Process transformation

Process transformation is the fundamental redesign of how a business process works, changing its steps, roles, systems, data and controls together rather than improving one part at a time. It usually starts from the outcome the process should deliver and asks how the work would be organized if it were designed today.

It differs from continuous improvement, which makes small, regular changes to an existing process. A transformation may remove steps entirely, move work between teams, replace systems or automate decisions that used to need a person, so it needs a sponsor, an owner for the whole process and a plan for moving people and data to the new way of working.

Technology is often both the reason for a transformation and the means of carrying it out: ERP replacements, workflow and integration platforms, and AI that can handle documents or routine decisions make process designs possible that were not practical before.