Gap Analysis and Process Improvement
Gap analysis compares what a process or organization achieves today against an outcome it intends to reach, then names the specific differences that must be closed. Process improvement is the disciplined work of closing those differences through targeted changes, measured results, and repeated cycles.
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Intro
Gap Analysis and Process Improvement
Gap analysis compares what a process or organization produces today against an outcome it has committed to reach. Process improvement is the disciplined work of closing the differences that analysis exposes. The two belong together: a gap names what must change, and improvement changes it in a way you can measure and repeat.
A gap is not a complaint or a vague ambition. It is a documented difference between a current state and a defined target state, expressed in terms a decision can act on. "Orders take too long" is a symptom. "Median order cycle time is 6.4 hours against a target of 2 hours" is a gap. The second statement tells you what to investigate, what to measure, and when the change has worked.
Where gap analysis sits in the improvement cycle
Gap analysis is one step inside a larger cycle, not a one-off exercise. Most recognized improvement systems share the same shape:
- Plan — define the target, the current state, and the gap between them.
- Do — make a controlled change intended to close part of the gap.
- Study (or Check) — compare the measured result against the prediction.
- Act — adopt the change, adjust it, or abandon it, then begin the next cycle.
The Deming cycle calls this Plan-Do-Study-Act. It is a systematic process for gaining knowledge and improving a product, process, or service through repeated cycles. ISO 9001 frames the same idea as continual improvement of the quality management system. Six Sigma packages it as Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC). Lean treats it as the elimination of waste through continuous, small experiments. The vocabulary differs; the loop is the same.
Gap analysis happens in the Plan phase and again at the Study phase. The first gap identifies the size and shape of the problem. The second gap, measured after a change, tells you whether the change closed any of it.
Define the target state first
A gap is meaningless without a target. The target state describes what good looks like in observable terms: an outcome, a measure, a threshold, and a deadline.
Targets come from several legitimate sources:
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Sources
- https://deming.org/explore/pdsa/
Supports
- PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) as a systematic process for gaining knowledge and improving a product, process, or service through repeated cycles
- Deming's emphasis on Study over Check and on prediction as the basis for learning
- The Plan, Do, Study, Act phase definitions used in this course's loop
- Shewhart as the origin of the cycle that Deming adapted
- https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/business-process-management
Supports
- BPM as the discipline of discovering, modeling, analyzing, measuring, improving, and optimizing repeatable processes
- Six Sigma and Lean as examples of BPM methodologies
- Distinction between repeatable processes, individual tasks, and one-time projects
- The BPM lifecycle of design, model, execute, monitor, optimize
- https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/business-process-analysis
Supports
- As-is analysis before process improvement
- Use of process diagrams, records, formal and informal behavior, and end-to-end boundaries
- The gap between documented procedure and actual practice as a finding
- Modeling as evidence for improvement rather than automation approval
- https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/root-cause-analysis
Supports
- Root cause analysis as the quality management practice of searching for the underlying cause after a problem occurs
- Methods: 5 Whys, Ishikawa (fishbone), FMEA, Pareto chart, change analysis, causal factor tree, DMAIC
- 5 Whys as a prompt to keep asking why until reaching a cause you can act on
- FMEA scoring by severity, occurrence, and detectability
- Six Sigma as a data-driven process improvement methodology
- GE's corporate-wide adoption of Six Sigma in 1995
- Motorola's introduction of Six Sigma in 1986
- https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/process-mining
Supports
- Process mining applies algorithms to event log data to discover, validate, and improve workflows
- Three types of process mining: discovery, conformance, enhancement
- Wil van der Aalst as the academic credited with much of the research around process mining
- IEEE Process Mining Manifesto published in 2011
- Process mining's limitations: data quality, missing manual tasks, concept drift
- The market consolidation including SAP's acquisition of Signavio, Celonis, and UiPath's acquisition of ProcessGold
- https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/business-process-improvement
Supports
- Process improvement framing of targeted, measured changes to close specific gaps
- End-to-end process view rather than step-only optimization
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gap_analysis
Supports
- Gap analysis as the comparison of actual performance with potential or desired performance
- Gap analysis at strategic or operational levels of an organization
- Gap analysis as a formal study of what a business is doing currently and where it wants to go
- Use of gap analysis to develop a better process by comparing existing and desired outcomes
- https://www.iso.org/standard/72894.html
Supports
- ISO 9001:2015 as the quality management systems standard
- Continual improvement of the quality management system as the ISO framing of the improvement loop
- First published in 1987
- https://asq.org/quality-resources/plan-do-study-act-continual-improvement
Supports
- Cross-reference description of the PDSA cycle from the quality management profession
- https://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/2.0.2/
Supports
- BPMN 2.0.2 as the OMG standard for graphical business process models
- OMG stewardship of the notation used for as-is and to-be process models
- OMG adoption of BPMN 2.0 in 2011
- https://github.com/TheWoops/awesome-processmining
Supports
- Community-curated list of process mining libraries and tools
- PM4Py, Apromore, ProM, bupaR, and PAFnow as process mining resources for learners
- Fluxicon Process Mining Book as a free further resource
- ICPM as the International Conference on Process Mining