Digital Business Processes Design with BPMN: Quin and Cardanit synergy

Choosing a Business Process Management software to optimize business analysis

The effective functioning of processes - lean, agile, precise - is a key element to corporate profitability. Oftentimes new product or market initiatives, even if promising, do not achieve the expected results due to inapt operational processes. For the same reason, companies acting in mature markets struggle to grow beyond a certain threshold. Therefore, the digitalization of business processes, rationalized within a Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) Standard software, has become of paramount importance. Business models, processes and decision modeling must speak the same language, and evolve together.

BPMN is the international standard for designing business processes, whose main advantage is the automatization of the process workflow through a software that allows to mine, model, analyze, optimize, and execute business processes with a simple user interface. So let's forget paper procedures. Quin has chosen Cardanit, the BPM software that provides a dynamic process and decision modeling experience to optimize business analysis. Re-engineered and modern value-based processes travel on computers and mobile and allow companies to analyze data in real time and act faster.

Quin’s business process consultancy knows that companies find it more difficult to define change management priorities rather than implement solutions. So, Quin has developed an effective and well structured methodology for digitizing business processes. The goal is to help organizations define priorities in relation to their maturity, and to the return on investment by mapping the business processes and optimizing them.

Digitizing business processes, where to start

The starting point is always analyzing the process to identify critical issues and areas for improvement, followed by the real transformation project. This may involve the redesign of the process, addition of technological solutions and training of personnel: three integrated pillars (processes, technologies, organization) that make Quin's consulting approach unique.

Quin’s value proposition is supported by a definite representation of the processes at the moment of the analysis and by an optimized version of what the processes will look like after the consultancy project. The modeling of the representation is performed with Cardanit BPM software, where it’s possible to create clear diagrams, collaborate smoothly and generate useful reports.

Quin’s approach involves the use of structured methodologies based on a Digital Maturity Assessment (DMA), Quin's proprietary model. It allows the assessment of the company's digital maturity, while considering the complexity of the environment in which it operates and the business model adopted. Both are necessary ingredients to design a digital improvement roadmap that is Industry 4.0 compliant. The DMA is complemented by BPMN process maps and reports, generated with Cardanit.

The maturity model is based on a series of digitized questionnaires that map the state and level of development of processes, technologies and organization within a department, a division or the company as a whole. The Cardanit diagrams within the process modeling allow for a clear analysis of the status quo, which, together with the questionnaires, provide a lean and fast tool to get objective answers quickly. This way the assessment identifies real improvement actions and areas of intervention in order of priority.

The steps towards the digitalization of business processes

1. Analysis of the company's business model to quickly understand the context in terms of market proposal, commercial relations, production processes and operations.The model is shared online with the company to refine the questionnaire results with the actual status quo.

2. Quin's added value and exclusive characteristic of the DMA, concerns the measurement of the level and type of complexity the company has to manage as a key aspect to map and report. The complexity level a company faces, indicates in percentage the development required within the organization. The type of complexity (structural, relationships wise, or of the market/sector /internal dynamics) rationalized in a BPMN framework indicates where to prioritize: the processes, the technologies or the organization.

3. The third step is measuring as a percentage the level of development of processes, technologies and of the organization for the business area or areas under investigation (e.g. the marketing & sales area, the project management area, the planning area or production, or the entire company or a specific business unit). Relating this to the company business model and its complexity by crossing the variables, delineates a matrix.

By mapping the matrix within the different processes modeled in the online editor Cardanit, it’s possible to visually highlight criticalities and consequently generate a roadmap of actions to take related priorities.

Digitization of sustainable business processes

Along with the DMA, Quin has also addressed sustainability, social and environmental issues, where resilience becomes an unprecedented source of competitive advantage for companies. Quin has developed the Sustainability & Resilience Readiness proprietary framework, able to calculate the sustainability index of an organization or of its investments. With this approach it is possible to model the process with BPMN and DMN (Decision Model Notation) to highlight decisions and define actions necessary to improve it.

Cardanit BPMN and DMN editor models processes and decisions, either separately or concurrently to improve process clarity and empower advanced analytics.

This second maturity model can be used in conjunction with the DMA or even alone, if a company has an idea of its critical areas and only wants to investigate the sustainability of its processes or initiatives. The aim is to build a roadmap based on critical issues and define the improvement operations plan according to the priority of intervention mapped within the DMN framework.

Digitize business processes

The analysis methodology described so far is modulated on the basis of the complexity of the customer processes. Quin analysts gather all the necessary inputs to design the new operational processes in detail and map them out in the online Cardanit editor to share them with the customer and better analyze all the facets. The processes suggested are agile and transformative but thorough and open to continuous improvement. These elements, albeit with different nuances by virtue of the sector or market in which the company operates, represent the basis for a successful transformation and digitization project.

You can find the original blog post in Italian on Quin's website.

Further reading

BPMN/DMN modeling for transforming IT business processes

IT Project Portfolio Management with BPMN and DMN templates

About Quin

Quin is a business consultancy, based in Italy working on business engineering and innovative technical solutions in Operations & Supply Chain Management, Business & Data Analytics, Project & Innovation Management. Quin mission is to lead and support growth and digitization for big companies and small and medium enterprises thanks to strategy planning and change management. Quin is part of Quid Informatica Group, an ICT company with a strong presence in the Financial Services sector, established in 1987.