/manual/
Achieved standardization of sales operations and efficiency in training through the creation of business manuals.

APRESIA Systems https://www.science.co.jp/case/apresia-systems/manual/
We improved the manual and established a workflow that allows engineers to focus on their core tasks.

Mitsubishi Electric https://www.science.co.jp/case/mitsubishielectric/manual/
We systematically identified and reorganized the tasks that had previously relied on individual know-how, using a business organization sheet to ensure nothing was overlooked, in accordance with the 5W1H perspective.

Others
Major Insurance Companies
We organized the overall picture of the operations and existing manuals to visualize the business, ultimately aiming for simplification and efficiency of the operations.

Major Automobile Manufacturer
We have established a system for creating design guidelines. This has helped to overcome the situation where design work has become overly dependent on specific individuals, and has been utilized to promote the development of the next generation of employees.

Related Blog Posts

Here, we have introduced three approaches to business improvement.
Of these three, the most recommended method for business improvement would be the creation of a business manual.
Each approach can certainly be considered an effective method for business improvement.

4. Summary

How was it?
This time, we introduced three approaches to achieve business improvement.

As an approach to business improvement, considering cost, difficulty of retention, accumulation of know-how, and cost-effectiveness, the most balanced option is the creation of business manuals. By establishing unified rules and procedures across the company through manuals, the quality of work stabilizes, and the training of new personnel progresses smoothly. Additionally, it prevents the personalization of tasks, allowing anyone to perform their duties with the same quality, thus the development of manuals ultimately leads to an increase in productivity.

Business improvement is not something that can be completed in one go; it requires continuous review. Therefore, it is important to create manuals that are used on-site and can be updated and operated with ingenuity. In today's world, where remote work and internal management via networks are prevalent, manuals that everyone can use play a crucial role.

That said, while many understand the necessity of manuals, there are likely many who find it difficult to actually create them. Creating them alongside regular duties can be particularly challenging.
In cases where "resources are lacking" or "there is no know-how in-house," outsourcing can be one solution.
Human Science aims to contribute to your company's business improvement through assistance in these areas.

Human Science has over 20 years of history and is a professional group with a track record of creating manuals for 243 companies and 3,148 projects.
If you have any concerns while advancing your business manuals, please feel free to consult with us.

Feature 1: Manual creation by experienced consultants

The consultant with extensive experience at Human Science will be involved in creating business manuals. Our skilled consultants will propose easy-to-understand business manuals based on the abundant experience and materials provided. We can also create manuals from scratch without any existing materials. Our assigned consultant will conduct interviews and create the manual.

Feature 2: Not only manualization, but also support for implementation

Human Science is also responsible for the important phase of "institutionalization" since manual creation. For example, even after manual creation, we will continue to update the manual and hold manual creation seminars. We approach the field by implementing various measures to ensure that the manual becomes established.

Feature 3: Extensive track record of manual creation for large and global corporations

Human Science has a track record of creating numerous operation manuals since 1985, mainly in the manufacturing and IT industries. Our clients include well-known companies such as Tokyu Livable, Inc., Cygames, Inc., and Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.

Related Documents

This document introduces the business activities of Human Science and examples of the operation manual production we have undertaken so far. You can see the results and approaches gained through actual projects in detail, so if you are interested in business improvement or the utilization of manuals, please take a look.