Audit of material and information flow
Audit of material and information flow
The more steps, handovers and transitions - the more chaos, delays and costs. It is time to see this in black and white.
In every company, materials, documents, decisions, information and tasks 'flow' every day.
But do you really know what this path looks like in practice?
Who communicates what to whom? How long does it take to respond to a signal? Where do bottlenecks form that delay implementation and increase costs?
Audit of material and information flow allows you to visualise what remains invisible on a day-to-day basis. It shows real paths, decisions and transitions between departments and systems.
Instead of assuming that 'somehow it works', we discover how it really works - often in surprisingly inefficient ways, full of unnecessary steps and unintuitive solutions.
Material and information flow audit - examples from practice
- E-commerce - the client's order went through seven systems and 12 people before it reached the warehouse. Lead time: 4 days. After optimisation: 3 systems, 5 people, fulfilment in 24 hours.
- Design office - The architectural design was physically transferred (on memory sticks) up to 23 times. The shared cloud and clear rules reduced the turnaround time from six to four weeks.
What do we diagnose?
- How products, documents and decisions move - between people, departments, locations.
- Are the pathways logical and coherent - or are they complex, convoluted and full of stoppages.
- Where redundant movements, repetitions, unclear handovers and communication problems occur.
- How much time the whole process takes (lead time), and how much of that actually creates value.
- What does the circulation of information and decisions look like - who communicates them, who is responsible for them, where do they stop.
This audit helps to uncover the so-called hidden losses - invisible in reports, but costly for the entire organisation.
Tools
What tools do we use?
- Spaghetti diagram - we visualise the actual flow paths of materials, documents and information.
- Lead time analysis vs. value-adding time - shows how much time really creates value and how much is waiting or unnecessary movement.
- Communication and decision maps - reveal how the transfer of information takes place and who is involved in what.
- Process observation and analysis - we identify bottlenecks, congestion and unintuitive transitions.
Audit of material and information flow
What does the audit process look like?
- Establishing the scope - select the process, department or area to be analysed.
- Observation and data collection - we follow the actual paths of material and information flow.
- Creation of diagrams and maps - we visualise the movements, transfer points, timing and logic of the process.
- Identification of losses - we point out unnecessary steps, blockages, repetitions and ambiguities.
- Report and recommendations - we present specific changes that will simplify the flow and reduce the time to act.
What do you gain?
- Establishing the scope - select the process, department or area to be analysed.
- Observation and data collection - we follow the actual paths of material and information flow.
- Creation of diagrams and maps - we visualise the movements, transfer points, timing and logic of the process.
- Identification of losses - we point out unnecessary steps, blockages, repetitions and ambiguities.
- Report and recommendations - we present specific changes that will simplify the flow and reduce the time to act.
Audit of material and information flow
Who is the audit for?
- Companies that have complex processes and want to finally simplify them.
- Teams that get lost in the flow of documents, tasks and decisions.
- Organisations where lead time is increasing, but it is not clear why.
- Leaders who want to understand what really happens between 'point A and B'.
See how work really flows in your company - and where it stops.
Arrange for an audit of material and information flows and make decisions based not on guesswork, but on data and observations.
Does this audit only apply to logistics and the warehouse?
Not only that. We also analyse the flow of information, documents, decisions and tasks - including in office, sales or project teams.
What does a flow analysis look like?
We create so-called spaghetti diagrams, measure transition times and visualise the actual movement of materials and information.
Does the audit cover IT systems and integrations?
Yes - if they affect the flow of data and decisions. We look at where tools support and where they complicate operations.
What if we don't know where to start - everything seems complex?
This is the best time to start with an audit. We will help you identify the most crucial process and simplify it step by step.