In 1993, ANC executives were seeking to radically change their business practices to achieve process time, cost, and quality gains in the 40-60 percent range. This reengineering program was a natural extension of ANC's Quality Improvement Process which has been providing important incremental improvement throughout the company. After analyzing the corporate reengineering requirements, they chose MINERVA, a structured and proven approach to "Business Process Reengineering (BPR), Wizdom BPR training, and Wizdom Works!, the PC-based activity modeling and analysis toolset, to support their project team.

CORPORATE OBJECTIVES
Project GREENSTAR was the first stage of ANC's corporate plan to acquire BPR skills, develop reengineering experience, and fon-n a reengineering competency center serving the entire corporation worldwide. The project's general goals were to achieve time, cost, and quality gains in the Recycling Department's operations while developing BPR expertise and adding reengineering as an integrated part of their corporate Quality Improvement Process.

The specific objectives of Project GREENSTAR were to:

1. Reengineer one business process.
2. Evaluate a selected reengineering methodology, MINERVA.
3. Evaluate reengineering modeling and analysis techniques.
4. Evaluate a PC-based activity modeling and analysis toolset, WizdomWorks!
5. Develop in-house reengineering skills and experience.

SCOPE, APPROACH, and SCHEDULE
The ANC Recycling Department executes all or part of five processes. One process, the Used Beverage Can (UBC) Order Process was selected and reengineered. The project approach, following the optional building block in MINERVA, incorporated top-down analysis and bottom-up reengineering. This approach has four levels of analysis, planning, and execution:

Level I - Conduct Strategic Assessment
Level II - Analyze AS-IS
Level III - Building TO-BE Framework
Level IV - Develop & Execute Implementation Plan

Some segments of the UBC Order Process were radically reengineered based on world-class practices, cutting edge technology, and customer requirements. Other process segments were incrementally improved because they were close to being optimal for ANC and their customers. MINERVA provided the ability to achieve the full range of reengineering from incremental to radical because of its tailored building block approach to each project. The level of process change is based on the analyses conducted on each activity within the process.

GREENSTAR began the last week of November 1993 with BPR and modeling training for two project team members. A three-person analysis team, supplemented with four part-time personnel from affected business units, completed Levels I and 11 in two months. The team, with a focused effort from the business unit personnel, developed the TO-BE process flow and specific process improvements with cost-benefit analyses in 1 1/2 months. The project was completed in mid-March with a total elapsed time of 3 1/2 months.

MODELING AND ANALYSIS
The GREENSTAR team developed an activity model for the Recycling Department and used this model for process flow. timeline, cost and value-added analysis. Each modeling or analysis segment of the project was proceeded by training in the specific technique to be used.

The activity model was developed using a graphical and functional modeling methodology known as Integrated DEFinition Language (IDEF). The IDEF methodology was developed for industry managers and directly supports process flow, timeline, and cost analyses. The team used the activities from the model as the framework for Activity Based Cost (ABC) analysis. The ABC analysis identified the high cost activities conducted in the process. These activities became primary targets for reengineering.

Process flow and timeline analyses were conducted in parallel with the ABC analysis effort. The team subdivided itself to focus on the data collection analyses. The process flow and timeline analyses identified those activities with long elapsed times or long processing times. These activities also became primary targets for reengineening.

The GREENSTAR team conducted Value-Added analysis to determine the status of each activity in the process. The non-value-added, not necessary activities were targeted for elimination. The non-value-added, but necessary activities, were targeted for automation, reduction, or simplification.

DEVELOPING the TO-BE PROCESS
After completion of the AS-IS analysis and prior to developing the new or TO-BE process, the team developed a set of business tenets based on the Recycling Department's goals and how it should operate in the future. These business tenets guided the team in making changes to the existing process.

The team divided the process into eight logical segments and, using the information from the time, cost, and valueadded analyses, reengineered the process to meet both the business tenets and the strategic objectives identified in Level 1.

REENGINEERING RESULTS
The GREENSTAR team identified, analyzed, and conducted cost benefit analysis for 14 specific process improvements. These improvements included information system changes. The analysis also included implementation costs and detailed implementation time estimates.

PROJECT POST SCRIPT
ANC is currently implementing the process and information system improvements identified by the GREENSTAR team. The company is forming a reengineering competency center to conduct future projects in support of the entire corporation.