BUSINESS PROCESSES REENGINEERING: DBM 632

1. Lesco Ltd
Lesco Ltd is a local manufacturing company located in the industrial area of Nairobi. Lesco
Ltd adopts a philosophy of manufacturing based on planned elimination of all waste on
continuous improvement of productivity. It has described this approach as producing the
right part in the right place at the right time. This kind of manufacturing ensures that there
is improvement in profits and return on investment levels by reducing inventory levels
(increasing the inventory turnover rate), reducing variability, improving product quality,
reducing delivery lead times and reducing other associated costs such as those associated
with machine set up and equipment breakdown.

This production concept underutilizes (excess) capacity, instead of buffer inventories to

hedge against any problem that may arise. The concept applies primarily to repetitive
manufacturing process in which same products and components are produced over and
over again. The general idea is to establish flow process even when the facility uses a
sobbing or a batch process layout by linking work centers so that there is an even, balanced
flow of materials throughout the entire production process, similar to that found in an
assembly line. To accomplish this an attempt is made to reach the goals of driving all
inventory buffers towards zero and achieving the ideal lot size of one.

Required:
a) Which manufacturing concept is adopted by Lesco Ltd (2marks)

b) Explain the key elements of the manufacturing concept described above (14 marks)

c) Give four benefits to an organization which will adopt the above described
manufacturing concept (4 marks)

d) Cite any four challenges which may hinder the impacts of BPR associated with the
above concept (8 marks)

2. a) Lean manufacturing has defined seven causes of waste of which all companies have
experienced one or more. Explain the common causes of waste in production (14 marks)

b) Assurance of quality in products and processes is one of main objectives of BPR.

Highlight four steps of quality control in manufacturing front. (4 marks)

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3. a) Write short notes on the following process enablers of BPR (6 marks)
i. Six sigma
ii. Kaizen
iii. Cellular manufacturing

b) Success of BPR is anchored on several success factors within the organization. One
such factor is top management support and commitment. Explain six responsibilities of
top management which show their support and commitment to BPR. (12 marks)

4. a) Adoption of project management methodology helps avoid many BPR projects going
awry. This is because of the functions of project management which contribute to the
successful implementation of BPR project. Explain four functions of project
management as relates to BPR. (12 marks)

b) Outline procedure through which supply chain management work is contributing as

an enabling factor in BPR manufacturing (6 marks)

5. a) Describe five business process performance metrics, which modern businesses use to
appraise their process results. (10 marks)

b) One dimension of re-engineering focuses on modernizing and automating IT

underlying infrastructure. With examples, describe four automation approaches
available to future organizations. (8 marks)

6. a) With examples explain six IT tools and techniques which are beneficial for IT
infrastructure (12 marks)

b) Highlight relevance of agile manufacturing in business re-engineering (6 marks)

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