Harrington also suggests using the following approaches to improving processes: - Perform activities in parallel (for example, approvals). - Change the sequence of activities. - Reduce interruptions. - Avoid duplication or fragmentation of tasks - Avoid complex flows and bottlenecks. - Combine similar activities. - Reduce the amount of handling. - Eliminate unused data. - Eliminate copies. Evaluating Process Improvement Prior to Implementation While identifying process improvements can be difficult, implementing them is even more challenging. Disrupting the current process to make changes can be costly and time consuming, and managers are frequently reluctant to risk trying process-improvement idens-especially if the ideas require a significant change in the way an activity is completed. One way to mitignte this risk is to use dynamie process modeling to evaluate process changes before they are implemented. Dynamic process modeling takes a basic process flowchart and puts it into motion, using computer simulation techniques to facilitate the evaluation of proposed process changes. Computer simulation repeatedly generates random variables (such as customer orders) that interact with a logical model of the business process to predict the performance of the actual system. A dynamie process model can estimate the performance of a system, using measures such as cycle time (how long the process takes), produetivity, total cost, idle time, and bottlenecks. - Develop process-improvement suggestions. See the two bullet lists on page 198. You can base suggestions on the F-S expense report process described in Chapter 7, OR you can base your suggestions on your own real-world experience. Company names should not be explicit. Use "Acme" or "FirmX