Manufacturing firms have historically led the way in improving operational performance by applying incremental improvement techniques such as total quality management (TQM), Six Sigma and Lean. Similarly, many manufacturing firms have adopted information system solutions such as material requirements planning (MRP) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. However, in today's competitive manufacturing environment, it takes more than incremental improvement and enterprise systems to consistently achieve revenue and profit objectives. Business Process Management (BPM) offers the means for manufacturing sector participants to optimize performance not just in operational processes such as production and supply chain – but also in supporting processes such as recruiting, financial statement preparation, and environment, health and safety.
