Operational and process excellence programs pick up, drive transformation, according to report

Process excellence and operational excellence programs are increasingly being comingled as part of a broader digital transformation strategy, according to a survey by the Process Excellence Network (PEX).

The PEX Report 2022 lands as the OPEX Week Business Transformation World Summit 2022 kicks off in Miami. Ascend Performance Materials and Celonis will present at the conference.

Like digital transformation, process and operational excellence projects have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Not surprisingly, customer service and call centers, supply chain and finance are the top three priorities for process improvement opportunities. Supply chain management has become a boardroom issue amid COVID-19 pandemic disruptions and supply and demand imbalances. The PEX Report 2022 findings confirm how process excellence programs are ramping. Consider:

• Process mining hits inflection point in 2022 as decision makers eye better execution

• ServiceNow survey: Leaders optimizing with process mining

• The Conference Board survey: CEOs cite inflation, supply chain, digital and process transformation as priorities

In addition, 44% of respondents indicated that operational and process excellence programs were part of a broader enterprise transformation effort, up from 35% in the previous year.

These operational and process transformation efforts are led by an enterprise-wide transformation office 26% of the time with business unit and department level projects leading the way 35% of the time. Operations lead projects 61% of the time followed by centers of excellence at 39%.

The goals for operational and process excellence programs include productivity and efficiency, drive growth, improve customer satisfaction and automate processes. Here's a look at the views of transformation efforts.

In terms of value, 25% of enterprises measure success via cost savings followed by increased throughput and efficiency 20% of the time.

Larry Dignan

Editor in Chief (former)

Larry Dignan is the former Editor in Chief of Celonis Media. Before joining Celonis, he was Editor in Chief of ZDNet and has covered the technology industry and transformation trends for more than two decades, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine.