A Business Management System (BMS) provides the foundational framework for enterprise-wide guidance content (Policy, Process, Procedures & Organisation) necessary to achieve its strategy, meet its objectives and targets and build a sustainable future.
It is a comprehensive, integrated and adaptable framework that helps you to manage your business better.
A successful BMS will lead to improved performance by enabling an organisation to develop consistent work practises, processes and systems across the business. This results in better decision-making as well as more efficient and cost-effective operations.
If you’re in a multi-site, multi-country organisation and looking for a simple way to help with globalisation, strategy and performance management then a BMS could be just what you need.
This type of system will allow you to:
This article focuses on the implementation of a BMS within an organisation with multiple sites across different geographical locations.
If you’re in a multi-site, multi-country organisation and looking for a simple way to help with globalisation, strategy and performance management then a BMS could be just what you need.
In order to succeed globally, organisations need a strong foundation on which to build their strategy for globalisation. A BMS can provide this foundation by linking strategy directly to the core processes and functions of your organisation such as accounting and finance; human resources; customer relationship management; supply chain management; project management etc.
Implementing a single centralised, business system for all your operations is critical and will allow employees across countries to communicate effectively through a common language, which ensures everyone understands what’s happening in each department.
This creates “one way of working” across the entire organisation , which means better communication between international teams too!
In addition to helping you manage all aspects of your business, a BMS should provide you with greater control over your organisation’s documents.
Global industries are governed by layers of regulation which inevitably means businesses within them hold lots of paperwork – detailing everything from legislation to good working practices that must be followed.
Keeping your documents organised and controlled is important for your business, and your employees, and for complying with global standards such as ISO 9001.
However, if it isn’t done efficiently then it can become a burden – on both your time and your finances – especially if the system you’re using is mostly manual or paper-based.
A good BMS will have integrated document management functionality features that capture, manage, share and secure information within your organisation.
By acting as a centralised control the BMS removes the chaos of folder structures and fragmented document repositories by providing a robust and secure system for all documents.
If you’re looking for ways to make your business processes more efficient – whether you’d like to save money, time or the headaches of those involved – you need to get a good idea of what’s going on.
A process-based business management system can be constantly referred to by your employees, allowing them to check for issues in your organisation’s core processes like missing steps, duplication of effort, poor time management or activities that add no real value.
Eliminating any, or all, of these makes your process better. When your business uses a BMS, the whole process of reviewing your processes will be simplified so that it won’t be such a daunting task to do it again and again for continuous improvement.
The introduction of Business Process Management (BPM) provides the ability to discover, design, measure and optimise your processes through automation.
An established BMS that meets the needs and expectations of your business will have a defined set of key processes and standards.
These will have clear ownership, be fit for purpose and enable you to continually collect performance data through monitoring and analysing your business and how it works.
When combining a robust process with focused leadership and good governance, you’re set up for operational excellence and success in everything you do as a global business.
Securing investment as a global organisation can be a crucial factor in maintaining growth and improving operations, not to mention boosting your overall profitability.
Nowadays investment bodies are analysing companies’ ESG performance in increasing detail, particularly in relation to their long-term sustainability as key indicators of future success.
A BMS, as standard, will store your current QHSE processes and work instructions to provide a ready-made repository of measurable work practises, as selected by the company for ESG performance measurement which can be readily presented to investors.
Global knowledge. By learning from the best practices of other countries, you can improve your own business processes and make better decisions.
Best practice. A global BMS can help you to identify best practices in any industry, including your own – even if they’re not yet implemented elsewhere in your company.
Expertise. If you want access to expert internal advice on how to solve problems or improve your operations, a BMS will provide an easy way for employees from all over the world to contribute their knowledge and experience.
There is no doubt that a BMS is a potent tool when used correctly. It allows you to organise your business, manage employees and make the most of their skills. But what makes a good BMS?
Here are some of the factors to consider when beginning your project to implement a global BMS:
There are many different types of BMS software. It is critical that you choose a process-based management system, which we’ll discuss later, that allows you to manage every aspect of your business from anywhere in the world.
The Agility System software is used by many global and medium-sized organisations that operate in highly regulated, safety-critical sectors due to the significant benefits
As a global organisation, it’s essential that you choose a BMS that can facilitate the number of users you require, and which has more advanced features such as multiple users or customisable reports and dashboards.
Choosing a limited BMS will only lead to problems further down the line as your organisation scales and grows.
You want your employees to be able to use it easily so they can spend less time getting frustrated with technology and more time working on tasks that will benefit your company.
Your BMS should be designed to guide your people into efficient, safe and cost-effective work practices while still remaining functional and simple to learn.
Ideally, everything should flow seamlessly together within your BMS so there are no unnecessary external applications required.
However, if your organisation relies on/uses other software, you should confirm that your BMS can integrate with it.
No matter the size of your organisation or the sector it operates in, it shares one common characteristic with other businesses around the world – it has processes.
These processes are a critical component of your organisation, guiding your people towards achieving business goals, so it is essential that they are coordinated efficiently.
One method, that was mentioned earlier, that is often adopted is the process approach. Introduced in ISO 9001:2015, the standard outlines the process approach as establishing an organisation’s processes to operate as an integrated and complete management system.
The benefits of the process approach to an organisation are substantial. In order to better explain and understand the benefits, it’s necessary to envision the organisation’s processes in a non-process-based manner.
The normal structure of an organisation comprises it being broken down into departments, people, and products. This leads to the question:
How do these various entities efficiently interact with one another to benefit the business?
It is common for the workforce to prioritise their own processes without considering how it affects other business areas or the final product that is delivered.
This can lead to inefficient working practices and failure to meet business objectives, ultimately costing the business both time and resources.
Reducing these inefficiencies and issues is one of the core benefits of the process approach. Combining organisational processes into one global system allows the workforce to see the complete structure of each process from start to finish, regardless of the different departments involved.
They can then easily identify which part of the process they handle and how it achieves the required output.
A strong BMS is a foundation on which businesses are built and enables them to operate successfully in an increasingly complex global environment.
It manages people, information, and resources across multiple locations or countries through structure and processes.
This article has outlined some of the key benefits of implementing a BMS which include improved documentation and access to global knowledge, best practice and expertise.
The Agility System BMS software is both ISO-compliant and process-based. Our business analysts can help your organisation transform from its text-based procedures or traditional system into a globally implemented BMS that provides improved operational performance and maintains compliance.
Simply book your free demo today, and a member of our team will be in touch to help you begin your journey to implementing a process-based BMS.
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