Business Process Analysis for MultiLinks

Nexford University

Master of Business Administration

OPM6090 – Technology and Operations Management

Module 3 Assignment – Business Process Analysis

Olubusola Ibitoye

24th February 2025

Problem Definition Desired Condition

The current New Product Development (NPD) process at Multilinks is ineffective stemming from several steps A streamlined NPD process where key activities are automated, leading to improved efficiency, reduced time-to-
that are still done manually. This is resulting in delays, errors, and extended time-to-market. Furthermore, market, and higher product quality.
market analysis, prototype testing, and production scheduling automation is absent which greatly cripples the
organizations agility in developing and launching new products. BPMN Diagram Showing Desired Condition

Background
Multilinks Solutions,is a prominent player in the technology industry, so they have a good NDP process built
for market capturing innovative products. However, the approach is mostly task-oriented and is where most
issues arise. Collecting and analyzing data is inefficient and resource-heavy because it is manual, therefore it
wastes an appropriate amount of time and leads to a lot of decisions not being made in a timely manner.In
Business Process Analysis for MultiLinks

SUPPORTING NARRATIVE REPORT

Introduction
Business Process Analysis for MultiLinks
This document outlines a detailed analysis and optimization of the Multilinks New Product Development (NPD) process. The scope of this analysis is to determine the gaps within the current process and how operational efficiency can be

achieved through cloud-based automation solutions. This report contains a methodology for construction of the BPMN diagrams along with the selected processes for automation and justification for each of these automation tasks.

Steps Taken to Create the BPMN Diagram

Creating the BPMN diagram involved the following steps:

A review of all main activities found in the New Product Development (NPD) process started the BPMN diagram creation process. The activities were organized into a clear flowchart to understand the current workflow better.

 Initiate New Product Idea: The company conducts market research alongside consumer feedback to start new product idea generation.

 Feasibility Study: The new product idea receives feasibility assessment through both technical feasibility evaluation and market potential evaluation.

 Prototype Development: A prototype for the accepted idea will be developed through this stage.

 Prototype Testing: Testing the prototype allows for an evaluation of its functionality alongside its performance abilities.

 Final Product Development: The development of the final product occurs after testing and success of the prototype.

 Production Planning: The organization needs to establish production planning for resource scheduling and allocation.

 Market Launch Preparation: To establish readiness for market launch operations the company prepares marketing strategies and trains their sales force.

 Product Launch: Launching the new product into the market.

 Collect Feedback: The performance of the product will be measured through customer feedback collection along with sales data analysis.

1. Each process component in the BPMN diagram received complete definition through its exact inputs in addition to its precise outputs.

2. The BPMN diagram follows a well-ordered task arrangement that shows how new product concepts originate through customer feedback while ending with feedback collection after product release.

Tools Used: The BPMN diagram was developed through BPMN.io because its user-friendly interface allows for easy representation of business processes.

Targeted Activities for Automation

1. Feasibility Study:

i. Current State:
Business Process Analysis for MultiLinks
 A manual process exists for market data collection followed by analysis of its potential.

 This process takes considerable time and demonstrates both time-consuming aspects combined with potential human mistakes.

ii. Automation Solution:

 Utilize Organizations should apply AI-based market analysis tools for automatic data collection and market data analysis.

iii. Rationale:

 AI-based analytical tools can analyze large data volumes at high speed to generate business insights which enhances the speed of market analysis procedures.

2. Prototype Testing:

i. Current State:

 Manual testing of prototypes for functionality and performance.

 Inconsistent results and delays in validation.

ii. Automation Solution:

o Add automated testing tools together with IoT devices to perform continuous real-time tests on prototypes.

iii. Rationale:

 Automated testing delivers real-time validation which reduces risks of human mistakes and speeds up the prototype testing procedure.

3. Production Planning:

i. Current State:
Business Process Analysis for MultiLinks
 Manual planning of resource allocation and production scheduling.

 Inefficiencies and suboptimal planning.

ii. Automation Solution:

 Cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems should be deployed for automated management of resources along with inventory processes and production scheduling.

iii. Rationale:

 Organization-wide ERP systems operating in the cloud optimize planning processes while boosting operational speed and cutting down total expenditure.

Rationale Behind Automation Decisions

1. AI-Based Market Analysis and Feasibility Studies:

 The advantage of AI-based tools emerges from their ability to analyze extensive datasets rapidly and produce swift actionable insights thus condensing market research periods (Infodesk 2024)

 The deployment of products to markets gets accelerated while eliminating risks that stem from launching unprofitable products (Claudio, n.d.).

2. Automated Prototype Testing:

 The use of automated testing systems produces standardized performance results while decreasing human mistakes thus speed up prototype examination processes.

 The process of validating prototypes speeds up through the use of this system which leads to multiple immediate improvement cycles (Claudio, n.d.).

3. Production Planning Automation:

 Analogs-based ERP systems enhance production planning efficiency by robotic automation of resource distribution and inventory tracking tasks and therefore generate better performance metrics (Marvin et al,

2021).

Conclusion
Business Process Analysis for MultiLinks
Multilinks can achieve operational efficiency and faster product delivery and superior quality through cloud-based automation of their New Product Development process after analyzing and optimizing this fundamental process. The method

provides a complete program to prepare the organization for handling market disturbances while seizing available opportunities.

References

1. Claudio Bui. Why is prototyping necessary? TECAN. https://www.tecan.com/blog/rapid-prototyping-the-secret-weapon-to-get-automated-instruments-to-market-faster

2. Infodesk (April 2, 2024) Benefits of Automating Market Intelligence vs. Manual Analysis. https://www.infodesk.com/blog/benefits-of-automating-market-intelligence-vs.-manual-analysis#:~:text=Automated%20market%20intelligence

%2C%20integrated%20with,access%20real%2Dtime%20insights%20swiftly.

3. Marvin Carl May, Simon Schmidt, Andreas Kuhnle, Nicole Stricker, Gisela Lanza . (February 10, 2021) Product Generation Module: Automated Production Planning for optimized workload and increased efficiency in Matrix Production

Systems.