A LEAN ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE FOR BUSINESS

PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING AND RE-MARKETING

Clare L. Comm

University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854, U.S.A.

Dennis F. X. Mathaisel

Babson College, Babson Park, MA 02457, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Keywords: Enterprise Architecting, Lean Enterprise, Business Process Re-engineering, Change Management.

Abstract: An agile enterprise is an organization that rapidly adapts to market and environmental changes in the most

productive and cost-effective ways. To be agile, an enterprise should utilize the key principles of enterprise

architecting enabled by the most recent developments in information and communication technologies and

lean principles and. This paper describes a Lean Enterprise Architecture (LEA) to organize the activities for

the transformation of the enterprise to agility. It is the application of systems architecting methods to design,

develop, produce, construct, integrate, validate, and implement a lean enterprise using information

engineering and systems engineering methods and practices. LEA is a comprehensive framework used to

align an organization's information technology assets, people, operations, and projects with its operational

characteristics. The architecture defines how information and technology support the business operations

and provide benefit for its stakeholders.The architecting process incorporates lean attributes and values as

design requirements in creating the enterprise. The application of the LEA is less resource intensive and

disruptive to the organization than the traditional lean enterprise transformation methods and practices.

Thus, it is essential that the merits of this process are re-marketed (communicated) to the stakeholders to

encourage its acceptance.

1 INTRODUCTION

In order to effect a successful transformation to

agility, an enterprise requires an integrated set of

activities and support documents that execute their

strategic vision, program concepts, transformation

schedule, communications plan, and technology

implementation strategy. To this end, the authors

created the Lean Enterprise Architecture (presented

in Figure 1). LEA is a structure to organize these

activities for the transformation of the enterprise

from a current state to a desired future agile state.

LEA uses a phased approach structured over the life

cycle of the transformation. It portrays the flow of

phases necessary to initiate, communicate, sustain,

and continuously refine an enterprise transformation

based upon Lean principles, information technology

architecture, and systems engineering.

The top of the illustration in Figure 1 represents

the life cycle of the transformation. The bottom

represents the architecture that is used to create the

life cycle. The architecture is comprised of three

phases.

1. The first component is the Transformation

Strategic Planning phase, which specifies the

actions associated with the decision to adopt

the architecture.

2. The second component is the Transformation

Acquisition and Integration phase, in which the

environment and conditions necessary for a

successful change in the enterprise are created.

3. The organization is then prepared for the

launch into detailed planning and

implementation, which is the third phase, the

Transformation Implementation phase, where

the transformation of the enterprise is planned,

executed, and monitored.

Each phase in this architecture creates the conditions

necessary to put into effect the life cycle of the

transformation. The description of each component

of the life cycle is given in Table 1.

497

L. Comm C. and F. X. Mathaisel D. (2010).

A LEAN ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE FOR BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING AND RE-MARKETING.

In Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Information Systems Analysis and Speciﬁcation, pages

497-500

 SciTePress

Conceptual-

Preliminary

Design

Detailed

Design and

Development

Implementation

Construction

Enterprise

Use and

Improvement

Phase 1:

Transformation

Strategic

Planning

Phase 2:

Transformation

Acquisition and

Integration

Phase 3:

Transformation

Implementation

ACQUISITION UTILIZATION

Transformation Life Cycle

Figure 1

Lean Enterprise Architecture Phases

Figure 1: Lean Enterprise Architecture Phases.

2 THE LEAN ENTERPRISE

ARCHITECTURE

The Lean Enterprise Architecture is an architecture

framework for enterprise reengineering to design,

develop, produce, construct, integrate, validate, and

implement a Lean Enterprise using Information

Technology and Systems Engineering methods. The

design process incorporates Lean attributes and

values as design requirements in creating the

enterprise. This approach to transformation is a

systems engineering method for a Lean enterprise

transformation, as opposed to the standard

incremental Lean methodology that uses a “Design-

Build” and the “Cell-by-Cell” paradigm.

3 THE ROLE OF SYSTEMS

ENGINEERING

AND INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY

LEA is rooted in the foundations of Lean principles,

information technology architectures, and systems

engineering methods. Enterprise Engineering is

defined as the “collection of tools and methods

which one can use to design and continually

maintain an integrated state of the enterprise” (ISO

WD 15704). Based on this definition, “Lean

Enterprise Transformation Engineering” is defined

to be a discipline that uses the tools of systems

engineering and the management practices of Lean

to organize all of the tasks needed to design,

implement, and operate enterprise transformation

change.

Lean Enterprise Transformation Engineering

uses an Architecture Framework to define and

describe enterprise design and implementation

solutions. Architecture Frameworks describe basic

concepts, descriptions and the related models

(views) to provide a standard for enterprise

engineering (IEEE P1471, 1998). There are four

basic Enterprise Engineering frameworks. These

frameworks are rooted in information technology

architectures:

a. Computer-Integrated Manufacturing Open

System Architecture (CIMOSA)

b. Generalized Reference Architecture and

Methodology (GERAM)

c. GRAI Laboratory Model (GRAI/GIM)

d. Purdue Enterprise Reference Architecture

(PERA).

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498

Conceptual-

Preliminary

Design

Detailed

Design and

Development

Implementation

Construction

Enterprise

Use and

Improvement

Need

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

Need

Conceptual

design

Preliminary

design

Detailed

design

Implementation Operation

• Defining MRO

strategy

• Product

analysis

• Production

volume

• Job-shop,

flow-shop

• Trade-off

analysis

• Make-buy

• Benchmarking

• Lean Principles

• Ideal

functional

layout

• Rough scale

simulation

• Human

resource

planning

• Production

sequence

• Facility

planning

• Cellular Design

• Lean Principles

• Equipment

design

• Flow analysis

• Simulation

• Detailed floor

layout

• Work

organization

• Benchmarking

• Lean Principles

• Equipment

selection

• Quick Setup Time

• Installing

equipment

• Training

• Testing

• Adjusting

• Benchmarking

• Lean Practices

• Leadership

• Innovation

• Monitoring

• Planning &

control

• Continuous

improvement

• Stabilization

• Engineering

Change

Management

• Best Lean/Cellular

Practices

Enterprise Transformation Engineering

Figure 2

Lean Enterprise Architecture

Figure 2: Lean Enterprise Architecture.

Table 1: Transformation Life Cycle Components.

Table 1

Transformation Life Cycle Components

Component

Description

Need

Wants or Desires for

transformation of the

enterprise, because of

obvious deficiencies or

problems.

Conceptual and Detailed Design

Market analysis,

feasibility study,

requirements analysis,

enterprise system

design and

development,

simulation, engineering

prototyping,

benchmarking,

acquisition plans,

trade-off analysis, and

specifications

development.

Implementation/Construction

Modify, communicate,

procure, integrate,

install, test, train, and

implement the

transformation of

facilities, production

systems, business

systems, and policies.

Enterprise Use and Improvement

Operational use of the

transformation, and

continued review for

improvement or

modification.

Of these four, the Generalized Reference

Architecture and Methodology (GERAM)

framework was adapted as the Enterprise

Transformation Engineering framework for the LEA

architecture

4 LEAN ENTERPRISE

TRANSFORMATION

ENGINEERING AND THE LEA

Figure 2 shows how the Lean Enterprise

Architecture and the concepts of Lean Enterprise

Transformation Engineering work together to ensure

an effective and successful transformation of the

enterprise to agility. The top of the illustration in

Figure 2 represents the life cycle of the

transformation. The bottom of the illustration

represents the three phases of the LEA. Each phase

in the architecture creates the conditions necessary to

put into effect the life cycle of the transformation.

The middle of Figure 2 (shaded region) is the

framework for the Lean Enterprise Transformation

Engineering. This combination of Lean enterprise,

IT, and systems engineering methodologies portrays

A LEAN ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE FOR BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING AND RE-MARKETING

499

the overall flow of the action steps necessary to

initiate, transform, sustain, and continuously refine

an enterprise.

5 CONCLUSIONS

The Lean Enterprise Architecture (LEA) presented

in this paper uses Lean enterprise, Information

Technology architectures, and systems engineering

methodologies to portray the overall flow of the

action steps necessary to initiate, communicate,

sustain, and continuously refine an agile enterprise.

The architecture was developed from an enterprise

perspective, paying particular attention to strategic

issues, internal and external relations with all key

stakeholders, and structural issues that must be

addressed before and during a significant change

initiative. LEA enables the enterprise to respond

quickly to changes in the environment in which the

organization operates. It serves as a ready reference

to assess the impact of the changes on each of the

enterprise architecture components. It also ensures

the components continue to operate smoothly

through the transformation to agility.

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