Consulting case

Nacka Energy: How Process Mapping Led to Major Savings

In the autumn of 2023, Elin Wikstrand, a Business Consultant from 2c8, stepped in as an external consultant at Nacka Energy for a Proof of Concept of a total of 10 hours. They wanted help developing their processes but lacked experience in process mapping and wanted to see the value of working with it. Elin, who has many years of experience in process mapping and business development, specifically in the energy industry, became the perfect addition to evaluating the method. Together, they developed, improved, and optimized one of the processes – which later showed major savings opportunities in the business.

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August 15, 2024

A Feeling of ‘We can do better’

The project was not initiated because they had identified large, unnecessary costs. Instead, it was based on a feeling that the entire process from ‘Order’ to ‘Delivery’ could have been more efficient. The feeling could be described as ‘we can do this better’. Elin believes that this feeling often drives Process Development.

“Often, we don’t realize that we lose money by working the way we do. Instead, we see the problems as symptoms of consequences, where we miss deadlines, slack off, and spill along the way”, says Elin.

This feeling was the basis for the process development. In the end, the feeling proved to be correct and very costly.

Mapping and Analysis of Inefficiency

The first step was to set up a process team with representatives from all the different parts of the process. This was done to account for all perspectives and make the mapping more cross-functional.

The next step was to start mapping, in Workshops, the current situation of the process they perceived as inefficient, with Elin as workshop leader. In 2c8 Apps, they could thus provide a visual description of the workflow, including all the informal ways of working that existed in the process. Based on the LEAN methodology, they started to analyze the process and identify existing problems. For example, they noted all the parts of the process where no one was designated as responsible. In total, they identified 17 different issues in the process – large and small.

“We looked at all parts of the process. Everything from the process as a whole to the activity level and handovers between and within the process”, says Elin.

Once the problems were identified, they were further analyzed using root-cause analysis to understand what the issues were actually based on.

Big Savings – Simple Solutions

Based on the 17 problems identified and the root-cause analyses carried out, they started investigating the necessary improvements.

“We calculated one of the 17 problems we encountered in the original process. This single problem alone costs 350,000 SEK a year in terms of internal labor time and consequences. The solution was a one-off cost of 12,000 SEK and then internal labor costs – all identified in the process mapping”, says Elin.

The Basis for further Development

As the project only involved 10 hours, there is still work to be done. The idea is to identify solutions to the rest of the waste, create the desired mode, and implement the new process. The process mapping created in 2c8 Apps will then be published to the organization so that all employees can learn new ways of working. The publication will continue to support the employees in their everyday work.

Since the project was so successful, Nacka Energy has also decided to develop all the business processes —something both Elin and them are convinced will make the business much more efficient.

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