Simply stated, processes transform inputs into higher value outputs by blending the inputs together in a prescribed way. Inputs are provided to the process by suppliers. A Supplier is an entity, person or another process that provides an input into the process under consideration. Therefore a supplier can be internal to our company or external to it.

A supplier can be as close as the output of the previous step in the process or a vendor more than a thousand miles away. The outputs of a process  always go to a customer. A Customer is any entity, person or another process that receives an output from the process under consideration. Just like inputs, the customer can be as close as the next process step or a customer external to your company many miles away.

In this course you will learn to think of inputs as X’s and outputs as Y’s, once you grasp this approach, it becomes much easier to describe process behavior and improvement approaches. As you see in the graphic, the process is a set of activities and tasks that are accountable for the blending of the inputs to create a higher valued output. For now you can generally categorize inputs as materials, information, people, energy, tools and equipment. Processes are also supported or governed by such things as methods, procedures, process rules and customer requirements.

The acceptable way to describe processes is to use a process flowchart or a Process Map. A process always has a definable start and finish and some number of steps in between. Process maps are performed at various levels of detail but look similar to the one shown. Later you will learn the different levels of Process Maps and their associated level of detail.

Going Further:

A process is generally repeated over and over - although the frequency of replication may be low. The output of one process can become the input to another process and a business is made up of a large number of processes to produce a product or service that a customer is ultimately willing to purchase.

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