Woolworths Limited is the largest retail organisation in Australia, encompassing many well-known brands including Woolworths Supermarkets, BIG W, Dick Smith Electronics and Dan Murphy’s. As well as diversifying and acquiring further companies, Woolworths Limited has a commitment to continuous improvement and growth throughout its divisions and as an organisation as a whole.

Business Process Management has been identified as one of the key enablers to achieving these organisational goals. At any given time several significant projects can be occurring within or across the divisions of Wool- worths Limited. Furthermore, Woolworths Limited wanted to capture knowledge about best process practices and share these across its divisions to optimise its operations and leverage economies of scale wherever possible. Leonardo Consulting was engaged in this project due to its deep expertise with integrated, tool-supported and scalable process management and modelling practices. Business Process Management has now been successfully implemented and is giving Woolworths Limited the capability to consistently (re-)view its processes with a focus on standardisation, reuse and overall streamlining of its operational efficiency.

Woolworths Limited is made up of some of the most recognisable brands in retailing, serving millions of customers every day across Australia and New Zealand. Its retailing expertise stretches across food & grocery, liquor, petrol, general merchandise and consumer electronics. Woolworths Limited has also grown into retail operations overseas and has launched into the financial services space with a Woolworths Limited branded Credit Card.

Key Facts

• Woolworths Limited is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX)
• Woolworths Limited celebrated its 85th birthday in 2009
• Woolworths Limited employs more than 190,000 people and is one of the largest private sector employers in Australia

Woolworths Limited identified that a process-oriented approach would be beneficial for the ongoing operations and future develop- ment of the organisation. To enable this, a dedicated Process Design Team was established in 2008 with the key goal being to develop Business Process Management capabilities and a sound process improvement methodology.

In launching this initiative in Woolworths Limited, Leonardo Consulting was selected as the vendor of choice to assist in this journey. Leonardo provided consulting in Business Process Management enablement and technical consulting and supported the advanced use of ARIS as the central process repository. ARIS Business Architect and ARIS Business Designer were the key modelling tools used. Intuitive and comprehensive process modelling was facilitated using the Event-driven Process Chain (EPC) modelling approach. ARIS Business Publisher was integrated into the existing Woolworths Limited Intranet. ARIS Business Publisher was customised to apply a look and feel consistent with Woolworths Limited’s image and also to link seamlessly with the Process Design Team portal. ARIS Business Publisher and reporting from ARIS Business Designer/Architect is the main mechanism used to disseminate process information to the wider Woolworths Limited audience.

• Develop capability to apply Business Process Management consistently across divisions in Woolworths Limited
• Establish a centre of competency for process analysis, capture and reuse
• Develop and deploy a comprehensive enterprise and process improvement methodology
• Support and mentor projects to improve outcomes of initiatives at Woolworths Limited

Leonardo Consulting worked alongside the Process Design Team during the initial establishment of Business Process Management at Woolworths Limited. This allowed the Process Design Team to internalise key Business Process Management capabilities. Woolworths Limited further developed their Business Process Manage- ment capabilities and offering to the business. Some of the key initial Business Process Management capabilities as well as those further developed and added by Woolworths Limited included:

Leonardo Consulting worked with the Process Design Team to develop a robust approach including guidelines, conventions for carrying out process activities in BPM projects at Woolworths Limited.

Leonardo Consulting supported the initial development of training material on process modelling and process improvement. The Process Design Team has further developed this material and incorporated it into the Woolworths Limited training curriculum available to all staff.

Leonardo Consulting and the Process Design Team co-developed an approach to ensure the value of the process work carried out is maintained as a valuable asset of the organisation. Governance has been defined and established to provide consis- tency, accuracy and relevance of process-related material.

The Process Design Team continues to engage the business to communicate the benefits of a process-centric organisation and the benefits of a process approach to projects.

Woolworths Limited developed and deployed a continuous process improvement methodology and commenced training via the Woolworths Academy and mentoring of appropriate personnel within Woolworths Limited.

Woolworths Limited developed a process centric benchmarking approach for cross divisional assessment.

Improved capture and reuse of Process Intellectual Property enabling faster project execution.

Woolworths Limited has achieved success in a number of these key areas, including the devel- opment of a process framework. This has been used to assist with the scope of several projects at Woolworths Limited. The Business Process Management repository is used by the project team to gain an understanding of the context of that project, which processes would be impacted and in addition to assist with identi- fying stakeholders that would need to be involved in the project.

In addition, As-Is and To-Be analysis was carried out for an existing project related to imple- menting an information system within a specific division. The process work conducted within this project provided clarity and identifi- able change impacts for both systems and roles. It also brought attention to the overall process flow for both system and non-system oriented functions. This enabled the project team to make sound decisions surrounding the project’s implementation and deployment strategy.

Regular communication sessions have been held with senior representatives of the various divisions at Woolworths Limited to ensure appropriate communication, buy-in and escala- tion where required. Information was provided as to the goal of Business Process Management at Woolworths Limited and also how it could be utilised within and across the Divisions.

Chris Nagel

Managing Director

c.nagel@leonardo.com.au