Capturing and evaluating process information for high‐performance complex manufacturing operations

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology for rapidly and reliably capturing, representing and analysing process systems to facilitate the potential for operations performance improvement within a complex product design and manufacturing facility operating in a high‐performance business environment.Design/methodology/approachThis paper demonstrates the proposed methodology within an electro‐mechanical design and manufacturing environment producing complex non‐standard products for a global market. The technique has national and international application for a wide spectrum of design and manufacturing facilities.FindingsThe authors also demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology in capturing, representing and analysing processes to assess the feasibility of and identify the issues involved in realising further performance improvements in an existing complex product, high variety, design and manufacturing facility.Practical implicationsThrough the enhanced level of understanding of business processes and knowledge intensive operations, the design and manufacturing facilities managers can now realise the next level of performance enhancement by fully exploiting the potential of performance improvement initiatives. Since the proposed methodology creates an environment in which risks inherent in new techniques are controlled, the facilities managers can also gain competitive advantage by becoming the early adopters of radical performance enhancement approaches.Originality/valueMost major and many smaller manufacturing companies have adopted the popular performance improvement initiatives. These companies are now striving to achieve the next level of performance enhancement at the system or enterprise level and require a better understanding of their business processes and knowledge intensive operations. This understanding needs to be achieved rapidly, cost effectively and in a readily communicable and quantifiable form to allow analysis and ongoing re‐analysis within the volatile industrial environment. The proposed methodology achieves this through the identification, communication, understanding and analysis of the internal and external interactions and dependencies of the facility.